Journal of the Gun Years » (Unabridged)

Richard Matheson is the author of two previous New York Times bestsellers, I Am Legend and What Dreams May Come. A Grand Master of horror and suspense, he has won the Hugo, the Edgar, the Spur, and the Writers Guild Awards, among others. He lives in Calabasas, California.

Back East, they told tall tales about Marshall Clay Halser, the fearless Civil War veteran who became known as the “Hero of the Plains” for his daring exploits in the Wild West. But the truth, as revealed in his private journals, is even more compelling.

A callow youth in search of excitement, Halser travels to the raucous cow towns of the frontier, where his steady nerve and ready trigger finger soon mark him as a gunfighter to be reckoned with. As both an outlaw and a lawman, he carves out a legendary career. But fame proves to be the one enemy he can never outdraw–and a curse that haunts him to the bitter end . . . .

Publishers Weekly

This nicely executed western takes the form of annotated diaries by legendary gunfighter Clay Halser, first met as a minor hero in the Civil War. The taste of excitement sours upon Halser's return to his bucolic home town, and he is forced to leave in haste after an argument over cards leads to a shooting. In the charming, picaresque tale that follows, Halser plays virtually every archetypal role the Old West has to offer: barman in a cow-town; shotgun-rider on an often-robbed stagecoach; hostler under a sadistic Prussian overseer; unwilling but effective--and ruthless--desperado; no-nonsense, much-beleaguered lawman; and, finally, burnt-out gambler. As Halser moves from one familiar Western town to another, and from one corpse to many, his legend grows. Dime-novels and newspaper articles are written about him, children idolize him, young men challenge him and he begins to rely on his legend to define his identity. Carefully structured set pieces clearly trace Halser's emotional evolution, as he slowly degenerates into a paranoid mess, short-tempered and murderous. The author, who wrote a number of original Twilight Zone episodes, gives his story a credibility and honesty unusual in the genre. (Nov.)