Holliday In Tombstone
S. M. Ballard
Reviewed by J. D. Harkleroad
This much anticipated second book in Ballard's "Doc" Holliday trilogy does not disappoint. This story picks up where BORROWED TIME left off, as Doc, dentist turned gambler and gunman, follows his friend Wyatt Earp to the boomtown of Tombstone, Arizona Territory.
From the moment Holliday sets foot on the dusty Tombstone streets, he risks life and safety for his friends. Although Doc backs Earp against the likes of Curly Bill Brocious, Johnny Ringo, and their gang of ruffians, the Georgia gentleman emerges in his own right, rather than the often portrayed shadowy appendage attached to Wyatt Earp's coat-tails.
Ballard has thoroughly researched her subject (she has written numerous non-fiction articles about Holliday for The Tombstone Times) and it shows. Seamlessly blending fact and fiction, Ballard delves into Doc's interpersonal relationships: Clementine, the love of his life; his love-hate relationship with Kate (Fisher) Elder; his abiding friendship with Wyatt Earp; and his antagonistic interactions with both Bat Masterson and Earp's brother Virgil.
In this traditional Western, the action storyline is paralleled by Holliday's struggle to live as normal a life as possible while dealing with an illness that, in that time period, proved fatal more often than not. In one particularly poignant scene, Doc shows his humanness as he commiserates with Earp over his friend's loss of an unborn child through miscarriage before disclosing his own loss of a child through abortion.
Holliday in Tombstone brings John Henry "Doc" Holliday nearly full circle as he battles his personal demons while struggling to stay true to a friendship he values above all others. This is a good, fast read that will appeal to men and women alike.
Order HOLLIDAY IN TOMBSTONE from
Amazon
About the Reviewer:
J.D. Harkleroad and her husband divide their time between their farm in Virginia and their ranch in Utah. An expert rifleman and rider, she is described in the liner notes of a musical CD she recently directed as "...a woman of faith, TV editor/writer, educator, musician, artist, photographer, and 'cowboy.'"
FREEZEOUT!, a traditional Western, is the newest in her "Men of the West" series which include BLOOD ATONEMENT, a contemporary crime fiction set in Utah/Arizona; KETCH COLT, a Western; and SWEP CULHANE, an action/romance adventure set in Utah/Nevada circa 1944. J.D. Harkleroad belongs to The Western Writers of America (WWA) and Women Writing the West (WWW). Please visit her online at www.jdharkleroad.webs.com.
Order FREEZEOUT fromAmazon
Barnes&Noble
More J.D. Harkleroad Reviews