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The Long-Lost Love Letters of Doc Holliday
The most notorious love letters in American history—supposedly destroyed a century ago—mysteriously reappear, and become the coveted prize in a fierce battle for possession that brings back to life the lawless world evoked in the letters themselves.
Lisa Balamaro is an ambitious arts lawyer with a secret crush on her most intriguing client: former rodeo rider and reformed art forger, Tuck Mercer. In his newfound role as an expert in Old West artifacts, Tuck gains possession of the supposedly destroyed correspondence between Doc Holliday and his cousin and childhood sweetheart, Mattie—who would become Sister Mary Melanie of the Sisters of Mercy.
Given the unlikelihood the letters can ever be fully authenticated, Tuck retains Lisa on behalf of the letters’ owner, Rayella Vargas, to sell them on the black market. But the buyer Tuck finds, a duplicitous judge from the Tombstone area, has other, far more menacing ideas.
As Lisa works feverishly to make things right, Rayella secretly enlists her ex-marine boyfriend in a daring scheme of her own.
When the judge learns he’s been blindsided, he rallies a cadre of armed men for a deadly standoff reminiscent of the moment in history that made Doc famous: The Gunfight at the OK Corral.
Lisa Balamaro is an ambitious arts lawyer with a secret crush on her most intriguing client: former rodeo rider and reformed art forger, Tuck Mercer. In his newfound role as an expert in Old West artifacts, Tuck gains possession of the supposedly destroyed correspondence between Doc Holliday and his cousin and childhood sweetheart, Mattie—who would become Sister Mary Melanie of the Sisters of Mercy.
Given the unlikelihood the letters can ever be fully authenticated, Tuck retains Lisa on behalf of the letters’ owner, Rayella Vargas, to sell them on the black market. But the buyer Tuck finds, a duplicitous judge from the Tombstone area, has other, far more menacing ideas.
As Lisa works feverishly to make things right, Rayella secretly enlists her ex-marine boyfriend in a daring scheme of her own.
When the judge learns he’s been blindsided, he rallies a cadre of armed men for a deadly standoff reminiscent of the moment in history that made Doc famous: The Gunfight at the OK Corral.
360 pages, Paperback
First published August 18, 2018
24 people are currently reading
1459 people want to read
About the author
David Corbett
32 books189 followersDavid Corbett is the author of seven novels: The Devil’s Redhead (nominated for the Anthony and Barry Awards for Best First Novel) Done for a Dime (a New York Times Notable Book and nominated for the Macavity Award for Best Novel), Blood of Paradise (nominated for numerous awards, including the Edgar), Do They Know I’m Running (Spinetingler Award, Best Novel—Rising Star Category 2011), The Mercy of the Night, The Long-Lost Love Letters of Doc Holliday (nominated for the Lefty Award for Best Historical Mystery), and The Truth Against the World (June, 2023).
David’s short fiction and poetry have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, with two stories selected for Best American Mystery Stories.
In 2012, Mysterious Press/Open Road Media re-issued his four novels plus a story collection, Thirteen Confessions, in ebook format.
In January 2013 Penguin published his textbook on the craft of characterization, The Art of Character (“A writer’s bible that will lead to your character’s soul.” —Elizabeth Brundage). he followed this up with The Compass of Character (Writers Digest Books).
He has taught creative writing at the UCLA Extension Writers’ Project, Chuck Pahalniuk’s Litreactor, 826 Valencia, The Grotto in San Francisco, Book Passage, and at writing conference across the country. He is also a monthly contributor to Writer Unboxed, an award-winning blog dedicated to the craft and business of fiction.
Before becoming a novelist, David spent fifteen years as an investigator for the San Francisco private detective agency Palladino & Sutherland, working on such high-profile civil and criminal litigations as The DeLorean Case, the Peoples Temple Trial, the Lincoln Savings & Loan Scandal, the Cotton Club Murder Case, the Michael Jackson child molestation investigation and a RICO action brought by the Teamsters against members of organized crime.
David’s short fiction and poetry have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, with two stories selected for Best American Mystery Stories.
In 2012, Mysterious Press/Open Road Media re-issued his four novels plus a story collection, Thirteen Confessions, in ebook format.
In January 2013 Penguin published his textbook on the craft of characterization, The Art of Character (“A writer’s bible that will lead to your character’s soul.” —Elizabeth Brundage). he followed this up with The Compass of Character (Writers Digest Books).
He has taught creative writing at the UCLA Extension Writers’ Project, Chuck Pahalniuk’s Litreactor, 826 Valencia, The Grotto in San Francisco, Book Passage, and at writing conference across the country. He is also a monthly contributor to Writer Unboxed, an award-winning blog dedicated to the craft and business of fiction.
Before becoming a novelist, David spent fifteen years as an investigator for the San Francisco private detective agency Palladino & Sutherland, working on such high-profile civil and criminal litigations as The DeLorean Case, the Peoples Temple Trial, the Lincoln Savings & Loan Scandal, the Cotton Club Murder Case, the Michael Jackson child molestation investigation and a RICO action brought by the Teamsters against members of organized crime.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
June 1, 2018
This is a difficult book to rate. On one hand it works on so many levels, while on the other, it suffers from a lack of identity.
The Long-Lost Love Letters of Doc Holliday is part legal thriller, part western, part crime, part romance, part black-ops. That's a lot of parts to make a cohesive story.
Lisa Balamaro is an arts lawyer who knows her stuff. Tuck, her love interest, deals in selling artifacts and art to the wealthy; mostly fakes crafted by his own hands, and some genuine pieces. When he stumbles across some letters from Doc Holliday to Sister Mary Melanie , the owner of which claiming their authenticity, he enlists Lisa to help facilitate the sale.
Things turn south pretty quickly with Lisa finding herself in a battle against a retired judge and his band of thugs who claim the letters are fake but steal them nonetheless.
The aforementioned letters are spattered throughout the book at the end of some of the chapters. They're pretty sappy and can generally be glossed over if you’re not all that interested in the content, it makes little difference to the plot aside from the romantic comparisons between Doc and Mattie and Tuck and Lisa, which, even then doesn’t really ‘add’ much to the overall flow of the narrative.
My rating: 3/5 stars, The Long-Lost Love Letters of Doc Holliday reads like it would make a good midday movie.
The Long-Lost Love Letters of Doc Holliday is part legal thriller, part western, part crime, part romance, part black-ops. That's a lot of parts to make a cohesive story.
Lisa Balamaro is an arts lawyer who knows her stuff. Tuck, her love interest, deals in selling artifacts and art to the wealthy; mostly fakes crafted by his own hands, and some genuine pieces. When he stumbles across some letters from Doc Holliday to Sister Mary Melanie , the owner of which claiming their authenticity, he enlists Lisa to help facilitate the sale.
Things turn south pretty quickly with Lisa finding herself in a battle against a retired judge and his band of thugs who claim the letters are fake but steal them nonetheless.
The aforementioned letters are spattered throughout the book at the end of some of the chapters. They're pretty sappy and can generally be glossed over if you’re not all that interested in the content, it makes little difference to the plot aside from the romantic comparisons between Doc and Mattie and Tuck and Lisa, which, even then doesn’t really ‘add’ much to the overall flow of the narrative.
My rating: 3/5 stars, The Long-Lost Love Letters of Doc Holliday reads like it would make a good midday movie.
October 9, 2024
David Corbett has an excellent writing style. The Long-Lost Love Letters of Doc Holliday is a modern mystery tale with letters - real or not - which were believed to be long destroyed, between John Henry 'Doc' Holliday and his cousin Mattie, his childhood sweetheart, who eventually became Sister Mary Melanie of the Sisters of Mercy. This is a book I could not put down. The historical details are authentic, the background word pictures of the Arizona foothills and desert are true and the modern story leaves you at times breathless. A really good book. I can recommend it happily to friends and family - all Arizona and New Mexico natives particularly - and western history buffs will love it as well.
Lisa Balamaro is a lawyer in San Francisco who is approached by an art provenance consultant she had handled transactions for previously. Tuck Mercer was an excellent salesman. Unfortunately he had done years in prison for producing some very good western art forgeries, but on his release from prison he had talked himself into the job of authenticating western art for the same collectors and museums to whom he had sold his previous 'work'. Tuck had come across a packet of letters, purported to be to and from Doc and Mattie, and having been passed down in a convoluted fashion through the generations of the family of a servant in Matties' families' household. Their current owner, Rayella Vargas, would like to sell the letters. Their provenance will be very difficult to prove but the letters themselves are fascinating. Tuck has found a potential black market buyer, a Judge in the Tombstone, AZ area, and he would like Lisa to handle the transaction. It looked like a simple little job. Lisa and Rayella pack for a day or two in sunny Arizona. They do not know they are going to war.
There are some really special quotes from a Dutch philosopher, Baruch Spinoza who was also suffering with TB scattered through this work that will make you stop and think twice. And the letters are a very clear profile of the life of Doc Holliday through his eyes, and those of the only woman he will ever love. The woman who will always love him. This is not the same Doc Holliday of films and dime novels. You may find that you understand him a lot better than you did before.
I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, David Corbett, and Black Opal Books in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I am so pleased to have found this author! He is one I will follow.
pub date Aug 18, 2018
Black Opal Books
Reviewed on Goodreads, Netgalley, and AmazonSmile. Not able to post to B&N
Read again October 4, 2024 - just as entertaining as it was the first time. Can't go wrong with David Corbett!~
Reviewed on October 3, 2024 at Goodreads. Reviewed on October 9, 2024 at AmazonSmile, Barnes&Noble, and Kobo. Not available at BookBub.
Lisa Balamaro is a lawyer in San Francisco who is approached by an art provenance consultant she had handled transactions for previously. Tuck Mercer was an excellent salesman. Unfortunately he had done years in prison for producing some very good western art forgeries, but on his release from prison he had talked himself into the job of authenticating western art for the same collectors and museums to whom he had sold his previous 'work'. Tuck had come across a packet of letters, purported to be to and from Doc and Mattie, and having been passed down in a convoluted fashion through the generations of the family of a servant in Matties' families' household. Their current owner, Rayella Vargas, would like to sell the letters. Their provenance will be very difficult to prove but the letters themselves are fascinating. Tuck has found a potential black market buyer, a Judge in the Tombstone, AZ area, and he would like Lisa to handle the transaction. It looked like a simple little job. Lisa and Rayella pack for a day or two in sunny Arizona. They do not know they are going to war.
