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Black Hats
Visiting Brooklyn to assist deputy-turned-sportswriter Bat Masterson during a showdown with Prohibition-era mobsters, detective Wyatt Earp struggles to protect a speakeasy once belonging to the late Doc Holliday from falling under the rule of a young Al Capone. Reprint.
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 27, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
March 28, 2022
Did Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson meet up with Al Capone in 1920 New York? While that seems highly unlikely, Max Allan Collins makes it feel entirely possible. A master of historical mysteries, Collins' research turns up details that allow for alternate versions of historical events. Learning that Earp worked as a private detective in his later years in Los Angeles, Collins has him sent on a job to New York for an old acquaintance from his days in Tombstone. Once there, he reunites with Masterson, who has graduated from dapper frontier lawman to acerbic boxing columnist. They set out to help a headstrong owner of a speakeasy who has been targeted by a gangster whose right-hand man is Capone. Can they save the day without triggering a gang war?
Does that description make you scoff that it never could have happened? Do not let that stop you from picking it up. As always, Collins masterfully blends the factual and the possible in entertaining fashion. You'll even find yourself buying his explanation of how Capone became Scarface. While not one of his greatest books, this still works as a fast, fun read for fans of history and mystery.
Does that description make you scoff that it never could have happened? Do not let that stop you from picking it up. As always, Collins masterfully blends the factual and the possible in entertaining fashion. You'll even find yourself buying his explanation of how Capone became Scarface. While not one of his greatest books, this still works as a fast, fun read for fans of history and mystery.
April 27, 2011
Picked it up for two bucks in a remainder heap. Enjoyable enough so far, but the author seems to be padding the story with a lot of unnecessary backfill - ie: retelling the Battle of the OK Corral and the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre.
Still, it drew me in. Fans of historical "what-ifs" and of tough guy shoot-em-ups will not be disappointed. I felt the end could have been a little bigger, but it was definitely a page-turner and worth picking up.
Steve
Still, it drew me in. Fans of historical "what-ifs" and of tough guy shoot-em-ups will not be disappointed. I felt the end could have been a little bigger, but it was definitely a page-turner and worth picking up.
Steve
January 2, 2020
In 1920, seventy year-old Wyatt Earp travels from his home in Los Angeles to New York City to help Doc Holliday's son. Holliday won a veritable treasure at the poker tables--4,000 top-shelf bottles of pre-Volstead liquor--and it has attracted the unwanted attentions of Brooklyn gangsters like Johnny Torrio, Frank Yale, and Al Capone.
Wyatt and his friend Bat Masterson owe it to the memory of Doc to strap on their pistols one last time and ride for a final adventure…
I could not resist the fanciful pulp premise of this novel (Six shooters versus tommy guns!) even though part of me feared it would just turn out to be a shallow fish-out-of-water tale. I expected Wyatt to "aw, shucks" his way through confusion at modern technology, only to eventually best them bad-boy city slickers by bringing old-fashioned frontier justice to the mob.
Instead, I discovered a well-researched historical novel. Famous figures like Texas Guinan, Damon Runyon, and Big Nose Kate Cummings wind their way through the story. While there is no evidence Earp ever visited New York in real life, nothing in this story contradicts the historical record. It could have happened this way. The author offers explanations how Capone received his famous facial scars and why he relocated to Chicago. (Most scholars think he moved before Prohibition actually went into effect, but Collins agrees with a minority of historians who place it in early 1920).
The book shows Earp and Masterson as resourceful, adaptable men capable of changing with the times. Bat Masterson became a respected journalist and author. After Dodge City and Tombstone, Earp lived many years in Los Angeles working as a detective and Hollywood consultant. He was not surprised at the pace of industrialization nor the advent of technology. He understood politics, entertainment, and business. If anything, his experiences in two gold rushes made him uniquely capable of understanding the economics behind prohibition.
Integral to the novel are flashbacks to famous events like The Gunfight at the OK Corral and the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre. The author separates fact from fiction, but also demonstrates how the legends took root and grew to influence the participants' reputations. The book also touches on the historical Irish vs. Italian organized crime wars, and Jewish gangster Arnold Rothstein's role as mediator and peacemaker.
