| Author: | James Carlos Blake | ISBN: | 9780802189752 |
| Publisher: | Grove Atlantic | Publication: | December 13, 2016 |
| Imprint: | Grove Press | Language: | English |
| Author: | James Carlos Blake |
| ISBN: | 9780802189752 |
| Publisher: | Grove Atlantic |
| Publication: | December 13, 2016 |
| Imprint: | Grove Press |
| Language: | English |
A novel of uncompromising depth and power chronicling the astonishing life of a legendary Texas outlaw.
Some called him a Texas hero. Some called him the Devil himself. But on one point they all agreed. While he was alive, John Wesley Hardin was the deadliest man in Texas.
For his forty-two years on this earth, Hardin’s name was synonymous with outlaw. A killer at fifteen, in the next few years he became skilled enough with his pistols to back down Wild Bill Hickok in the street. By the time the law caught up with Hardin when he was twenty-five, he had killed as many as forty men and been shot so many times that, it was said, he carried a pound of lead in his flesh. In jail he became a scholar, studying law books until he won himself freedom, and afterwards he tried to lead an upright life. It was not to be. By the time he was killed in 1895, Hardin was an anachronism—the last true gunfighter of the Old West. With each chapter told from a different character’s perspective, The Pistoleer is “a genuine tour-de-force” not to be missed (Rocky Mountain News).
“Astonishing.” —Kirkus Reviews
“An achievement by any standards, but as a first novel simply astounding.” —Roundup Magazine
“Blake writes with a fearless precision and a ruthless sensibility, his prose is spare and tough, and his descriptions detailed and cinematic.” —Publishers Weekly
A novel of uncompromising depth and power chronicling the astonishing life of a legendary Texas outlaw.
Some called him a Texas hero. Some called him the Devil himself. But on one point they all agreed. While he was alive, John Wesley Hardin was the deadliest man in Texas.
For his forty-two years on this earth, Hardin’s name was synonymous with outlaw. A killer at fifteen, in the next few years he became skilled enough with his pistols to back down Wild Bill Hickok in the street. By the time the law caught up with Hardin when he was twenty-five, he had killed as many as forty men and been shot so many times that, it was said, he carried a pound of lead in his flesh. In jail he became a scholar, studying law books until he won himself freedom, and afterwards he tried to lead an upright life. It was not to be. By the time he was killed in 1895, Hardin was an anachronism—the last true gunfighter of the Old West. With each chapter told from a different character’s perspective, The Pistoleer is “a genuine tour-de-force” not to be missed (Rocky Mountain News).
“Astonishing.” —Kirkus Reviews
“An achievement by any standards, but as a first novel simply astounding.” —Roundup Magazine
“Blake writes with a fearless precision and a ruthless sensibility, his prose is spare and tough, and his descriptions detailed and cinematic.” —Publishers Weekly