There are some really special quotes from a Dutch philosopher, Baruch Spinoza who was also suffering with TB scattered through this work that will make you stop and think twice. And the letters are a very clear profile of the life of Doc Holliday through his eyes, and those of the only woman he will ever love. The woman who will always love him. This is not the same Doc Holliday of films and dime novels. You may find that you understand him a lot better than you did before.
I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, David Corbett, and Black Opal Books in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I am so pleased to have found this author! He is one I will follow.
pub date Aug 18, 2018
Black Opal Books
Reviewed on Goodreads, Netgalley, and AmazonSmile. Not able to post to B&N
Read again October 4, 2024 - just as entertaining as it was the first time. Can't go wrong with David Corbett!~
Reviewed on October 3, 2024 at Goodreads. Reviewed on October 9, 2024 at AmazonSmile, Barnes&Noble, and Kobo. Not available at BookBub.
August 20, 2019
When attorney Lisa Balamaro agrees to help her former client (and current crush) Tuck Mercer ensure that a friend of his gets her unusual inheritance, she's in for way more than she anticipated.
The inheritance? A set of love letters between Doc Holliday and his cousin Mattie ... letters which may or may not be forgeries.
Soon, Lisa's up to her neck in bad guys ... some of whom want the letters themselves, and other who just want to see the letters destroyed. Along the way there are subplots involving immigration, art forgery, and veterans with PTSD who also have a stake in the game.
There are abductions, fist fights, gun fights, and the kind of action most associated with thrillers. While I enjoyed the book for the most part, I found the ending somewhat dissatisfying. Still, it was a worthwhile read.
The inheritance? A set of love letters between Doc Holliday and his cousin Mattie ... letters which may or may not be forgeries.
Soon, Lisa's up to her neck in bad guys ... some of whom want the letters themselves, and other who just want to see the letters destroyed. Along the way there are subplots involving immigration, art forgery, and veterans with PTSD who also have a stake in the game.
There are abductions, fist fights, gun fights, and the kind of action most associated with thrillers. While I enjoyed the book for the most part, I found the ending somewhat dissatisfying. Still, it was a worthwhile read.
August 12, 2018
I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley for free in exchange for an honest review.
I had high hopes for this novel, and ultimately, I was disappointed. I strongly disliked all the characters and felt no sympathy for any of them. The escalation to violent action happened almost immediately and continued throughout the novel. I found it gratuitous and unexciting.
The only saving grace was the correspondence between Doc and Mattie. Sadly, the letters were few and far between.
I had high hopes for this novel, and ultimately, I was disappointed. I strongly disliked all the characters and felt no sympathy for any of them. The escalation to violent action happened almost immediately and continued throughout the novel. I found it gratuitous and unexciting.
The only saving grace was the correspondence between Doc and Mattie. Sadly, the letters were few and far between.
June 2, 2018
Picked this up because my husband loves the movie Tombstone and I found it good for a western. Being a genealogist and possessor old letters between my grandparents in the early 1900 the passages Corbett prints of the the letters between Doc and his cousin Mattie are typical of the way they communicated. That being said these letter contents are sprinkled through this crime drama but slow the plot and some of the redeeming action of the current day characters. Struggled to finish I am sorry to say. "A copy of this book was provided by Black Opal via Netgalley with no requirements for a review. Comments here are my honest opinion." DO LOVE THE COVER!!
August 14, 2018
The Long-Lost Love Letters of Doc Holliday is a tickle to the imagination. This is an intriguing what if. This thrilling mystery will take you down several paths and each is as exciting as the last
December 10, 2018
Perhaps inspired by the 1993 movie Tombstone, featuring Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer, this intense contemporary thriller draws from love letters purportedly penned by Doc Holliday and his first cousin, Martha Anne “Mattie” Holliday, who was related to Margaret Mitchell, of GONE WITH THE WIND fame.
John Henry “Doc” Holliday (1851–1887) is arguably best known for the historically inaccurate portrayal of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, the Old Kindersley Corral. Doc was actually a dentist turned lawman.
Lisa Balamaro and Nico Barragan’s law firm (“Creative Law for Creative People”) represents those who sell art and historic objects: in this case, unsubstantiated letters that Doc Holliday and unrequited love Cousin Mattie exchanged. Mattie gave those dispatches to a former slave, Sophie Walton Murphy, upon entering a Georgia convent. Thirteen decades later, Sophie’s descendant, Rayella Vargas, inherits the missives.
Tuck Mercer is “The Man Who Forged the West,” expertly replicating more than “200 fake Blumenscheins, Blakelocks, Schreyvogels, Catlins, even the occasional Farny or Remington and one wildly convincing Georgia O’Keefe.” Released from prison, “he’d ‘gone legit,’ working with the same galleries, foundations, and auction houses he’d bamboozled.” Mercer has arranged for Lisa and Rayella to sell the 46 unauthenticated letters to Tombstone’s influential Gideon Littmann, a “man who calls himself a judge but has no use for justice” and has a “self-serving relationship with the truth.”
