Gunman’s Rhapsody
Best known for his Spenser detective series, Robert Parker changes his focus from a private eye in contemporary Boston to a late 19th Century man-on-the-make Wyatt Earp in this extraordinarily well written western. The enigmatic Earp and his brothers relocate to the wide-open mining town of Tombstone, Arizona in 1879. In an environment like Tombstone, the Earps’ attempts to make their fortunes plunge them into conflict with the corrupt and dangerous lawman/politician Johnny Behan. Wyatt compounds the family difficulties by falling in love with Behan’s girlfriend, the beautiful Josie Marcus. The Earp-Behan rivalry is quickly exacerbated by gunfire, and the action that follows is more than enough to satisfy the most ardent western fan.
Parker portrays Earp and the people around him with the intelligence and craftmanship one has grown to expect from his work. The Wyatt Earp in these pages is not the Hollywood version, but a historically accurate figure given new life through Parker’s stylish prose and attention to detail.
