Hellfire Canyon

by Max McCoy

A hundred and forty-five years after a slingblade came down on Alf Bolin's wicked head, the notorious outlaw lives again in this wickedly original novel by author Max McCoy. Hellfire Canyon won the Spur Award for Best Paperback Original by the Western Writers of America and was named a Notable Book by the Kansas State Library.Bolin - a real-life killer who terrorized this neck of the Ozarks from a fortress-like limestone formation called Murder Rocks - plays mentor to a budding fiddler and outlaw named Jacob Gamble.  Hellfire Canyon follows Jacob and his mother, Eliza, from northeastern Missouri to the wilds of Taney County, where he befriends the red-headed, literature-quoting Bolin.McCoy, an award-winning author and investigative reporter, often sets many of his novels in Missouri, including the 2004 thriller, The Moon Pool. His other books include four original Indiana Jones adventures for Bantam/LucasFilm and the novelization of Steven Spielberg's epic miniseries, Into the West . 

Genres: Westerns

Paperback

First published January 16, 2007

About the author

Max McCoy is an award-winning journalist and author. He’s won awards for his reporting on unsolved murders, serial killers, and hate groups. In addition to his daily newspaper work, Max has written for publications as diverse as American Photographer, True West, and The New Territory. He’s the author of four original Indiana Jones adventures for Lucasfilm/Bantam and the novelization of the epic TNT miniseries, Into the West. His novels, including Damnation Road, have won three Spur awards from the Western Writers of America. His novels, Hellfire Canyon and Of Grave Concern, have also been named Kansas Notable Books by the state library. He's a tenured professor of journalism at Emporia State University, in east central Kansas, where he specializes in investigative reporting and nonfiction narrative. He's also director of the university’s Center for Great Plains Studies. His most recent book is Elevations: A Personal Exploration of the Arkansas River, from the University Press of Kansas.

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was raised in the Ozarks and I felt that Mr. McCoy did a wonderful job with his characters and descriptions. I don't normally read westerns, but this was recommended by a friend and I throughly enjoyed it.

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Book a lot of history in it.

[Desiree reilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

mr mc coy i am going to try to find other book you wrote i m
going to be doing history as a major and then i listen to the book
on tape and i like the story of the branson area i do live in the
area and i think i now where the rock as you sy it was i could not
stope pisitng the book and in joyed so much and it was one og the book i had to read even though i have not started school yet it only took me less than 2 day to listen to it high remark on it a lot and thank you
for the info and high 5 all the way

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it, short read and kept me interested. Not sure I would recommend it unless you are a fan of the South during the Civil War.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a lot of fun reading this because I live in the region it takes place in and I'm familiar with Max from writing conferences. Hellfire Canyon is a good, quick, satisfying read.

[Larry Kirkland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good story so far, I like this author and I'm only on page 50.

[Steven Law]

I was one of the three Spur Award judges the year this book won, and it rose to the top of our list like all great novels should. It is an intelligent novel by a writer who understands the craft.