Littmann appropriates the letters, his henchmen holding hostage the battered Rayella, weaving a tangled web of deceit. The purloined letters are for Littmann’s wife, Meredith --- not as symbolic devotion, but to lure her first love, for whom she still pines.
Supreme courtroom drama ensues, making THE LONG-LOST LOVE LETTERS OF DOC HOLLIDAY an astounding legal thriller. Lisa successfully argues: “The letters don’t have to be genuine to have value.” Forget legal posturing. Rayella’s fiancé, Marine wounded warrior Rags, and his ragtag “leatherneck legionnaires” enact gruesome vengeance. Mattie’s age-old letter observes “that men can always produce attractive arguments to justify their disgraceful actions.” Moreover, Lisa and Mercer’s tale of unrequited love parallels the story told in the Hollidays’ letters.
Brimming with intrigue and suspense, this multifaceted thriller features a contemporary shoot-’em-up not portrayed since the final scene of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Reviewed by L. Dean Murphy
John Henry “Doc” Holliday (1851–1887) is arguably best known for the historically inaccurate portrayal of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, the Old Kindersley Corral. Doc was actually a dentist turned lawman.
Lisa Balamaro and Nico Barragan’s law firm (“Creative Law for Creative People”) represents those who sell art and historic objects: in this case, unsubstantiated letters that Doc Holliday and unrequited love Cousin Mattie exchanged. Mattie gave those dispatches to a former slave, Sophie Walton Murphy, upon entering a Georgia convent. Thirteen decades later, Sophie’s descendant, Rayella Vargas, inherits the missives.
Tuck Mercer is “The Man Who Forged the West,” expertly replicating more than “200 fake Blumenscheins, Blakelocks, Schreyvogels, Catlins, even the occasional Farny or Remington and one wildly convincing Georgia O’Keefe.” Released from prison, “he’d ‘gone legit,’ working with the same galleries, foundations, and auction houses he’d bamboozled.” Mercer has arranged for Lisa and Rayella to sell the 46 unauthenticated letters to Tombstone’s influential Gideon Littmann, a “man who calls himself a judge but has no use for justice” and has a “self-serving relationship with the truth.”
Littmann appropriates the letters, his henchmen holding hostage the battered Rayella, weaving a tangled web of deceit. The purloined letters are for Littmann’s wife, Meredith --- not as symbolic devotion, but to lure her first love, for whom she still pines.
Supreme courtroom drama ensues, making THE LONG-LOST LOVE LETTERS OF DOC HOLLIDAY an astounding legal thriller. Lisa successfully argues: “The letters don’t have to be genuine to have value.” Forget legal posturing. Rayella’s fiancé, Marine wounded warrior Rags, and his ragtag “leatherneck legionnaires” enact gruesome vengeance. Mattie’s age-old letter observes “that men can always produce attractive arguments to justify their disgraceful actions.” Moreover, Lisa and Mercer’s tale of unrequited love parallels the story told in the Hollidays’ letters.
Brimming with intrigue and suspense, this multifaceted thriller features a contemporary shoot-’em-up not portrayed since the final scene of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Reviewed by L. Dean Murphy
December 3, 2018
Full disclosure: I'm a fan of David Corbett's work, from The Devil's Redhead to The Long-Lost Love Letters of Doc Holliday. His characters come alive on the page, and this novel is no exception. Even secondary characters are complex, especially if you take Rayella's boyfriend's group of ex-marines as a single character. Memorable well-drawn characters are Corbett's trademark--pretty much what you would expect from the author of The Art of Character, a highly regarded work on character development. Nearly every person in The Long-Lost Love Letters has some kind of redeeming value (with the notable exceptions of Judge Littman and his sleaze-bag lawyer Rankin) and all of them are flawed. In a word, they all feel real.
There are interesting parallels here. The lost love of Doc Holliday and his cousin Mattie, for instance, mirrors the lost love of Tuck Mercer and Meredith Littman, the judge’s wife. The devastating gun battle at the end of the novel has the feeling (if not the same number of participants) of the Gunfight at the OK Corral, but with much more sophisticated weapons.
There are very few survivors here. Lisa Balamaro is alive at the last page, but she is scared by the experience. She's strong, intelligent and flawed, but we expect her to prosper. Meredith Littman also survives, but she is left without her husband, without the love of her life, and without the love letters of the title.
Whether those love letters are real or not is a point of contention throughout the story, but in the end it doesn't really matter. Had they survived the fire Meredith sets, they would have been valuable whether or not they were fakes created by master forger Tuck Mercer. More interesting to me is the fact that Corbett has composed this several-letters-long correspondence so well, keeping to the personalities of both Doc Holliday and Mattie, that they seem absolutely real. We have in effect two forgers here, and Corbett is the master.
There are interesting parallels here. The lost love of Doc Holliday and his cousin Mattie, for instance, mirrors the lost love of Tuck Mercer and Meredith Littman, the judge’s wife. The devastating gun battle at the end of the novel has the feeling (if not the same number of participants) of the Gunfight at the OK Corral, but with much more sophisticated weapons.
