Gunman's Rhapsody

Starred review from May 14, 2001
The gunman is Wyatt Earp. The rhapsody plays out in a rare Parker stand-alone novel, his best yet and his first western. Told in prose as cool and spare as Parker has ever laid down, the book details the time Wyatt and his brothers spend in Tombstone, culminating in the shootout at the O.K. Corral. Parker's Wyatt won't surprise those familiar with the author's Boston PI, Spenser, and with Spenser's sidekick, Hawk. This Wyatt Earp carries traits of both—Spenser's adherence to code, his word, himself, and Hawk's indifference to violence and death. But Wyatt is even more of a distillation than either Spenser or Hawk. He's the essence of the self-contained gunman; as he walks to the O.K., "he could feel the steady rhythm of his pulse, the easy flow of his blood." Events span years, but move quickly. Conflict arises when Wyatt falls hard for beautiful showgirl Josie Marcus and she for him, for she's the lover of local politico Johnny Behan. Johnny's jealousy leads to conspiracy, acts of cowardice and finally to the shoot-out. All the western legends associated with Wyatt play their parts—the other Earp brothers, Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, Clay Allison, John Ringo—and Parker etches each in granite. "Are you ready to die today?" Doc asks a man who's insulted him. Occasionally, Parker intersperses the drama with reports (letters, news bulletins, notices) that add historical context though not much more; their inclusion is questionable. What's not is how, as events move toward their necessary conclusion, the narrative takes on the inexorability of classic tragedy. This is a remarkably artful western, as tough and as true as the slap of gunmetal against leather. (June)Forecast:Parker's name on the cover and strong reviews could push this western onto bestseller lists, but it won't sell quite as well as the Spenser titles, with their vast built-in readership.

February 1, 2001
Parker heads west to meet Wyatt Earp.

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2001
In 1879, the Earp bothers, Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan, moved to Tombstone, Arizona, to seek their fortune. Shortly after arriving, Wyatt saw a traveling play. One of the lesser players was Josie Marcus. Later, when she returns to Tombstone on the arm of one of Wyatt's political rivals, Johnny Behan, the events are set in motion that culminate with the most famous gun battle in the Old West, the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Parker, best known for his Spenser detective novels (really modern westerns set in Boston), settles seamlessly into this classic western story of a fearless man and the woman who captures his eternal soul. Readers who have enjoyed Elmore Leonard's early westerns or even his more recent " Cuba Libre "will relish this similar effort. Wyatt Earp is Spenser with spurs, and the supporting characters all have alter egos in Spenser's Boston. The theme of hard, violent men in conflict over love and their own codes of honor is standard Parker fare, but no one does it better.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)