City of Rocks: A Western Story (Five Star Western Series)

                                   
Booklist Top Ten Western for 2012
Western Writers of America 2012 Spur Finalist Winner


Excerpt from Federal Writers Project 1938 Joseph Roper Dictaphone Interview:

"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."

Michael Zimmer is the author of twelve previous novels. His work has been praised by Booklist, Library Journal, Historical Novel Society, and others. City of Rocks, chosen by Booklist as one of the top ten Western novels of 2012, was a Finalist for the Western Writers of America Spur Award. Born in Indiana, and raised there and in Colorado, Zimmer now resides in Utah with his wife, Vanessa, and two dogs. His website is michael-zimmer.com.