Publisher Description

"So richly detailed, you can almost smell the gunsmoke and the sweat of the saddles. "

—Hampton Sides, New York Times bestselling author of Ghost Soldiers No outlaw typifies America's mythic Wild West more than Billy the Kid. To Hell on a Fast Horse by Mark Lee Gardner is the riveting true tale of Sheriff Pat Garrett's thrilling, break-neck chase in pursuit of the notorious bandit. David Dary calls To Hell on a Fast Horse, "A masterpiece," and Robert M. Utley calls it, "Superb narrative history." This is spellbinding historical adventure at its very best, recalling James Swanson's New York Times bestseller Manhunt—about the search for Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth—as it fills in with fascinating detail the story director Sam Peckinpah brought to the screen in his classic film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.

Back Cover

A sheriff . . . An outlaw . . . A legendary showdown. Billy the Kid--a.k.a. Henry McCarty, Henry Antrim, and William Bonney--was a horse thief, cattle rustler, charismatic rogue, and cold-blooded killer. A superb shot, the Kid gunned down four men single-handedly and five others with the help of cronies. Two of his victims were Lincoln County, New Mexico, deputies killed during the Kid's brazen daylight escape from the courthouse jail on April 28, 1881. After dispensing with his guards and breaking the chain securing his leg irons, the Kid danced a macabre jig on the jail's porch before riding away on a stolen horse as terrified townspeople--and many sympathizers--watched. For new sheriff Pat Garrett, an acquaintance of Billy's, the chase was on. . . . To Hell on a Fast Horse re-creates the thrilling manhunt for the Wild West's most iconic outlaw. It is also the first dual biography of the Kid and Garrett, each a larger-than-life figure who would not have become legendary without the other. Drawing on voluminous primary sources and a wealth of published scholarship, Mark Lee Gardner digs beneath the myth to take a fresh look at these two men, their relationship, and their epic ride to immortality.

Author Biography

Mark Lee Gardner is the author of To Hell on a Fast Horse, the story of Billy the Kid and Sheriff Pat Garrett. An authority on the American West, Gardner has appeared on PBS's American Experience, ABC's World News, the History Channel, Encore Westerns, NPR's All Things Considered, and BBC Radio. He has written for the Los Angeles Times, American Heritage, Wild West, American Cowboy, and New Mexico magazine. Gardner lives with his family in Cascade, Colorado.

Review

"The double-helix relationship between Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett is one of the abiding fascinations of the West. No one has come closer than Mark Lee Gardner to capturing their twin destinies and their inevitable final collision....you can almost smell the gunsmoke and the sweat of the saddles. " -- Hampton Sides, author of the New York Times bestsellers Blood and Thunder and Ghost Soldiers"A masterpiece! Mark Gardner's dual biography of Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett cuts through the myth to tell the real story of two real figures in the Wild West. Gardner's scholarship is superb. This work can only be called a classic." -- David Dary"Incredibly deep research combines with the talents of a fine historian and writer to produce superb narrative history. The true character and relationship of these two iconic westerners emerge to suppress myth and correct more than a century of tomes laden with bad history." -- Robert M. Utley"Digging beneath the myths and melodrama, [Gardner] begins in Las Vegas during Christmas week, 1880, when the capture and confinement of Billy the Kid made national headlines... Gardner's extensive research and authoritative approach ground this compelling historical recreation." -- Publishers Weekly"As gripping as any thriller." -- Library Journal

Review Quote

"The double-helix relationship between Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett is one of the abiding fascinations of the West. No one has come closer than Mark Lee Gardner to capturing their twin destinies and their inevitable final collision....you can almost smell the gunsmoke and the sweat of the saddles. " -- Hampton Sides, author of the New York Times bestsellers Blood and Thunder and Ghost Soldiers "A masterpiece! Mark Gardner's dual biography of Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett cuts through the myth to tell the real story of two real figures in the Wild West. Gardner's scholarship is superb. This work can only be called a classic." -- David Dary "Incredibly deep research combines with the talents of a fine historian and writer to produce superb narrative history. The true character and relationship of these two iconic westerners emerge to suppress myth and correct more than a century of tomes laden with bad history." -- Robert M. Utley "Digging beneath the myths and melodrama, [Gardner] begins in Las Vegas during Christmas week, 1880, when the capture and confinement of Billy the Kid made national headlines... Gardner's extensive research and authoritative approach ground this compelling historical recreation." -- Publishers Weekly "As gripping as any thriller." -- Library Journal

Details