The only drawback to the story is its climax. There's an extended firefight in a warehouse, but it lacks tension because the historical record tells us neither Masterson and Earp died in 1920. The rest of the plot is resolved with an elaborate confidence set-up (ala The Sting) which is effective but easy to see coming.
Wyatt and his friend Bat Masterson owe it to the memory of Doc to strap on their pistols one last time and ride for a final adventure…
I could not resist the fanciful pulp premise of this novel (Six shooters versus tommy guns!) even though part of me feared it would just turn out to be a shallow fish-out-of-water tale. I expected Wyatt to "aw, shucks" his way through confusion at modern technology, only to eventually best them bad-boy city slickers by bringing old-fashioned frontier justice to the mob.
Instead, I discovered a well-researched historical novel. Famous figures like Texas Guinan, Damon Runyon, and Big Nose Kate Cummings wind their way through the story. While there is no evidence Earp ever visited New York in real life, nothing in this story contradicts the historical record. It could have happened this way. The author offers explanations how Capone received his famous facial scars and why he relocated to Chicago. (Most scholars think he moved before Prohibition actually went into effect, but Collins agrees with a minority of historians who place it in early 1920).
The book shows Earp and Masterson as resourceful, adaptable men capable of changing with the times. Bat Masterson became a respected journalist and author. After Dodge City and Tombstone, Earp lived many years in Los Angeles working as a detective and Hollywood consultant. He was not surprised at the pace of industrialization nor the advent of technology. He understood politics, entertainment, and business. If anything, his experiences in two gold rushes made him uniquely capable of understanding the economics behind prohibition.
Integral to the novel are flashbacks to famous events like The Gunfight at the OK Corral and the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre. The author separates fact from fiction, but also demonstrates how the legends took root and grew to influence the participants' reputations. The book also touches on the historical Irish vs. Italian organized crime wars, and Jewish gangster Arnold Rothstein's role as mediator and peacemaker.
The only drawback to the story is its climax. There's an extended firefight in a warehouse, but it lacks tension because the historical record tells us neither Masterson and Earp died in 1920. The rest of the plot is resolved with an elaborate confidence set-up (ala The Sting) which is effective but easy to see coming.
August 5, 2018
Thanks to Brash Books for a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for this honest review.
Also, thanks to Brash Books for publishing this “new” Max Allan Collins book, first published in 2007 under Collins’ Patrick Culhane pseudonym. 70-year old Wyatt Earp doesn’t need much convincing when asked by “Big-Nosed” Kate Elder to go to New York to help her son Johnny who is also Doc Holliday’s son that Wyatt never knew existed. It’s the early days of Prohibition and Johnny has opened a speakeasy that he won in a card game along with a large supply of now illegal liquor. Johnny’s mother is concerned since he’s getting pressure from Al Capone to sell him the liquor. Kate wants Wyatt to convince her son to get out of the speakeasy business and away from the dangerous Capone. Wyatt’s occasional private detective work in Los Angeles will wait for his return while he helps in New York.
Wyatt says goodbye to his wife in California and travels to New York City to meet with Johnny along with his old friend and now local sportswriter, Bat Masterson. They work together to find ways to help Johnny, maybe not in the way that his mother had wanted. They even get to bring out the old guns. Collins certainly lets you feel the early Prohibition time with gamblers, drinkers, gangsters and showgirls all in the mix.
Max Allan Collins, with help of various assistants, always brings great tidbits to his historical novels to make the characters based on real people come to life. For some readers or perhaps in the hands of a less-skilled writer, these occasional off-story discussions could be a distraction, but I really enjoyed reading them. This is especially more enjoyable when the characters, such as Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson and even the young Al Capone have such interesting history to present. This was a fun and enjoyable book.
