Review: A continuation of the lives of two famous cowboys
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 16, 2013
Ringo blows into the ramshackle frontier town of Boot Hill, much to the surprise of Curly Bill and the rest of the occupants of the town. Curly Bill is the closest thing Ringo has to a friend, and even he has a hard time figuring out why the guy has come to town. The book is an alternate take on real-life figures, who met their ends before this story takes place.The descriptions are so vibrant that I can see the surroundings and people clearly. On the first page alone we are told of cowboys "watering the dust in their throats with rotgut whiskey". The town is filled with numerous characters, like Zebra, a man who devises plans to saddle-train zebras and open a ranch for them, or Billy Bishop, an gangly teen who attends to the horses and does trick shooting in his spare time. Most of the characters are eager to know about Ringo and Curly's connection to him. A few bad guys seem to be out for Ringo's head, and Curly and Ringo play secretive and hide his identity to avoid trouble. Still, in the old west it seems news gets around quickly, and they can't avoid trouble for long.There was more talking than action, and this talking mostly established the personalities and pasts of the titular characters. The first potential for a shoot-out ends with the characters talking, for example. If you're expecting gun play and horse chases from page to page, you may be disappointed. This book presents an alternate history and does so via a lot of dialogue. Overall I think the boot was decent. It you're into Westerns and historical fiction you will probably enjoy this. It's well written, if a bit meandering, and is formatted well.