by Tom Clavin
First published 2024
New York Times bestselling author Tom Clavin chronicles the authentic history of the Wild West's final criminal sanctuaries. Three remote hideouts in Wyoming and Utah formed what outlaws called "Bandit Heaven": Robbers Roost, Brown's Hole, and Hole-in-the-Wall. During the 1880s and 1890s, these strongholds sheltered hundreds of train robbers, bank thieves, cattle rustlers, and killers fleeing justice. Clavin traces the Outlaw Trail connecting these refuges through harsh mountain terrain and scorching deserts where law enforcement feared to venture. The narrative centers on notorious figures like charismatic Butch Cassidy, his quiet partner the Sundance Kid, ruthless Kid Curry, and "Black Jack" Ketchum, who met a gruesome end when a botched hanging severed his head. As the 1890s progressed, improved law enforcement systematically eliminated most outlaws through gunfights and manhunts. By 1900, nearly all had perished in pursuit of bounties and fame. Only Cassidy and Sundance fled to South America, where they died in a legendary shootout thousands of miles from home, marking the true conclusion of the outlaw era.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, adventure, crime, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: gritty, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: based-on-true-events, cat-and-mouse
Setting: Robbers Roost, Brown's Hole, Hole-in-the-Wall, Wyoming, Utah, South America
Period: 1880s, 1890s, 1900
288 pages · Kindle Edition · St. Martin's Press
Content warnings: violence