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Boon #1
Boon
No man is Boon’s equal, no gun more lethal. Boonsri Angchuan travels the trails, riding from town to town with her one and only friend, a portly Arkansan drunkard named Edward Splettstoesser. She has done nothing else for years, her only goal being revenge upon the one man who should have protected her but instead sold her and her mother into bondage. From Texas to the New Mexico Territory, from the filthy backstreets of San Francisco’s notorious Barbary Coast to the ghost town of a depleted placer mine, Boon and Edward navigate corrupt lawmen, hostile Kiowa, a mad judge, and countless gunmen aiming for their heads in Boon’s dogged pursuit of answers—and vengeance.***“ Boon is a force!”—John Foster, author of The Isle “Ed Kurtz is one of the most dynamic and talented storytellers writing today. Period.”—Terrence McCauley, author of Where the Bullets Fly and Dark Territory “Kurtz's Boon is a potent example of what a modern western should diverse, thrilling, and an honest romp through America's troubled past.”—Errick Nunnally, author of Lightning Wears a Red Cape and Blood for the Sun
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First published April 7, 2020
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About the author
Ed Kurtz
56 books145 followersEd Kurtz is the author of THE RIB FROM WHICH I REMAKE THE WORLD and other novels. His short fiction has appeared in numerous collections, and has been honored in Best American Mystery Stories as well as Best Gay Stories. Kurtz lives in Minneapolis.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 15, 2020
In "Boon," Ed Kurtz has given us just about the best Western ever. Even if you don't read Westerns, this is one you can't pass up. It's that damn good. Think buddy stories of a pair of outlaws on the run like Butch and Sundance. They think the other ones just that much off kilter, but they got no one else who'll put up with them. That's about how it is with Boon and Edward, the unlikeliest pair to ever grace the dusty trails of the American west. He's got an unpronounceable German last name. She's the first Thai cowgirl to ever shoot her way across the West, but she's the fastest shot anyone's ever seen, if that is, they lived to tell of it. And she's got her own set of rules that not even Edward understands. She's on a mission to find her missing parents, a mission she's been on for years with Edward tagging along and leaving a bloody mess of a trail across the land. It's all here with crooked lawmen, saloons, preachers, shootouts with Comanches, gunfights, knife fights, and every paragraph is written in gold. You've never read a Western like this before.
November 9, 2020
Boonsri Angchuan seeks revenge. From whom will soon be made clear and when it is? You'll want revenge too!
I went into this book totally blind, other than knowing it was a western. Joe R. Lansdale taught me that I could love westerns. Larry McMurty taught me that some westerns are so much MORE than just...westerns. Ed Kurtz has now taught me that westerns can be...LIFE.
Boonsri is a woman on a mission. Exactly what that mission is, is revealed as the story goes on. With her, travels a large man originally of German descent, but as of late, from Arkansas. His name is Edward and he drinks a lot. I mean, A LOT. Boon and Edward, (who is like the western version of Jon Snow, because she so often tells him how he knows nothing), travel together by horseback, by train and sometimes by foot. Their mission brings them through the states, (or territories), of Texas, New Mexico and San Francisco's Barbary Coast in search of....well, you'll just have to read this to find out!
BOON is like a huge tapestry, weaved out of life and what it was like here in the United States, especially in the west. Mostly? That life was barbaric. Immigrants existed to work for those in charge. Women existed to do the same. And those in charge? They were almost always men. White men. Many of them devoid of any humanity at all. That's what the wild west did to most...it ground the good right out of them, until all that was left was inner beast; all urges, all primal, all survival based.
The savior of this book is fat, drunken Edward. Man of few baths and even fewer great thoughts. What Edward does have, though, is a moral sense of what is right. He has a sense of loyalty and some might say he often cares for others more than he cares for himself. And that is one rare thing in the American west of that time.
Joshua Saxon's narration of kind, sweet, drunken Edward, brought him to life. Boon too! The exchanges between the two had me at different times, wanting to laugh and then wanting to cry. Sometimes both at the same time! (And isn't that just the BEST?)
These characters, created and animated by the words of Ed Kurtz, and voiced by the talented Joshua Saxon, are going to be with me a long, long time. I'm not even counting the poor little girl, the mad judge of a small town or the evil man behind, well, everything. Together, all of them exist in my mind's eyes,( and ears), and I cannot wait to rejoin the ones that survived!
My highest recommendation! Seriously, my HIGHEST!
Get your copy here: https://amzn.to/36jbE14
*Thanks to the narrator for the audio download of this book in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*
I went into this book totally blind, other than knowing it was a western. Joe R. Lansdale taught me that I could love westerns. Larry McMurty taught me that some westerns are so much MORE than just...westerns. Ed Kurtz has now taught me that westerns can be...LIFE.
