First published 2017
Dodge City, Kansas transforms from a small military outpost into the most violent town in the American West. The railroad brings cattle drives, miners, and settlers, but also saloons, brothels, and desperadoes of every description. Into this chaos step Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson, young and largely self-taught lawmen who establish frontier justice in America's wickedest place. When they leave for other territories, Wyatt heading to Tombstone and Bat to Colorado, Jim Masterson takes control of the now-tamed town. But violence returns to western Kansas, and both men, having lost lawman brothers to killers, come back to restore order in what becomes the Dodge City War. Tom Clavin reconstructs their friendship, gunfights, and adventures alongside a remarkable cast including Wild Bill Hickok, Jesse James, Doc Holliday, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Theodore Roosevelt. This true account separates historical fact from Hollywood legend.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, adventure, crime, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Colorado, Dodge City, Kansas, Tombstone
Period: 19th-century
384 pages · Hardcover · St. Martin's Press