A richly imagined Western that only Zimmer could pull off. Drawing on inspiration from writers such as Thomas Berger, Milton Lott and A.B. Guthrie Jr., Zimmer blends literary fiction and traditional Western and puts together a fast-paced story that should appeal to Western and non-Western fans alike.
-—Roundup - The Magazine of the Western Writers of America
Zimmer demonstrates again why he's one of the more interesting voices in western fiction.... A stirring tale, well told.
—Booklist
City of Rocks
—An American Library Association Top 10 Western for 2012.
—Finalist for the Western Writers of America Spur Award
—Finalist for the 2013 Western Fictioneers Peacemaker Award
When the McCandles' Gang decides to shoot up Coalville, Idaho, it seems like a pretty easy hit. But among the survivors is a young man named Joseph Roper. Joey worked with Sheriff Hackett, and he was not about to let Ian McCandles get away with what he has done. This is the story of Joey's search for justice, and the paths that his search took him on!
Excerpt from City of Rocks:
"A lot of people go to those moving-picture shows and think they’re seeing the real McCoy, but that’s not the way it was. You take a guy like William S. Hart, or that kid, John Wayne. They try to come off rough-barked, but they’re nothing but a bunch of lilies compared to men like Ian McCandles.
"I’ll tell you something else about those cowboy pictures. They’re clean, barely a smudge of dirt anywhere, but what happened out there in City of Rocks wasn’t clean. It was grimy and smelly and gut-numbingly cold. Men died, and when they did they didn’t just grab their chests and fall over. They got knocked down hard and the life spilled out of them like blood from a butchered hog. I guess I ought to know since I was there. Since it was me who did most of the killing that day.”
Great News!
The American Library Association's "Booklist Online" has named “City of Rocks” one of its Top 10 Westerns for 2012.
Booklist Online is a website for subscribers to Booklist, a book-review magazine published by the American Library Association. It features more than 135,000 book reviews and thousands of features for librarians, book groups and book lovers.
Kelton Stage Station at Twin Sisters
City of Rocks
Fast-paced, compelling throughout, and emotionally savage in spots, City of Rocks spins a Homerian epic in the first person. Gritty, violent, and intensely personal, the book wrenches readers through a coming-of-age story that leaves even casual bystanders immutably changed at the end.
--Goodreads Review
-Wrangler and Spur Winner-
Michael Zimmer
