The first volume in McCarthy's Border Trilogy, ALL THE PRETTY HORSES begins with the death of John Grady Cole's grandfather. John Grady, age 16, has lived with his grandfather for much of his life, and when the old man dies and the family home--a ranch in Texas--is sold, John Grady and his old friend Lacey Rawlins take off for Mexico, looking for a place in a world that seems increasingly hostile. Almost immediately, they encounter trouble, and the trip is studded with death, loss, violence, stolen horses, and thwarted love. By the time John Grady returns home--alone--he is irrevocably changed.