Also, thanks to Brash Books for publishing this “new” Max Allan Collins book, first published in 2007 under Collins’ Patrick Culhane pseudonym. 70-year old Wyatt Earp doesn’t need much convincing when asked by “Big-Nosed” Kate Elder to go to New York to help her son Johnny who is also Doc Holliday’s son that Wyatt never knew existed. It’s the early days of Prohibition and Johnny has opened a speakeasy that he won in a card game along with a large supply of now illegal liquor. Johnny’s mother is concerned since he’s getting pressure from Al Capone to sell him the liquor. Kate wants Wyatt to convince her son to get out of the speakeasy business and away from the dangerous Capone. Wyatt’s occasional private detective work in Los Angeles will wait for his return while he helps in New York.
Wyatt says goodbye to his wife in California and travels to New York City to meet with Johnny along with his old friend and now local sportswriter, Bat Masterson. They work together to find ways to help Johnny, maybe not in the way that his mother had wanted. They even get to bring out the old guns. Collins certainly lets you feel the early Prohibition time with gamblers, drinkers, gangsters and showgirls all in the mix.
Max Allan Collins, with help of various assistants, always brings great tidbits to his historical novels to make the characters based on real people come to life. For some readers or perhaps in the hands of a less-skilled writer, these occasional off-story discussions could be a distraction, but I really enjoyed reading them. This is especially more enjoyable when the characters, such as Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson and even the young Al Capone have such interesting history to present. This was a fun and enjoyable book.
April 8, 2023
Black Hats, Max Allan Collins[Brash Books, 2007].
From the author of Road to Perdition, Black Hats is an alternative history/historical crime novel which imagines storied lawman Wyatt Earp—who made his reputation in Dodge City, Wichita, and Tombstone—in his later years. When the novel opens, Earp is in L.A. working as a consultant for Hollywood on western movies and doing occasional private eye work for Wells Fargo, the L.A.P.D, or his Hollywood friends. After a visit from Big Nose Kate, who confides that she gave birth to Doc Holiday’s child after he died, Earp goes East to New York City to visit (the fictional) Johnny Holliday. Like his father, Johnny is a dentist and a gambler who recently acquired a speakeasy in a poker game and who has run afoul of an up and coming gangster, Alphonse Capone. Fast paced and engaging, Black Hats is a memorable work of American myth making.
***
Black Hats is published locally by Brash Books of Leawood, KS.
***
Max Allan Collins is one of America’s most lauded writers of hard boiled fiction; a twenty-one time Shamus Award Winner. Among his series fiction are the Quarry novels, the Nolan novels, and an Elliott Ness series. His graphic novel, Road to Perdition was adapted as a film by Sam Mendes, featuring Tom Hanks, Colin Firth, and Paul Newman in his last screen role. His comic credits include Dick Tracy and Batman. Collins is also the author of numerous movie and media tie-in novels including Saving Private Ryan, Maverick, CSI, Bones, and Air Force One.
From the author of Road to Perdition, Black Hats is an alternative history/historical crime novel which imagines storied lawman Wyatt Earp—who made his reputation in Dodge City, Wichita, and Tombstone—in his later years. When the novel opens, Earp is in L.A. working as a consultant for Hollywood on western movies and doing occasional private eye work for Wells Fargo, the L.A.P.D, or his Hollywood friends. After a visit from Big Nose Kate, who confides that she gave birth to Doc Holiday’s child after he died, Earp goes East to New York City to visit (the fictional) Johnny Holliday. Like his father, Johnny is a dentist and a gambler who recently acquired a speakeasy in a poker game and who has run afoul of an up and coming gangster, Alphonse Capone. Fast paced and engaging, Black Hats is a memorable work of American myth making.
***
Black Hats is published locally by Brash Books of Leawood, KS.
***
Max Allan Collins is one of America’s most lauded writers of hard boiled fiction; a twenty-one time Shamus Award Winner. Among his series fiction are the Quarry novels, the Nolan novels, and an Elliott Ness series. His graphic novel, Road to Perdition was adapted as a film by Sam Mendes, featuring Tom Hanks, Colin Firth, and Paul Newman in his last screen role. His comic credits include Dick Tracy and Batman. Collins is also the author of numerous movie and media tie-in novels including Saving Private Ryan, Maverick, CSI, Bones, and Air Force One.
June 17, 2017
Max Allan Collins is a superb wordsmith. He can use obsolete lingo in a way that is immersive without being heavy-handed, and his wit is dry and deft. His portrait of Wyatt Earp is compelling. His landscape of prohibition-era New York (and L.A.) is detailed and well-researched, providing a fully painted backdrop (but again, without taking center stage). The plot is solid, but the momentum comes more from interest in the characters and general suspense, rather than from a clearly driven sequence of actions. Because it isn't specifically prepared for, the climax lacks the full power of, say, the shoot-out at the O.K. Corral. Another bit of mutedness comes in the first quarter of the book, which is heavy in flashbacks that slow the progress of the plot. But then, the pace throughout is the even, unhurried pace of Earp himself, who was confident in his abilities and never one to force things or make more of a fuss than necessary. Perhaps if the subject had been different, the slower pace would have been more of a deficit.
July 5, 2018
Black Hats brings together famous mobsters, wild west figures and their offspring to create a story of the early days of prohibition in New York. A majority of the main characters need little definition as they are well described in other sources. The story itself doesn't heat up a whole lot until the ending, which is quite good. The writing style is a little slow, which cost a star in my view. Nonetheless, this is a good book to read, whether you are already familiar with the characters or not.
July 31, 2017
Not my typical fare, but this was-indeed-enjoyable. It even had a bit of a surprise, so I will also say that it not at all predictable.
Light reading, if you're looking for something that takes license with historical accuracy (and admits it) and is also an interesting combo of Wild West and Roaring Twenties Gangster.
Light reading, if you're looking for something that takes license with historical accuracy (and admits it) and is also an interesting combo of Wild West and Roaring Twenties Gangster.
June 11, 2019
Kā leģendārie Mežonīgo rietumu varoņi Sausā likuma laikā palīdzēja Džonija Holideja dēlam slēpt šmigas noliktavu no Ala Kapones. Nekā īpaša, bet zināmu priekšstatu par 20-gadu Ņujorku un dzīvi tajā sniedz.
January 22, 2019
Loved this story, well executed historical fiction. Fun ride, wish this had somehow become a series. A hidden gem in the Max Allan Collins library.
October 7, 2019
This would be a great vehicle for Kurt Russell or Sam Elliott. A very good storyline.
January 3, 2020
Not as good a.book for max allan Collins
May 15, 2020
This was a fun book to read. Written in an old detective style. I didn't expect the humor in a book with Wyatt Earp and Al Capone as main characters.
January 23, 2022
Truly enjoyed this Novel! The fusion of West going Eye-In-Eye with the Eastern Mob was spectacular.
May 30, 2023
Not a masterpiece, but another awesome read from Collins.
June 16, 2024
2.5⭐️
Would I recommend it? No.
Was I entertained? Yes.
It was a fine throwaway read with an interesting tie-in to the real history.
Would I recommend it? No.
Was I entertained? Yes.
It was a fine throwaway read with an interesting tie-in to the real history.
March 29, 2014
What Black Hats shows is that times change but people don’t. Many individuals who spent their youth and salad days in the “wild West” saw the horse give way to the car and even to the aeroplane, but they adapted, adjusted and made their way in a changing world, just as those of us who remember a time without computers (or even television!) now tap out book reviews on electronic keyboards, screens and even mobile phones. Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson, two real-life lawmen from the old west, no doubt had to adapt their style considerably to cope with the hyped-up, frenzied world of jazz age America, and this idea is really the central premise – and the promise - of Black Hats.
Interestingly, author Patrick Culhane (AKA Max Allan Collins of Road to Perdition fame) has not strayed too far from fact in this tale. Wyatt Earp spent some of his golden years in Hollywood as an adviser to makers of early western movies and also did some private detective work in LA while in his seventies. It’s not too much of a stretch to imagine him packing his Buntline Special over to New York to confront the young hoodlum Al Capone in the speakeasies and mean streets of the roaring 20s.
What comes through most in the story is the genuine camaraderie and affection between old friends Wyatt and Bat, their notions of loyalty and their downright fearlessness in the face of much younger and far more heavily armed opponents. They’re no angels themselves – Culhane makes that point clear – but they have a pretty clear idea of right and wrong, unlike their opponents, and you can’t help urging the good old boys on.
