The Fall of Abilene

by Johnny D. Boggs

Noah Benton, a teenager with a great memory, a head for arithmetic, and dreams of excitement, is hired along with his older brother to help drive a herd of Texas longhorns to Abilene, Kansas. But Noah’s trail boss happens to be John Wesley Hardin, a notorious killer who thinks Texas lawmen won’t look for a fugitive in a crew of hardworking cowboys. After Hardin sees a profit in Noah’s ability to count and memorize cards in gambling dens, Noah’s dreams of excitement quickly turn into nightmares—for Hardin will kill with little provocation. Earning the nicknames “Counting Boy,” “The Abilene Kid,” and “Abilene,” Noah survives the bloody journey to Kansas, only to learn that Abilene rightfully deserves its nickname as a Sodom or Gomorrah. In a town where anything goes, the marshal, legendary gunfighter Wild Bill Hickok, reluctantly forms a truce with Hardin—leaving Noah caught in the middle. As summer stretches into fall, Noah finds another friend, a special deputy named Mike Williams, who tries to keep Noah from stumbling on his way to manhood. In this well-researched historical novel, seven-time Spur Award–winning author Johnny D. Boggs chronicles Abilene’s last year as a cattle town, 1871, while humanizing Hardin and Hickok and painting sobering portraits of a city undergoing rapid change, and the never-changing challenges teenagers face on their path to adulthood.

Genres: Westerns, Fiction

211 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 4, 2019

About the author

Johnny D. Boggs is a Spur- and Wrangler Award-winning author of the American West and frontier. Born in 1962, Boggs grew up on a farm near Timmonsville, South Carolina, around the old stamping grounds of Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion (chronicled in his frontier novel The Despoilers). He knew he wanted to be a writer at an early age. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his wife, Lisa Smith; son, Jack Smith Boggs; and basset hound, June.

Reviews

[Cindy B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read for western lovers and interesting enough for the rest. Typical teen with card-counting skill meets up with the gambler John Wesley Hardin (note the 3-names) and his life goes as all who think life will be easy goes... well and entertainingly narrated by Nick Sullivan (who kept a plethora of characters clear and separate). Entertaining but there’s a little cussing on this cattle drive tale.

[Gerald Hickman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am working my way through all the books from Johnny D. Boggs, it can be a challenge to find them since he is a prolific writer. His is a newer approach on writing about the frontier. This is a cattle drive story from Goliad, Texas to the RR/cow town of Abilene, Kansas.

The friendships the narrator and main character shares in this book include John Wesley Hardin, Wild Bill Hickok and Mile Williams. This is a good read in my opinion, and the author did extensive research on cattle drives headed north out of Texas. Just look at the epilogue and acknowledgements at the end of the book. I still think that my favorite story from Boggs is Buckskin, Bloomers and Me, a baseball book about the late 1800's and early 1900's. I often think it is the author's sense of humor that makes his books a pleasant experience for me.

[Pat Gwyn]

Westerns are not my usual genre, but I have challenged myself to read outside my normal selections. I really found this interesting and followed through on researching many of the main characters who are historical figures from the settling of the West. Pulling out the history made it a much more enjoyable read.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much has changed in the Western genre, this book could've been written 50 years ago. Except maybe for the coming of age element. Noah meets two legendary gunslingers his first time away from home. Wild Bill Hickock doesn't match the legend though the author claims it's historically accurate.

[Frank Kelso · Rating 5 out of 5]

A enjoyable yarn about well-known characters -- some of it may even be true?

Boggs has a nice touch with cowboy lingo. The story paints a picture where there are now heros and lots of villains. At times it's hard to tell them apart.

[Marcy]

Good book. Haven't read a Western in a while & this one fit the bill. Will definitely read more by him.

[Kylie The Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good storytelling but slow in a lot of spots. Didn’t love the foul language and as a happy ending gal I was put off by the lack of hope. Almost a DNF.

[Clyde Henke · Rating 5 out of 5]

great read

Excellent historical fiction as are all of this author’s works. Ian in the process of reading all of his books.

[Rachel Santino · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this story. It's a great western read. It takes place during an interesting time in history, when cattle was driven into a territory and then the business of that moved elsewhere. The characters are great. It left me feeling a little sad, though, because of what happens to teenager Noah Benton and his relationship with his older brother, plus another friend. But a good story makes you feel something, and that's what happened here.

[Cindy B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read for western lovers and interesting enough for the rest. Typical teen with card-counting skill meets up with the gambler John Wesley Hardin (note the 3-names) and his life goes as all who think life will be easy goes... well and entertainingly narrated by Nick Sullivan (who kept a plethora of characters clear and separate). Entertaining but there’s a little cussing on this cattle drive tale.