Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #553604 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The pseudonymous Culhane (aka Max Allen Collins) once again shows himself a master at the historical thriller. In 1920, 70-year-old Wyatt Earp, who's working as a PI in Los Angeles, is hired by "Big Nosed Kate" Elder, the widow of his best friend, Doc Holliday. Kate wants Wyatt to go to New York and help her speakeasy-owning son, John (fathered by Doc as he was dying), who has fallen afoul of a local tough guy, the young Alphonse Capone. In New York, Wyatt teams with another old pal, Morning Telegraph sportswriter Bat Masterson. It's a fabulous setup, and Culhane has all the skills and experience to bring these great characters leaping off the page. The bad guys may have organized gangs and tommy guns, but in the end these whippersnappers are no match for Wyatt's cunning and 10-inch-long-barreled .45. The exigencies of historical fact force Culhane into a tamer ending than some readers might like, but the sheer fun of riding along with the two old lawmen and their memories will run roughshod over any quibbles or complaints. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Patrick Culhane pits storied lawman Wyatt Earp against crime's greatest gangster, Al Capone, in this engaging flight of fancy. The premise is not as outlandish as it initially sounds, as Earp was in fact a detective of sorts in Los Angeles in the early 1920s, where this story begins. Doc Holliday's widow commissions the spry 70-year-old to head east to New York, where Doc's son, Johnny, owns a speakeasy. Along with his old pal Bat Masterson, Earp finds in Holliday's lucrative speak the promise of a gold rush and figures to cash in himself, until a gang of Brooklyn bootleggers issues a promising young thug named Capone to muscle in on the works. Earp and Capone are ultimately both fortune hunters, neither afraid to work some lead into the air to get what they want. The legendary heat these marquee names come packing provides most of the enjoyment here. The rest comes from picturing an anachronism with a 12-inch .45 and a broad-brimmed Stetson walking the streets of freshly Prohibited New York. Ian Chipman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"Collins masterfully blends fact and fiction into a compelling tale that transcends the historical thriller." (Jeffrey Deaver )

"Simply open the book. The pages turn themselves. A fine novel by a fine writer." (John Lutz, author of The Night Watcher, praise for ROAD TO PURGATORY )

"An explosive, action-packed blockbuster.destined to rank right up there with "The Godfather" series when all is said and done." (Detroit Free Press, praise for ROAD TO PURGATORY )

"Wyatt Earp versus Al Capone -- a wild, exciting ride!" (David Morrell, New York Times bestselling author of FIRST BLOOD )

"...engaging..." (Booklist )

"[C]ompelling mix of history, bloodshed and retribution...Readers will eat it up and beg for more." (Publishers Weekly, praise for ROAD TO PARADISE )

"[A]mong the finest crime writers working today." (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, praise for ROAD TO PURGATORY )

"Collins is a consumate storyteller." (Booklist, praise for ROAD TO PURGATORY )

"A worthy followup to Road to Perdition--tangy, authentic, and exciting." (Leonard Maltin, praise for ROAD TO PURGATORY )

"No one can twist through a maze with the intensity and suspense of Max Allan Collins." (Clive Cussler )

"Nobody writes about war era crime in Chicago as well as Collins... A delight for fans...and newcomers." (Chicago Sun-Times, praise for ROAD TO PURGATORY )

"Collins fills his story with period detail, juicy mob stories and characters, but the best part...is its heart (Chicago Sun-Times, praise for ROAD TO PARADISE )

"No one can twist through a maze with the intensity and suspense of Max Allan Collins." (Clive Cussler, praise for CARNAL HOURS )

"Collins is in a class by himself...a page-turner of a story...a fitting sequel to Road to Perdition." (S.J. Rozan, author of Absent Friends, praise for ROAD TO PURGATORY )