There are very few survivors here. Lisa Balamaro is alive at the last page, but she is scared by the experience. She's strong, intelligent and flawed, but we expect her to prosper. Meredith Littman also survives, but she is left without her husband, without the love of her life, and without the love letters of the title.
Whether those love letters are real or not is a point of contention throughout the story, but in the end it doesn't really matter. Had they survived the fire Meredith sets, they would have been valuable whether or not they were fakes created by master forger Tuck Mercer. More interesting to me is the fact that Corbett has composed this several-letters-long correspondence so well, keeping to the personalities of both Doc Holliday and Mattie, that they seem absolutely real. We have in effect two forgers here, and Corbett is the master.
February 25, 2019
David Corbett’s latest novel, The Long-Lost Love Letters of Doc Holliday, intertwines the past and present so tightly you lose the distinction. Corbett’s deep talent in character development (see his Art of Character for a must have desk book for writers) provides even the bit players distinct roles, and the efficient intensity with which he describes the main characters, each could have his or her spin off.
He not only assumes the persona of his two letter writers within their time and place, but also the complexity of the desires he imbues in his present day characters drive this compelling story.
Corbett gives a voice to Doc Holliday in his love letters to his cousin Mattie that are so real, and the language profoundly authentic, that it is hard to believe that Corbett actually wrote the letters and these weren’t cribbed somehow from Holliday’s own words. Passages such as “I cherish the fire, the anger…and miss profoundly the generous heart in which that rage is forged” stayed with me after I put the book down. Or, “I do not wish to make a weapon out of excessive honesty.” Phrases like “temperance of tone” – where does that come from? From the far reaches of Corbett’s heavily researched knowledge and richly imaginative mind is where. Likewise, Mattie’s voice in reply is completely in character of the chaste woman of the late 19th Century, educated and contained.
Layer on top of that, a present-day intricate story of legal and violent wrangling, and the book sets out on a not so serendipitous ill-fated journey. Character trajectories and motivations clash, and our main protagonist, Lisa Balamaro the lawyer, finds her own circuitous path to justice.
There’s something for everyone in this book: action, deep history, legal thriller, wild west, and the best portrayal of how women fantasize about sex I’ve seen, complete with quotes from Spinoza as if he was whispering in Corbett’s ear as he wrote. Don’t miss out.
He not only assumes the persona of his two letter writers within their time and place, but also the complexity of the desires he imbues in his present day characters drive this compelling story.
Corbett gives a voice to Doc Holliday in his love letters to his cousin Mattie that are so real, and the language profoundly authentic, that it is hard to believe that Corbett actually wrote the letters and these weren’t cribbed somehow from Holliday’s own words. Passages such as “I cherish the fire, the anger…and miss profoundly the generous heart in which that rage is forged” stayed with me after I put the book down. Or, “I do not wish to make a weapon out of excessive honesty.” Phrases like “temperance of tone” – where does that come from? From the far reaches of Corbett’s heavily researched knowledge and richly imaginative mind is where. Likewise, Mattie’s voice in reply is completely in character of the chaste woman of the late 19th Century, educated and contained.
Layer on top of that, a present-day intricate story of legal and violent wrangling, and the book sets out on a not so serendipitous ill-fated journey. Character trajectories and motivations clash, and our main protagonist, Lisa Balamaro the lawyer, finds her own circuitous path to justice.
There’s something for everyone in this book: action, deep history, legal thriller, wild west, and the best portrayal of how women fantasize about sex I’ve seen, complete with quotes from Spinoza as if he was whispering in Corbett’s ear as he wrote. Don’t miss out.
August 18, 2018
Lisa Balamaro is an intelligent and gifted, albeit rudderless, young attorney who has drifted into a successful art law practice in San Francisco. A dream come true, right? One day, her cowboy client, former art forger, Tuck Mercer, brings her a deal: negotiate the sale of the recently discovered long-lost love letters of Doc Holliday to a western artifact collector. Recently discovered, these letters between Doc and his cousin, Mattie, who allegedly was the inspiration for Margaret Mitchell’s character, Melanie Hamilton, are highly desirable.
No big deal. Lisa flies to Arizona with Rayella Vargas, the owner of the letters, to meet the buyer at a remote hotel of his choosing. As soon as the conference room door is closed, all hell breaks loose.
Faced with layers of deception and intrigue Lisa does not yet comprehend, our young lawyer does what she knows how to do best: files suit and goes to court. While she’s lawyering, every other character is doing what they know how to do best: the crooked judge, the shyster lawyer, the cowboy vigilantes, and a small squad of battle-hardened Marines at the beck and call of good old Tuck.
The novel alternates between the contemporary story and gorgeously-written letters as they trace the separation of the star-crossed lovers. For those who enjoy the beautiful use of language, there is much to be enjoyed.
The author also masterly renders an out-of-control courtroom drama weaving in the attorney’s thought processes as she runs through procedures and arguments in a way that is understandable to the lay person, credible to an experienced attorney, and creates an exciting tension-filled scene. After court, the drama continues to escalate all the way to the end. It’s one of those stories that I know will stay with me for as I sort it all out.
