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Legend of Lost Basin
Winner of the 2025 Peacemaker Award for Best Western First Novel.
Spur Award Finalist -- Best Traditional Western Novel
"A riveting addition to the Western genre... Skillful storytelling and rich characterizations make this a must-read for fans of Westerns or those who just like good storytelling.," -- Kirkus Reviews.
On the vast northern plains in the 1880s, two young people struggle to find their destinies as the men who rule that savage world fight a life-and-death battle against nature and each other.
Unfolding against a brooding high desert landscape of sand washes, buttes and badlands, LEGEND OF LOST BASIN is an epic tale of domination, rebellion, betrayal and love.
Spur Award Finalist -- Best Traditional Western Novel
"A riveting addition to the Western genre... Skillful storytelling and rich characterizations make this a must-read for fans of Westerns or those who just like good storytelling.," -- Kirkus Reviews.
On the vast northern plains in the 1880s, two young people struggle to find their destinies as the men who rule that savage world fight a life-and-death battle against nature and each other.
Unfolding against a brooding high desert landscape of sand washes, buttes and badlands, LEGEND OF LOST BASIN is an epic tale of domination, rebellion, betrayal and love.
297 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 18, 2024
About the author
Bruce Hartman
17 books45 followersBruce Hartman has worked as a pianist, bookseller and attorney. The author of twelve novels, he divides his time between Pennsylvania and Colorado. He has been writing fiction for many years.
Bruce Hartman's first western, LEGEND OF LOST BASIN, was published in September 2024. Kirkus Reviews called it, "A riveting addition to the Western genre... Skillful storytelling and rich characterizations make this a must-read for fans of Westerns or those who just like good storytelling.," The book aims to transcend the western genre into the area of literary fiction. It was Finalist for the Spur Award from the Western Writers of America for Best Traditional Western Novel in 2025. It was also awarded the Peacemaker Award by Western Fictioneers for Best First Western Novel.
His second western to be published was THE DIVIDE, the second book in the Lost West Trilogy.
Prior to those westerns, his most recent book was THE PHILOSOPHICAL DETECTIVE'S LAST CASE, the third and final book of the Philosphical Detective Trilogy. The previous books are THE PHILOSOPHICAL DETECTIVE, published in 2014, and THE PHILOSOPHICAL DETECTIVE RETURNS, published in 2020. All three novels feature the iconic Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges wrestling with an extraordinary series of crimes and the equally baffling conundrums of literature and philosophy, including Zeno's paradoxes, the mind/body problem, and the mysteries of destiny, memory, personal identity and artistic creation. Kirkus Reviews called THE PHILOSOPHICAL DETECTIVE "a suspenseful, pitch-perfect novel.. an intelligent, original detective novel." Midwest Book Review rated THE PHILOSOPHICAL DETECTIVE RETURNS as "...highly recommended for classic detective story enthusiasts who look for complexity and intellectual challenges in their characters and stories."
Bruce Hartman's previous book, PAROLE, is a crime thriller in the tradition of Elmore Leonard about an unlikely pair of parolees from San Quentin struggling against the odds to recover their lives and fortunes in L.A. If it were a movie, it would probably be classified as an action/comedy/thriller. It has recently become available as an audiobook on Audible.
His first novel, PERFECTLY HEALTHY MAN DROPS DEAD, won the Salvo Press Mystery Novel Award and was published by Salvo Press in 2008. In 2018 it was reissued by Swallow Tail Press in a revised Tenth Anniversary Edition (both paperback and ebook).
Bruce Hartman's second book, THE RULES OF DREAMING, published by Swallow Tail Press in 2013, was awarded Kirkus Star for Books of Exceptional Merit. Kirkus Reviews called it "a mind-bending marriage of ambitious literary theory and classic murder mystery" and selected it as one of its "Top 100 Indie Books of 2013." Another mystery, THE MUSE OF VIOLENCE, was also published in 2013.
Bruce Hartman's seventh novel, POTLATCH: A Comedy, is a satirical comedy set in Philadelphia. Readers' Favorite Book Reviews called it "one of the most amusing reads ever to be published."
POTLATCH is the second entry in a projected trilogy which began with A BUTTERFLY IN PHILADELPHIA. Readers' Favorite Book Reviews called BUTTERFLY "one of the strange comic masterpieces that you're quite lucky to run across once in a very great while."
POTLATCH followed another comic novel, BIG DATA IS WATCHING YOU!, a satirical techno-dystopia set in a future in which the all-powerful force of Big Data rules humanity through the Internet of Things and the corporate power of the FANGs. It is the story of how one defiant customer foils the conspiracy to delete humanity from Google Earth. A slightly revised version of this book has also been published under the title, I AM NOT A ROBOT!
Bruce Hartman's eighth novel, a legal thriller entitled THE DEVIL'S CHAPLAIN, was published in 2018. This book tells the story of a young attorney, Charlotte Ambler, who volunteers to represent a death row inmate, a once-prominent biologist named Christopher Ritter,
Bruce Hartman's first western, LEGEND OF LOST BASIN, was published in September 2024. Kirkus Reviews called it, "A riveting addition to the Western genre... Skillful storytelling and rich characterizations make this a must-read for fans of Westerns or those who just like good storytelling.," The book aims to transcend the western genre into the area of literary fiction. It was Finalist for the Spur Award from the Western Writers of America for Best Traditional Western Novel in 2025. It was also awarded the Peacemaker Award by Western Fictioneers for Best First Western Novel.