An absolute fun read, exquisitely researched and superbly paced, with brilliantly realized settings – enjoy it!
Interestingly, author Patrick Culhane (AKA Max Allan Collins of Road to Perdition fame) has not strayed too far from fact in this tale. Wyatt Earp spent some of his golden years in Hollywood as an adviser to makers of early western movies and also did some private detective work in LA while in his seventies. It’s not too much of a stretch to imagine him packing his Buntline Special over to New York to confront the young hoodlum Al Capone in the speakeasies and mean streets of the roaring 20s.
What comes through most in the story is the genuine camaraderie and affection between old friends Wyatt and Bat, their notions of loyalty and their downright fearlessness in the face of much younger and far more heavily armed opponents. They’re no angels themselves – Culhane makes that point clear – but they have a pretty clear idea of right and wrong, unlike their opponents, and you can’t help urging the good old boys on.
An absolute fun read, exquisitely researched and superbly paced, with brilliantly realized settings – enjoy it!
August 20, 2011
This was a fun period piece. A 70-year-old Wyatt Earp teams up with Bat Masterson and the son of Doc Holliday against a young firecracker of a gangster, Al Capone. Patrick Culhane/Max Allan Collins does a masterful job of evoking Prohibition-era New York City. The characters are bright and pop off the page. The story is gripping, leading from shootout to duels at the poker table to a con that would evoke jealousy from Danny Ocean. It was an easy read and I enjoyed it. Not available as an ebook and out of print, you'll have to search used bookstores/online resellers for a copy.
My *only* quibble, and this is more a writerly thing, is what I felt to be an excessive use of parentheses in the narrative and a bit of headhopping in a couple of action-oriented scenes. Casual readers probably won't notice this and it won't take away from the enjoyment of the story.
My *only* quibble, and this is more a writerly thing, is what I felt to be an excessive use of parentheses in the narrative and a bit of headhopping in a couple of action-oriented scenes. Casual readers probably won't notice this and it won't take away from the enjoyment of the story.
November 15, 2014
Wyatt Earp. Bat Masterson. ...Al Capone? Geriatric badass Earp, spending his sunset years in LA as a P.I., takes a case back east extricating the son of Doc Holliday from a little Prohibition Era trouble with the mob. It sounds like the set up for a bad joke, but Max Allan Collins (writing here as Culhane) doesn't just make it work, he makes it sing. With the exception of Holliday's son, characters are almost to a man drawn from history. Fascinating, though all that nasty, inconvenient factualism somewhat hamstrings Collins in his denouement. The only time the narrative stumbles is when Collins gives into his urge to flashback to famous moments of his characters' pasts. Better to stick to his here and now. I mean, it's not every day you get ringside for Earp v. Capone slugfest. This is the Wyatt Earp novel Robert Parker wishes he'd written.
November 6, 2009
it's a little–known fact that Earp spent the last twenty years of his life as a private detective in Los Angeles. So when his best friend, Doc Holliday's, mistress implores the aging lawman to track down her and Holliday's errant son in Manhattan, Earp willingly takes the case. His task: to convince the young man to give up his ill–advised involvement in organized crime and bootlegging.
Earp enlists his old friend, Bat Masterson, who's now a sportswriter, and delves deep into the world of the New York mafia, where he comes across a young Alphonse Capone. Earp and Masterson, men who earned their names in the rough and tumble, lawless world of decades before, set their sights on liberating a young man from the ruthless thug Capone and his gang.
Earp enlists his old friend, Bat Masterson, who's now a sportswriter, and delves deep into the world of the New York mafia, where he comes across a young Alphonse Capone. Earp and Masterson, men who earned their names in the rough and tumble, lawless world of decades before, set their sights on liberating a young man from the ruthless thug Capone and his gang.
