Boot Hill

by Robert J. Randisi (Editor)

Featuring original short stories by Elmer Kelton, James Reasoner, Randy Lee Eickhoff, Robert Vaughan, Richard S. Wheeler, Tom Piccirilli, Ed Gorman and many others!

"They died with their boots on."

So goes the old cliché that sums up the untimely demise of many a man in the wilder towns of the Old West-and no town was wilder, or home to more untimely demises, than the ultimate City of Sin, Dodge City. The overcrowded cemetery in Dodge was known as Boot Hill, and it was filled with some of the wildest characters in American history.

In this remarkable anthology, Robert Randisi has collected the most successful Western authors currently writing to create a short story collection that tells the stories of Boot Hill-from the coffin-maker with a death wish to the drunken cowboy haunted by one night of greed and violence, to the vigilante piano man and the tough-talking soiled dove. With original stories by Elmer Kelton, James Reasoner, Randy Lee Eickhoff, Robert Vaughan, Richard S. Wheeler, Tom Piccirilli, Ed Gorman and many others, as well as a reprinted story from John Jakes, Boot Hill is a unique and powerful collection that captures the wild and bizarre characters that populated the American West.

Genres: Westerns

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Robert Joseph Randisi was a prolific American author, editor, and screenwriter, best known for his work in detective and Western fiction. He wrote over 650 books, including The Gunsmith series under the pen name J.R. Roberts, and edited more than 30 anthologies. A co-founder of Mystery Scene magazine, the American Crime Writers League, and Western Fictioneers, he also established The Private Eye Writers of America and created the Shamus Award. Randisi collaborated on novels with Eileen Davidson and Vince Van Patten, and created memorable characters such as Miles Jacoby, Joe Keough, and The Rat Pack. He received multiple lifetime achievement awards and the John Seigenthaler Humanitarian Award.

Reviews

[Joe Stack · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine collection of short stories. If westerns aren't your usual fare or you avoid this genre, give this collection a try. Unless you are opposed to guns or avoid violence as each of these stories end with someone going to Dodge City's Boot Hill. Not all the victims are bad, which enables some of these stories to serve as an examination of our contemporary violence. In these stories, the west is untamed and the violence has to be tamed by law & order; bullies have to be stood up to. One can argue whether or not guns are the problem, but in one story in this collection, "The Guns of Dusty Logan" by James Reasoner, the interesting twist is that it is the guns that cause the violence. Retribution, revenge, regret, love, greed, these stories cover nearly all aspects of taming human nature. There's even a ghost story that O'Henry would most likely have enjoyed. Some of the stories have a moral lesson, such as how a good person can be hardened, can be crueler, and some are simply tales to enjoy, but all the stories are enjoyable for the storytelling. As with other anthologies, you may find writers in this collection who you'll want to add to your reading list.

[AnnaM · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short, spooky story by two Masters of SF. It was spooky, but not so bad that I didn't read it in the dark at bedtime. The writing is excellent. The descriptions are terrific. And even the horse had personality.