"So richly detailed, you can almost smell the gunsmoke and the sweat of the saddles. "
--Hampton Sides, New York Times bestselling author of Ghost SoldiersNo outlaw typifies America's mythic Wild West more than Billy the Kid. To Hell on a Fast Horse by Mark Lee Gardner is the riveting true tale of Sheriff Pat Garrett's thrilling, break-neck chase in pursuit of the notorious bandit. David Dary calls To Hell on a Fast Horse, "A masterpiece," and Robert M. Utley calls it, "Superb narrative history." This is spellbinding historical adventure at its very best, recalling James Swanson's New York Times bestseller Manhunt--about the search for Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth--as it fills in with fascinating detail the story director Sam Peckinpah brought to the screen in his classic film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.
One legendary outlaw--and the only sheriff determined enough to hunt him down.
- An Epic Manhunt: Follow the thrilling, break-neck pursuit as Sheriff Pat Garrett tracks Billy the Kid across the harsh New Mexico Territory.
- Two American West Legends: Delve into the intertwined lives of the methodical lawman and the notorious outlaw, exploring what fated them to be forever linked in history.
- The Lincoln County War: Go beyond the myth to understand the brutal conflict that shaped Billy the Kid and set the stage for his final showdown with the law.
- Meticulously Researched History: Based on extensive primary sources and archival research, this is the definitive true story behind the legends of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.
About the Author :
Mark Lee Gardner is the author of Rough Riders, To Hell on a Fast Horse, and Shot All to Hell, which received multiple awards, including a Spur Award from Western Writers of America. An authority on the American West, Gardner has appeared on PBS's American Experience, as well as on the History Channel, the Travel Channel, and on NPR. He has written for the Los Angeles Times, True West, Wild West, American Cowboy, and New Mexico Magazine. He lives with his family in Cascade, Colorado.
Review :
"Gardner uses original eyewitness accounts and newspaper reports at the time, both of which add a you-are-there quality. He also delves into the century-long mystery surrounding Garrett's murder years later, and arrives at a surprising conclusion." - New York Post
"Evocative...Gardner renders a time, place and a people with sincerity and accuracy." - Santa Fe Reporter
"Absorbing." - Sacramento Bee
"A freewheeling, yet meticulously researched, dual biography....Gardner's passion for his subject shines through on every page." - History Book Club
"Digging beneath the myths and melodrama, [Gardner] begins in Las Vegas during Christmas week, 1880, when the capture and confinement of Billy the Kid made national headlines... Gardner's extensive research and authoritative approach ground this compelling historical recreation." - Publishers Weekly
"As gripping as any thriller." - Library Journal
"The double-helix relationship between Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett is one of the abiding fascinations of the West. No one has come closer than Mark Lee Gardner to capturing their twin destinies and their inevitable final collision....you can almost smell the gunsmoke and the sweat of the saddles. " - Hampton Sides, author of the New York Times bestsellers Blood and Thunder and Ghost Soldiers
"A masterpiece! Mark Gardner's dual biography of Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett cuts through the myth to tell the real story of two real figures in the Wild West. Gardner's scholarship is superb. This work can only be called a classic." - David Dary
"Incredibly deep research combines with the talents of a fine historian and writer to produce superb narrative history. The true character and relationship of these two iconic westerners emerge to suppress myth and correct more than a century of tomes laden with bad history." - Robert M. Utley