September 30, 2009
How can an author go wrong with having Wyatt Earp face Al Capone? I mean, really? This book lives up to its name. Constant action.[return][return]It's 1920. The young punk Al Capone is trying to muscle his boss's way into the liquor business in NYC. But Doc Holliday's son runs his own speakeasy and has his own liquor supply. He doesn't want to deal with Capone's people. There's the conflict! Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson show up to save the day. Even though they are senior citizens, they still can handle a weapon and beat up young punks. The action is cool, and I found myself falling in love with Wyatt Earp. He is just sooooo cool. And smart. And sarcastically funny. And the typical western hero. Read this one!
October 10, 2011
This is a thoroughly enjoyable story, an audacious fiction with enough facts behind it to make it seem as if it could have happened. Bat and Wyatt, as well as the other real-life persons, are depicted the way we’ve been led to believe they would have talked and acted, and the many legends about them are woven into the story as well. It’s a fun romp through a time in American history when old legends were fading fast and new ones were rising, but this brief moment when the old and the new might have clashed is an adventure worth reading. If you like Westerns, if you like history in general—or tweaks on history--you’ll get a kick out of Black Hats.
August 10, 2009
This is a nifty novel. The author has carefully researched history and come up with a cool & plausible "what if" scenario. What if Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson tangled with Al Capone? It didn't happen, but it could have, and the result is very entertaining. It wraps itself up nice and tidy, too. My family and I took an impromptu vacation to Dodge City, KS in order to learn more about the famous cowboys and marshals of the old west.
August 5, 2011
Wyatt Earp has become a private detective in Los Angeles in his golden years.Doc Holliday's former mistress asks him to check on Doc's son.With the help of Bat Masterson, now a sportswriter, they try to turn Doc's son from the shady path he has started walking.But New York City is being taken over by organized gangsters including a young Al Capone.Can two aging gunmen save Doc's son from the gangsters of 1920's NY gangsters?
August 28, 2011
A library loaner, it sounded fun... The 1920's, prohibition, with Wyatt Earp a PI in California with his best friend, Bat Masterson, now a sports writer in NYC, in the big city to help their late friend, Doc Holliday's son, John, dentist, gambler, and speakeasy owner. Enter Al Capone and it's the Mob vs the Old West Gunslingers. Flashback of the old west and descriptions of 20's New York City landmarks and lifestyles keep the story going.
December 15, 2012
In this historical what-if, Wyatt Earp travels to New York to save Doc Holliday's son from the protection racket of a young Al Capone. ROAD TO PERDITION author Max Allan Collins (using the Culhane pseudonym) has a wonderfully researched grasp of the Prohibition era, and great voices for his famous characters. Unfortunately, a hard-to-swallow and anti-climactic final scene don't do the rest of this fun book justice.
June 5, 2010
Another solid find at my local dollar store. Black Hats is a very entertaining read that follows historical figures along a fictional plot. Even the time line is accurate with Wyatt Earp as an aging private detective/gambler and Al Capone as a young upstart just rising through the ranks of Brooklyn's underworld during prohibition. An interesting premise despite a rather predictable ending.
July 7, 2011
This somewhat historical novel is a unique blend of bringing together Wyatt Earp, the son of Doc. Holliday and also Bat Masterson with Al Capone. Just this should be enough to intrigue you and get you interested in the book. It is an interesting read and the characters are sketched out very well.
J. Robert Ewbank, author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the 'Isms'"
J. Robert Ewbank, author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the 'Isms'"
September 14, 2012
I love gangster Prohibition stories. I just love the setting, so having Wyatt Earp square off against Al Capone was what sold me. Now to be honest, Al Capone isn't the focus here. There's a nice chapter focusing on his backstory, but otherwise he's mostly an antagonist in name only. That's still good though.
Uh...it's good. I really don't have anything else to add. What a terrible review.
Uh...it's good. I really don't have anything else to add. What a terrible review.
August 5, 2016
An aging Wyatt Earp goes up against a young Al Capone in 1920 Prohibition NY.
I was disappointed; this story had a lot of unrealized potential. It wasn't bad but it was pretty shallow and fluffy. The historical flashbacks are kind of graceless, feeling oddly out of place. Not a good book.
I was disappointed; this story had a lot of unrealized potential. It wasn't bad but it was pretty shallow and fluffy. The historical flashbacks are kind of graceless, feeling oddly out of place. Not a good book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews