Publisher's Synopsis
As the first in-depth fictional exploration of a timeless legend, to be concluded in an upcoming sequel, REFLECTIONS ON BILLY THE KID by Richard Arnon Mathews presents the probable truth inside the mystery of the West's most favorite outlaw. This is a stunning compilation of finely wrought and elegantly thorough historical narration, as exact as it is entertaining . Here, drama and action and happenstance blend beautifully. For all PG 13 adult readers fascinated by Western history and myth, this book is for you. This fictional version of the Billy the Kid story starts with his birth and preteen years under the care of a loving mother as she moved west from New York City into the high plains of Colorado and down into the sandy hills and plains of Silver City, New Mexico territory. These were happy years for Billy until his mother's death when he was 12 and began to associate with troublesome chums who led him into mischievous scrapes with the law. Despite the caring of kindly townspeople, and infrequent attention of his mining stepfather and nonchalant old brother, Billy the Kid (then Henry Antrim) escaped up the jail's chimney to begin his life on the run. PART ONE of this seven hundred page expose ends with Billy's ascendency to fame or perhaps infamy, culminating with his love for the vivacious heiress Sallie Chisum. In an upcoming sequel, PART TWO- REFLECTIONS ON BILLY THE KID, his imagined, fictionalized descent is further tracked in the same precise way, again ending with his love for another prominent New Mexican heiress Paulita Maxwell, which led to his death and the immortality of his legend. In a day by day chronological recreation of his adventures, sometime minute by minute, the reader shares Billy's hopes and disappointments, amidst the turmoil of a shiftless adolescent growing into manhood and earning the respect of his many friends and companions embroiled in the Lincoln County War of 1878. The official corruption and many killings in this battle for economic supremacy prompted President Hayes's removal of then Governor Axtell to replace him with Civil War hero and author Lew Wallace, who was busily finishing up his soon-to be-released best seller, BEN HUR, as he tried with secondary effort to quiet the conflict and assess which villains to punish. Billy the Kid was a central factor amidst all this chicanery, much to his distaste, attempting to gain justice for his murdered employer, his brief friend and hero. Readers will be enchanted by the mixture of sincere innocence and sophisticated nonchalance within Billy the Kid, who faced absolute corruption from every official within Lincoln County, New Mexico, and beyond, reaching even Washington. Here you have an insider's view of both right and wrong in the Great Plains and the Wild West during the latter 1870s, early1880s, when the entire stage and its characters vanished coincident with Billy's passing. This is your fascinating account of one famous perhaps infamous man who, against his wishes and for his principles, achieves Western Lore fame immortality.