His second western to be published was THE DIVIDE, the second book in the Lost West Trilogy.
Prior to those westerns, his most recent book was THE PHILOSOPHICAL DETECTIVE'S LAST CASE, the third and final book of the Philosphical Detective Trilogy. The previous books are THE PHILOSOPHICAL DETECTIVE, published in 2014, and THE PHILOSOPHICAL DETECTIVE RETURNS, published in 2020. All three novels feature the iconic Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges wrestling with an extraordinary series of crimes and the equally baffling conundrums of literature and philosophy, including Zeno's paradoxes, the mind/body problem, and the mysteries of destiny, memory, personal identity and artistic creation. Kirkus Reviews called THE PHILOSOPHICAL DETECTIVE "a suspenseful, pitch-perfect novel.. an intelligent, original detective novel." Midwest Book Review rated THE PHILOSOPHICAL DETECTIVE RETURNS as "...highly recommended for classic detective story enthusiasts who look for complexity and intellectual challenges in their characters and stories."
Bruce Hartman's previous book, PAROLE, is a crime thriller in the tradition of Elmore Leonard about an unlikely pair of parolees from San Quentin struggling against the odds to recover their lives and fortunes in L.A. If it were a movie, it would probably be classified as an action/comedy/thriller. It has recently become available as an audiobook on Audible.
His first novel, PERFECTLY HEALTHY MAN DROPS DEAD, won the Salvo Press Mystery Novel Award and was published by Salvo Press in 2008. In 2018 it was reissued by Swallow Tail Press in a revised Tenth Anniversary Edition (both paperback and ebook).
Bruce Hartman's second book, THE RULES OF DREAMING, published by Swallow Tail Press in 2013, was awarded Kirkus Star for Books of Exceptional Merit. Kirkus Reviews called it "a mind-bending marriage of ambitious literary theory and classic murder mystery" and selected it as one of its "Top 100 Indie Books of 2013." Another mystery, THE MUSE OF VIOLENCE, was also published in 2013.
Bruce Hartman's seventh novel, POTLATCH: A Comedy, is a satirical comedy set in Philadelphia. Readers' Favorite Book Reviews called it "one of the most amusing reads ever to be published."
POTLATCH is the second entry in a projected trilogy which began with A BUTTERFLY IN PHILADELPHIA. Readers' Favorite Book Reviews called BUTTERFLY "one of the strange comic masterpieces that you're quite lucky to run across once in a very great while."
POTLATCH followed another comic novel, BIG DATA IS WATCHING YOU!, a satirical techno-dystopia set in a future in which the all-powerful force of Big Data rules humanity through the Internet of Things and the corporate power of the FANGs. It is the story of how one defiant customer foils the conspiracy to delete humanity from Google Earth. A slightly revised version of this book has also been published under the title, I AM NOT A ROBOT!
Bruce Hartman's eighth novel, a legal thriller entitled THE DEVIL'S CHAPLAIN, was published in 2018. This book tells the story of a young attorney, Charlotte Ambler, who volunteers to represent a death row inmate, a once-prominent biologist named Christopher Ritter,
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 23, 2025
About the west , but not of the west.
The story could have been a lot shorter and the same idea would have been the same. The author didn’t understand the western nature or the make up of the people living in the west at that time. It felt like a group of short stories put in a book form. The story would make you think everybody was well educated by the language the author used. Cowboys didn’t talk the way the author had them talking. Most couldn’t speak English correctly. They spoke the way the words sounded, not the way they spell. I grew up on a ranch, worked on several, managed one and own one, so I’ve been around a lot of cowboys and heard lots of ranch stories. None with that many screwed up people. The only thing I can say is the story line gets to you and makes you keep reading even though you know it is just bologna.
The story could have been a lot shorter and the same idea would have been the same. The author didn’t understand the western nature or the make up of the people living in the west at that time. It felt like a group of short stories put in a book form. The story would make you think everybody was well educated by the language the author used. Cowboys didn’t talk the way the author had them talking. Most couldn’t speak English correctly. They spoke the way the words sounded, not the way they spell. I grew up on a ranch, worked on several, managed one and own one, so I’ve been around a lot of cowboys and heard lots of ranch stories. None with that many screwed up people. The only thing I can say is the story line gets to you and makes you keep reading even though you know it is just bologna.
October 2, 2024
Legend of Lost Basin is the story of two clans of cattlemen, both composed fully of squatters, competing for control of an overgrazed canyon in the American West after the Civil War. In this naturalistic setting, full of distant horizons, hardship, lawlessness, violence, naivete, and deception, the fight for the land takes on a new dimension when it comes to include a fight for the only marriageable young woman in the canyon. The result is author Bruce Hartman’s twelfth novel, and it is a very good read.
October 29, 2024
A very dark novel. Not much but treachery and dispair. Entire book has a negative theme throughout.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews