Fourteen brief accounts of people who committed various acts of murder and mayhem in New Mexico, back when the west was still very, very wild.

These are, for the most part colorful and violent stories about colorful and violent people. They're not necessarily as engagingly written as they might be, though. Marriott's prose is not especially polished, and there were times when I found it surprisingly difficult to keep track of names and events as they were presented to me. And this is definitely more about offering up some entertaining Wild West stories, rather than serious historical scholarship or anything, although there is at least some attempt at separating what probably actually happened from rumor and tall tales.

But it's a short, quick read, and I found it worth a look, if only for the local interest factor: I live in Socorro, NM, and there's no denying that there's a macabre fascination in reading about a mob of vigilantes stringing someone up in your own town. ( )

quick read - amusing stories, great for a young person getting into southwestern history. ( )