No big deal. Lisa flies to Arizona with Rayella Vargas, the owner of the letters, to meet the buyer at a remote hotel of his choosing. As soon as the conference room door is closed, all hell breaks loose.
Faced with layers of deception and intrigue Lisa does not yet comprehend, our young lawyer does what she knows how to do best: files suit and goes to court. While she’s lawyering, every other character is doing what they know how to do best: the crooked judge, the shyster lawyer, the cowboy vigilantes, and a small squad of battle-hardened Marines at the beck and call of good old Tuck.
The novel alternates between the contemporary story and gorgeously-written letters as they trace the separation of the star-crossed lovers. For those who enjoy the beautiful use of language, there is much to be enjoyed.
The author also masterly renders an out-of-control courtroom drama weaving in the attorney’s thought processes as she runs through procedures and arguments in a way that is understandable to the lay person, credible to an experienced attorney, and creates an exciting tension-filled scene. After court, the drama continues to escalate all the way to the end. It’s one of those stories that I know will stay with me for as I sort it all out.
July 22, 2018
This is a weird one. I was expecting a dual-perspective historical, and ended up with an art forgery thriller mixed with a dash of revenge thriller. It had some problems. First of all, the pace was off - Doc’s letters where sprinkled throughout and, while they were interesting and well written and told their own story within the main story, they really broke up the action. This is death to a thriller.
Secondly, the main plot point (the letters) didn’t justify the action. Calling them “the most notorious letter in the old West” doesn’t make it so. They were love letters outlining a previously known relationship. Interesting? Yes. Valuable? Probably. Deserving of the bat-guano crazy carnage outlined in this book? Nuh-uh.
Lastly - and most damaging - NONE of the characters were likeable or sympathetic. Disappointing.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC ebook to review.
Secondly, the main plot point (the letters) didn’t justify the action. Calling them “the most notorious letter in the old West” doesn’t make it so. They were love letters outlining a previously known relationship. Interesting? Yes. Valuable? Probably. Deserving of the bat-guano crazy carnage outlined in this book? Nuh-uh.
Lastly - and most damaging - NONE of the characters were likeable or sympathetic. Disappointing.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC ebook to review.
June 4, 2018
I loved this book. I have been to Tombstone multiple times so I was eager to read it. These letters were supposedly lost but surfaced in the hands of Tuck, a reformed art forger. Lisa is an arts lawyer attracted to Tuck. These letters were written between Doc Holliday and his childhood sweetheart. Since the letters may never be able to be authenticated. Tuck hired Lisa to sell them on the black market. A cheating judge gets involved and what will happen to the letters, are they real, will this be another stand off in Tombstone.? I going now to rewatch Tombstone and look at my pictures that I took there. I received this book from Net Galley for an honest review and no compensation.
August 5, 2019
What might make trouble for some readers—the blending of thriller, historical, epistolary, contemporary—was what I found most appealing. I think its moving around between these things reflects the nature of the world and of people. We are all tied up in the now and the past, our own physical selves in the world, and what we believe about where we come from, the speed of current events, and the slowness of reflection. Well done. If you like to read in the space where many things meet, this is it.
August 8, 2019
Historical fiction meets present day! Do not read this book if you think it is one long love story! There is a mixture of thriller, loyalty and, love. I could not put this book down as I wanted to know, what the characters were planning on doing next! David Corbett, kept me guessing what would happen next and I must say, my guesses were usually wrong and his events were so much better than what I was thinking! Loved this book!
June 11, 2018
I was expecting more of the historical fiction, by the title and cover of the book. This is a art forgery thriller, using the "letters" as very much a side note. It was fine as a thriller, but I felt mislead and feel readers will be too.
September 22, 2018
Great book. When reading the love letters, they sounded authentic.
September 23, 2018
This book is FANTASTIC and so moving. Iove Doc Holliday. Would love to see this made into a movie. Highly recommend this book.
August 19, 2021
Corbett interweaves three love stories into an intriguing crime thriller. How do you do that? Very impressive.
July 15, 2018
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
The notorious Doc Holliday continues to make an impact – and take lives – over a hundred and thirty years after his death in THE LONG-LOST LOVE LETTERS OF DOC HOLLIDAY by David Corbett. The novel is due out on August 18th 2018 by Black Opal.
When the long-lost love letters between Doc Holliday and his cousin Mattie reappear years after the Holliday family swore the correspondence was destroyed, Lisa Balamaro (an arts lawyer) and Tuck Mercer (reformed Western arts forger) work together to sell the unauthenticated letters on the black market. When the buyer – a corrupt judge in the Tombstone area – steals the letters, Lisa does everything she can to rectify the situation on behalf of her client, Rayella Vargas. While Lisa works on the right side of the law, others take more extreme measures to get the letters back into Rayella’s possession and leave more victims than there were following the Gunfight at the OK Corral.
