Canyon Diablo

by Max McCoy

When brothers--and sworn enemies--Jacob and Ishmael Gamble meet up at an old mission church in the desert to settle their feud, they find a score of massacred bodies and one survivor who promises them riches beyond their wildest dreams if they return his prized possession to Canyon Diablo. By a Spur Award-winning author. Original.

Genres: Westerns

272 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Max McCoy is an award-winning journalist and author. He’s won awards for his reporting on unsolved murders, serial killers, and hate groups. In addition to his daily newspaper work, Max has written for publications as diverse as American Photographer, True West, and The New Territory. He’s the author of four original Indiana Jones adventures for Lucasfilm/Bantam and the novelization of the epic TNT miniseries, Into the West. His novels, including Damnation Road, have won three Spur awards from the Western Writers of America. His novels, Hellfire Canyon and Of Grave Concern, have also been named Kansas Notable Books by the state library. He's a tenured professor of journalism at Emporia State University, in east central Kansas, where he specializes in investigative reporting and nonfiction narrative. He's also director of the university’s Center for Great Plains Studies. His most recent book is Elevations: A Personal Exploration of the Arkansas River, from the University Press of Kansas.

Reviews

[Jeff Tankersley · Rating 1 out of 5]

A prologue sets the scene, first showing a family of settlers massacred by Apaches, then an old timer sixty years later telling a movie producer the true story.

Verdict: "Canyon Diablo" (2010) is an ugly and typical tale of blood, racism, vengeance, antisemitism, abuse of women, abuse of the elderly, lawless and corrupt behavior in border towns, and more abuse of women. Not an interesting read in the least. Quit on page 122 (of 309).

Jeff's Rating: 0 / 5 (Bad)
movie rating if made into a movie: R

[John Ulferts · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable western! Several cameos of genuine historic figures - Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp, film director John Huston - added to the fun. A quick read!