The Pistoleer

It has been a lot of years since I read this book, but I remember it fondly. I especially remember one of the chapters somewhere in the middle that has an absolutely hilarious recounting of a bar fight by one of the instigators (arrested and in jail), who takes complete responsibility for his part in the fight by prefacing each thing he and his friend did to start the fight with "Now I ain't sayin' we didn't......" A priceless paragraph.

Probably the toughest gangster in the old west. Killed more folks than most and was finally shot down from the rear..just like Wild Bill. In later life, he was an attorney and wrote this book about his life. It is not often you get to get a book written by the gangster that lived he legend.

This was some book ! Absolutely outstanding in every respect - as a story, in its style, very exciting, excellent dialect, really funny in spots, ..... Chapter by chapter I went from hating the arrogant ... (John Wesley Hardin), to wanting to be a Hardin. If he really was as portrayed in this book (which I doubt), he was mostly the kind of person I respect - leave him alone and he'll buy you drinks all night long and otherwise give you the shirt off his back. Meddle in his business, get in his face, or harm his family and he'll whip you or kill you. Now don't get me wrong. Any reader would try to see where they fit in, in that day and time and I am pretty much left with the sad conclusion that I would have probably been a sorry, boot-licking peddler of some kind . . . . not a Hardin.

This is a fictionalized account of the life of John Wesley Hardin told by those who "knew" him. You're hooked immediately in the superb narrative, as the author takes many voices and pulls no punches. I have purchased many copies of this book and given them to friends, all of whom loved it. A+++++.

Was easy reading, fast paced, started on a high and finished on a high. This was as true a story on the life and times of one of the deadliest men ever to live as you can find. I have read the few books there are on Hardin and this is in line with all of them, except for one fact. This book is much better reading!