The actual letters between Doc Holliday and his cousin are not the main focus of the novel, though they are included sporadically throughout. And the content of the letters have nothing to do with the overall plot of the novel. It is the fact that these letters exist that drives the plot of THE LONG-LOST LOVE LETTERS OF DOC HOLLIDAY. Whether the letters are authentic or fake remains a question throughout the novel, and that is what sets off the explosive drama surrounding the letters. THE LONG-LOST LOVE LETTERS OF DOC HOLLIDAY is an intense and interesting crime drama about art forgery and the fallout of the forgery.
I didn’t exactly like THE LONG-LOST LOVE LETTERS OF DOC HOLLIDAY, but I didn’t hate it either. Mostly I was ambivalent towards the novel and the characters. The heroes of the novel are not really heroes – they’re just slightly better than the villains – and I found that I couldn’t really connect with any of them enough to care about what happened to them. This is a great novel for anyone interested in art forgery or crime dramas. The plot is stimulating, and there is a lot of action and suspense. For anyone reading this novel because of their fascination with Doc Holliday…well, the novel really has nothing to do with Doc Holliday.
https://www.randeegreen.com/blog/2018...
The notorious Doc Holliday continues to make an impact – and take lives – over a hundred and thirty years after his death in THE LONG-LOST LOVE LETTERS OF DOC HOLLIDAY by David Corbett. The novel is due out on August 18th 2018 by Black Opal.
When the long-lost love letters between Doc Holliday and his cousin Mattie reappear years after the Holliday family swore the correspondence was destroyed, Lisa Balamaro (an arts lawyer) and Tuck Mercer (reformed Western arts forger) work together to sell the unauthenticated letters on the black market. When the buyer – a corrupt judge in the Tombstone area – steals the letters, Lisa does everything she can to rectify the situation on behalf of her client, Rayella Vargas. While Lisa works on the right side of the law, others take more extreme measures to get the letters back into Rayella’s possession and leave more victims than there were following the Gunfight at the OK Corral.
The actual letters between Doc Holliday and his cousin are not the main focus of the novel, though they are included sporadically throughout. And the content of the letters have nothing to do with the overall plot of the novel. It is the fact that these letters exist that drives the plot of THE LONG-LOST LOVE LETTERS OF DOC HOLLIDAY. Whether the letters are authentic or fake remains a question throughout the novel, and that is what sets off the explosive drama surrounding the letters. THE LONG-LOST LOVE LETTERS OF DOC HOLLIDAY is an intense and interesting crime drama about art forgery and the fallout of the forgery.
I didn’t exactly like THE LONG-LOST LOVE LETTERS OF DOC HOLLIDAY, but I didn’t hate it either. Mostly I was ambivalent towards the novel and the characters. The heroes of the novel are not really heroes – they’re just slightly better than the villains – and I found that I couldn’t really connect with any of them enough to care about what happened to them. This is a great novel for anyone interested in art forgery or crime dramas. The plot is stimulating, and there is a lot of action and suspense. For anyone reading this novel because of their fascination with Doc Holliday…well, the novel really has nothing to do with Doc Holliday.
https://www.randeegreen.com/blog/2018...
October 3, 2024
John Henry (Doc) Holiday and his cousin, Mattie, are childhood lovers held apart by religion (her family is Catholic while his is Presbyterian) and consanguinity (they are first cousins). Doc moves West in an attempt to cure his tuberculosis but continues a long-term correspondence with his true love. In his absence, she becomes a nun. When he succumbs to the disease, she says she destroys their letters; however, they are eventually recovered from a safe deposit box belonging to the family of one of Mattie's family's slaves and left to a young woman, Rayella Vargas. These letters may or may not be genuine, and in fact, the book never clearly says one way or another. Tuck Mercer, a former rodeo rider turned art forger turned expert in authenticating artifacts from the Old West, tries to sell them for Vargas with the assistance of a creative property lawyer, Lisa Balamaro. The potential buyer, a judge from Tucson, nabs the letters when Balamaro takes them to him to inspect, setting off a black ops type operation run by Vargas's boyfriend and Tuck in a modern-day reenactment of the shootout at the OK Corral.
The Long-Lost Love Letters of Doc Holiday is a genre-bending blend of romance, black-ops, art forgery, art heist, and thriller. The historical details here are accurate as are the contemporary aspects of vigilante groups protecting the US border from illegal immigrants. And the descriptions of the Arizona landscape are breathtaking. Through the interspersed letters between Holiday and Mattie, the reader gets some insights into both the famed gunslingers and his relationship with his true love as well as into the parallel relationship between Tuck and his own long-lost love, Melanie.
The Long-Lost Love Letters of Doc Holiday is a genre-bending blend of romance, black-ops, art forgery, art heist, and thriller. The historical details here are accurate as are the contemporary aspects of vigilante groups protecting the US border from illegal immigrants. And the descriptions of the Arizona landscape are breathtaking. Through the interspersed letters between Holiday and Mattie, the reader gets some insights into both the famed gunslingers and his relationship with his true love as well as into the parallel relationship between Tuck and his own long-lost love, Melanie.
August 18, 2018
The Long-Lost Love Letters of Doc Holliday by David Corbett is a thriller concerning the letters in the title. It is present day story with the letters making an appearance throughout. This story of Old West artifacts and love letters has reformed characters, along with some unsavory ones.
The book is based on fact about well-known Holliday’s love, but the rest reads like a current fight leading up to the OK Corral. The story seems simple but soon turns complex. Characters are not always what they seem or are to be trusted. In fact, the entire book was not what I thought it would be. Still an exciting western thriller with David Corbett having a way in describing the western landscape as well as the characters.
An ARC of the book was given to me by the publisher through Net Galley which I voluntarily chose to read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The book is based on fact about well-known Holliday’s love, but the rest reads like a current fight leading up to the OK Corral. The story seems simple but soon turns complex. Characters are not always what they seem or are to be trusted. In fact, the entire book was not what I thought it would be. Still an exciting western thriller with David Corbett having a way in describing the western landscape as well as the characters.
An ARC of the book was given to me by the publisher through Net Galley which I voluntarily chose to read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
September 30, 2019
The Long-Lost Love Letters of Doc Holliday
by David Corbett
I am a big fan of the old West and enjoy most stories pertaining to Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp. This book while good, left me disappointed as I continuously had to concentrate to see if we were in the past or jumping to the present. But I was impressed how Mr. Corbett intertwined the stories of the love letters from Doc Holliday to the characters in the present story.
Still the story did not keep my attention and I did struggle to finish it. Way too much violence and the present day characters were not what I expected them to be.
I thank Goodreads for the opportunity to read and give an honest review and to the author, David Corbett for writing this book. I think I would have enjoyed the book more if had been about the love letters.
by David Corbett
I am a big fan of the old West and enjoy most stories pertaining to Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp. This book while good, left me disappointed as I continuously had to concentrate to see if we were in the past or jumping to the present. But I was impressed how Mr. Corbett intertwined the stories of the love letters from Doc Holliday to the characters in the present story.
Still the story did not keep my attention and I did struggle to finish it. Way too much violence and the present day characters were not what I expected them to be.
I thank Goodreads for the opportunity to read and give an honest review and to the author, David Corbett for writing this book. I think I would have enjoyed the book more if had been about the love letters.
October 26, 2020
Not really my cup of tea. Very few people to like. I liked reading the letters between Doc Holliday and Mattie but found I was not as interested in the modern-day goings-on. I felt like there were two different authors. It would probably make a better movie due to all of the action. It is likely that as this not one of my usual genres that it was more difficult for me to picture the gunplay. For an action or suspense novel there seemed to be a lot of descriptive intimacy. I don't like reading romance novels and certainly did not expect to find any here. I'm sure there is an audience for this book but I'm not it.
April 13, 2025
I had such high hopes for this book, but I was disappointed. Not much in the characters to like or dislike - they were just there. Best was Elan, IMHO. The young girl who claimed ownership of the letters was a cardboard cutout. She was angry and haughty at the same time, but we never found out exactly what caused this simmering antagonism. As far as the story...extreme violence practically from the beginning, but very little reasoning. Lots of empty heads just assaulting and killing well cuz that's what they do. I kept expecting something more to happen with the court case, but we never went back there. Oh well.
November 1, 2018
"t’s a tantalizing situation with a terrific payoff, thanks not only to Corbett’s fine writing and pacing, but in his portrayals of Lisa, a woman who finds herself a pawn in a game of deceit and danger where no one can be trusted, not even her clients; and especially not the colorful charming bad boy who roped her into this mess."
I invite you to read the rest of my review at my webpage! http://tbdeluxe.blogspot.com/2018/11/lost-letters-and-poisoned-soil-long.html! Thanks!
I invite you to read the rest of my review at my webpage! http://tbdeluxe.blogspot.com/2018/11/lost-letters-and-poisoned-soil-long.html! Thanks!
December 5, 2018
Disappointing
In the end, I was disappointed in this book. The letters between Doc Holliday and his cousin are by far the best bits, but they're too few and take too much of a back seat to the present-day action. I'm sure this was the author's intention, but I think it made for a weaker book. Also, the very high level of violence in the last quarter of the book seemed gratuitous.
In the end, I was disappointed in this book. The letters between Doc Holliday and his cousin are by far the best bits, but they're too few and take too much of a back seat to the present-day action. I'm sure this was the author's intention, but I think it made for a weaker book. Also, the very high level of violence in the last quarter of the book seemed gratuitous.
July 28, 2019
I love the premise of the book. The old West and the vocabulary that no longer is used. I didn't enjoy the graphic violence that occurred near the end of the story.
August 19, 2018
This mystery/thriller will not appeal to everyone, as there is a lot going on. I thoroughly enjoyed it, however. The historical details made it easy to imagine the setting this took place in. Great writing!
October 4, 2018
I really liked the concept of this book and the switch between the modern story and the love letters. But, it felt like it could have been two books since the connection between the two stories was tenuous at best. I get it that the theme was lost love and that there was a shoot out between bad guys and not so bad guys but it really felt forced. I say “not so bad” because they were really not good guys, just like Wyatt Earp, his brothers and Doc Holiday. Actually the book would have worked without the love letters and been just as good. I really hated the ending and cannot explain why without including a spoiler. But it all just seemed so unnecessary.
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