A living history of Fort Worth's "half-acre" featuring several legendary charactors straight out of the Wild West-Luke Short,Jim Courtwright,Bat Masterson,Wyatt Earp,and the Heavyweight Champion of the World-John L. Sullivan plus many more.It delves into the "sporting life" of the era with all the vigor Braun portrays in his other classic novels such as Noble Outlaw,Wyatt Earp,&Black Fox to name a few.I recommend this book for all the one's who desire the days when disputes were handled by the law of the gun.

How to Write Western novels is one of those books you buy to keep next to your computer. Matt Braun gives solid advise on various sub-genres of the western, how they are structured, character building, finding your voice, and knowing your setting. I am just revising a western. You'd better believe I am using it. Thank you Matt!

The frontier is more recent in my home state of Oklahoma and Matt Braun portrays it realistically. He shows the Cherokee to be as complex as they are diverse. Braun also presents a poignant picture of their struggle to maintain sovereignty in the land promised them so long as "the waters run." There are vivid, three dimensional characters here: fictional as well as historical. The latter include General Sherman, Elias Boudinot, William Ross and Stand Watie. The love story between the protagonist and the lovely Cherokee woman, Elizabeth Ross, has enough conflict to make it believable. And the odds and ends of historical trivia are interesting. I had not known, for example, that Vinita, Oklahoma was named for a white sculptress in Washington, the mistress of Elias Boudinot. Nor had I heard the fascinating story of the old Chickasaw, Ben Colbert--even though I once played near the railroad bridge that rendered his famous ferry obsolete. This is a good read for anyone; for the Western history aficionado, it is indispensable. My only complaint is the graphic nature of Braun's many gun battles. The blood splattered excrement is, perhaps a little too vivid for my taste.

Anothe book about Luke Starbuck. His friend Ben Laugham has ben gunned down. He is determined to find the killers, little knowing it would lead him to Billy the Kid. He faces The Kid and also has to face the men The Kid is working for. He also has to put up with Pat Garrett, who is more concerned about getting relected than doing his job. Can Luke find all the powers behind the killing? A fairly fast moving western. I gave it a four instead of a five because several pages are all talk with out much going on. As a whole it will hold your attention. I like Lukes brand of justice. It is much better than some we have today.

I found this to be an excellent book. The story flowed easily an the author didn't use two dollar words to keep my intrest. I would however like to see the story carry on through Elizabeth and the children. It would be intresting to see what happens to the family. Overall another excellent book.

This is one of 9 books featuring Matt Starbuck, Western detective. Starbuck ferrets out who is behind the inside jobs on the Central Pacific. There's plenty of undercover work, women & action.
As with many of Braun's books the plot is based in fact
& is for the most part true. Starbuck is a great fictional character who swaggers, bluffs, romances & blazes his way to victory. Braun's secondary characters are well drawn & the action is non-stop.
As w/all Braun's Westerns, it's well worth your time.

Matt Braun writes a good western. Luke Starbuck is hired to find out who is behind the Wells Fargo robbies in Arizona. He is lead to believe it is Wyatt Earp and his brothers along with Doc Holladay. He becomes aware this is true and sets out to find some waya to stop him. His plan is to get Wyatt and his brothers fighting against the ones who actually do the robberies. He is determined to stop or kill Wyatt Earp. The book is fast moving. I question anyone being able to do what Starbuck does in the book. If this is a half way true story,it changes my mind on the character of Wyatt Earp and his brothers. I had always thought them to be law enforcement people who were on the up and up, but maybe not. A statment in the front of the book says while the actions may have been changed a little, all else is closer to the truth and the myth. Who am I to say. You will have to read and decide for yourself.

Contrary to reviews I had seen of this book, it is turgid, flat, and poorly written. I could have bought it's like off the supermarket shelf. While it sticks, for the most part, to the facts, it is not entirely accurate. It's characterizations of the characters is one dimensional, to say the least, and creates not one bit of excitement in the reader. I am forcing myself to finish only because I have a keen interest in Wyatt Earp and the history of the period.

Matt Braun is usually known for stories rich with historic detail and realism. This book reads more like the movie "Tombstone" (a great movie on its own) and lacks that historical bite. He has a different take on Wyatt Earp than many, which is OK, in that he doesn't place him on the pedestal that most others place him. It's fairly obvious, from other references to Wyatt and his brothers, that he doesn't hold them in very high regard.(Especially in his Luke Starbuck novel "Tombstone") In this story the characters seem to be written as cliches of themselves and the lack of insight to their characters makes it hard to feel for them and become involved in the story. From an author who was able to effectively portray John Wesley Hardin as a "Noble Outlaw", I guess I expected more.

Enjoyed this book very much. Braun has a great way of mixing fact with fiction. Read the Biographys and then enjoy this book

This ia about Ben Thompson, a gambler, shootist and a lawman. It dawns on him one day that he has really nothing good to be remembered for and decides to run for Marshall of Austin. He, of course wins, and is soon making people follow the law. The story jumps about with him leaving Austin two different times. He is true to his friends and this gets him in trouble more than once. Was not Marshall long and decided to quit, has not happy doing the job. Book was a little slow to me with several dead pages. Think Braun has done better.

This is another tale of the old West from Matthew Braun,and like most of his novels is based on the career of an actual Western luminary,in this case Ben Thompson.Thompson,as described by Braun with the air of slightly musty pedanticicm that is coming to inform much of his research these days,was a widely regarded and exceptionally skilled gambler and a feared shootist who ,having carved out a substantial reputation in both trades in Denver and Dodge City settles in Austin and becomes a prominent club owner with at least one foot in "polite society"
His marriage to "Catherine"is stable and they have a teenage son.

Austin accepts its sporting district,known as "Guy Town",as long as it does not intrude on the right side of the tracks and the games are honest and above board,something about which Thompson is adamant.

Thompson attends a performance of "Macbeth"and something about the play causes him to re-evaluate his life and career.He opts to run for town marshall where he operates a prototype zero tolerance policy

The novel's main focus is on his career in the law enforcement business and the strains placed on him both publically and privately

The result is an enjoyable read with some good historical background on frontier towns in transition to a more stable and settled way of life,

I was always nagged while reading the book however that the book maybe could have gone that bit deeper.Braun ,in his earlier books had an edge to the depiction of Western legends that seems missing these days and the result lacks the bite he would have brought to the tale say 20 years ago

A fair book. It is about the life and times of John Wesley Hardin. Please read it with a grain of salt. Mr. Hardin was not the hero he appears to be in the book. Some is fact but lot is fiction. He kills his first man at age 15, I think, then is really on the run from then on. He is quick with a gun and very good with a shotgun. He finally gets married and has two children. As usual, he is caught and pays the price, as set out by a judge and jury. Lots of shooting, lots of western clans involved. I am sure true to life at that time. Just don't believe he was as good as book leds one to believe.

Overall, I enjoyed Braun's Noble Outlaw. It was very well-written, and Braun managed to transform a thug with a nasty temper into a sympathetic and misunderstood Texas hero. Though I'm not so sure the men Wes Hardin killed would appreciate the author's skill, I enjoyed the book and intend to read more of Mr. Braun's work. I would, however, be careful and not use the term "Historical Fiction" too loosely, for according to my history books, Wes Hardin was no hero.