I originally purchased this book in paperback a few years after it was published, but never got around to reading it until I acquired a hardcover edition while assembling my Larry McMurtry collection. I really enjoyed the story about the relationship between these men in the Cherokee nation in the years after the Civil War. Though the book is not one of the higher rated titles in McMurtry's works, I found the story interesting and the relationships between the characters to be well-developed. It's not often we see a book on this era written from the perspective of the Native American people who were subjected to the white man's authority. Recommended, especially for McMurtry fans. ( )

I admit I'm probably not the right audience for this book, so I'm sure that plays into my lackluster review... but at the same time, I was excited to give this a go, and on all counts, it fell pretty far short--most of all in the writing.

McMurtry is so well-known that I expected this to be a worthwhile foray into the genre even if it ended up not quite being for me, but instead, I couldn't help feeling the book was over-written. Rarely did a scene go by without there being needless repetitions, and it too often felt like backstory was being included simply because the author happened to think of including it--not for any purpose that moved plot or developed character/story. I suspect I would have found the book to be far more dynamic and enjoyable if it had been about 20% shorter, and that has nothing to do with the genre.

At the same time, while I have no problem with a simple story, I needed something more to compel me to come back to the book. Finishing it was more an act of will than an act of interest (for me) simply because I found the characters to be so unsympathetic in the way McMurtry and Ossana drew them. Even where I could understand them, I really couldn't appreciate or root for them, and that went for even the characters who should have been completely sympathetic (but weren't). The flatness of the characters was a big part of the problem, but it sometimes felt like McMurtry and Ossana were going out of their way to make the characters unlikeable, and while I'm guessing it may often have been in attempts to bring in humor, any such effect didn't work for me. Passages that I think were meant to be found funny just rang as either cruel or pathetic, over and over again, and I too often felt as if the writers were making fun of the characters or belittling them more than engaging readers or them.

So, all told, I wasn't impressed. I'll certainly give some more Westerns a try... but it won't be from these authors. ( )

Authors Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana play fast and loose with history here, in this tale of the clash between U.S. law and Cherokee Nation law in the late 1800s.

Historical characters include Zeke Proctor, Ned Christie, and "the hanging judge" Isaac Parker; real-life incidents include the Goingsnake massacre and Ned Christie's war. Other than that, timelines are mixed, fictional characters ride alongside historical ones, and many of the relationships -- particularly the father-in-law / son-in-law standing of Proctor and Christie -- appear to be made up whole cloth.

As usual with McMurtry, the book's strength comes in its characterizations and their dialogue, along with oddball vignettes peculiar to the time and place. ( )

This is just good, old fashioned story telling about two real Cherokee warriors and good friends, Ezekiel Proctor and Edward "Ned" Christie (and their families, friends and adversaries), in the years after the Civil War and the Trail of Tears. There is actually quite a bit of history packed into this novel, about the white/Indian courts and judicial systems and how they had an uneasy relationship on how to handle crimes of the day, which were rampant. Overall, it is just an incredibly sad look at the demise of the Cherokee Nation. But as readers, we see the situations from many perspectives and many characters. A very engrossing read and one that was very hard to put down. I have only read McMurtry's "Lonesome Dove" for comparison and I would say they are both great novels, just incredibly different. Highly recommended, especially if you have any interest in Native American history or Ezekiel Procotor/Ned Christie. ( )

McMurtry's contemporary novels don't do much for me, but this one -- like Lonesome Dove -- works wonderfully. He has an excellent writing partner in Ossana, established here long before they collaborated on the script for Brokeback Mountain.