Boonsri is a woman on a mission. Exactly what that mission is, is revealed as the story goes on. With her, travels a large man originally of German descent, but as of late, from Arkansas. His name is Edward and he drinks a lot. I mean, A LOT. Boon and Edward, (who is like the western version of Jon Snow, because she so often tells him how he knows nothing), travel together by horseback, by train and sometimes by foot. Their mission brings them through the states, (or territories), of Texas, New Mexico and San Francisco's Barbary Coast in search of....well, you'll just have to read this to find out!
BOON is like a huge tapestry, weaved out of life and what it was like here in the United States, especially in the west. Mostly? That life was barbaric. Immigrants existed to work for those in charge. Women existed to do the same. And those in charge? They were almost always men. White men. Many of them devoid of any humanity at all. That's what the wild west did to most...it ground the good right out of them, until all that was left was inner beast; all urges, all primal, all survival based.
The savior of this book is fat, drunken Edward. Man of few baths and even fewer great thoughts. What Edward does have, though, is a moral sense of what is right. He has a sense of loyalty and some might say he often cares for others more than he cares for himself. And that is one rare thing in the American west of that time.
Joshua Saxon's narration of kind, sweet, drunken Edward, brought him to life. Boon too! The exchanges between the two had me at different times, wanting to laugh and then wanting to cry. Sometimes both at the same time! (And isn't that just the BEST?)
These characters, created and animated by the words of Ed Kurtz, and voiced by the talented Joshua Saxon, are going to be with me a long, long time. I'm not even counting the poor little girl, the mad judge of a small town or the evil man behind, well, everything. Together, all of them exist in my mind's eyes,( and ears), and I cannot wait to rejoin the ones that survived!
My highest recommendation! Seriously, my HIGHEST!
Get your copy here: https://amzn.to/36jbE14
*Thanks to the narrator for the audio download of this book in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*
December 2, 2021
What do I say about this book?
I'll try to hash something together tomorrow after a bottle or whatever.
I'm easy. Damned near made me weep. Like McMurtry's Westerns.
Hopefully -more- tomorrow.
Go to bed, you heathen.
As I’ve said… this story is a first person narrative, told by the fat Arkansan, hard-drinking sidekick of “Boon”… actual name Boonsri Angchuan. Of Siam. She’s looking for the low down sonofabitch who deals in slavery and pimping. Boon is an amazing fast gun draw, a fist-fighter, and a tough hombre for a slightly built young woman originally from Siam.
This is a long tale of her search for the man who sold her mother into whoredom and sought to do the same to Boon. Only Boon caught on quick to the ways of the post-Civil War Wild West.
She’s on a vengeance trip and she’s got the bloodlust to boot.
Let no man stand between her and her objective.
I loved this novel. The non-stop action and the violence and the faithfulness between two sidekicks who couldn’t be more different.
Highest Possible Recommendation!
If you love your profane Western and you fail to read this? You ain’t got a hair on your ass.
I'll try to hash something together tomorrow after a bottle or whatever.
I'm easy. Damned near made me weep. Like McMurtry's Westerns.
Hopefully -more- tomorrow.
Go to bed, you heathen.
As I’ve said… this story is a first person narrative, told by the fat Arkansan, hard-drinking sidekick of “Boon”… actual name Boonsri Angchuan. Of Siam. She’s looking for the low down sonofabitch who deals in slavery and pimping. Boon is an amazing fast gun draw, a fist-fighter, and a tough hombre for a slightly built young woman originally from Siam.
This is a long tale of her search for the man who sold her mother into whoredom and sought to do the same to Boon. Only Boon caught on quick to the ways of the post-Civil War Wild West.
She’s on a vengeance trip and she’s got the bloodlust to boot.
Let no man stand between her and her objective.
I loved this novel. The non-stop action and the violence and the faithfulness between two sidekicks who couldn’t be more different.
Highest Possible Recommendation!
If you love your profane Western and you fail to read this? You ain’t got a hair on your ass.
September 21, 2020
Boon by Ed Kurtz
Dark, deadly, and disturbing this Western was a first of its kind for me. Two more unlikely characters to form a friendship and ride the trails than Boon and Edward might be hard to find. I have to say that in the beginning I almost gave up thinking this book was not for me but it indeed was for me and will have me pondering on it for some time to come.
What I liked:
* The realness of the story – it appealed to all my senses and I felt I was within the story
* The way it made me question how people end up like Boon and wondering what her thinking process was at times
* Wondering how and why Edward was so willing to tag along with her on her quest
* The strength of both characters with stoic much more silent Boon balancing the more verbal outgoing Edward
* The glimpses into the backstories of both characters
* That both main characters were flawed
* That I began to understand and care about both Boon and Edward and hope they would find what they were looking for
* The look into the life of people brought over and used as slaves when they arrived in the USA made me realize this issue has been ongoing for a LONG time
* That at least sometimes justice (of sorts) was meted out
* The depth of the friendship between Edward and Boon – even though it was different than most in books one reads
* Finding a new author that had a story to tell that was definitely worth reading
* That the story was so different from what I was expecting
* That more than one evil person met his maker
What I did not like:
* The evil men and what those evil men did
* Thinking about everything that Boon must have experienced to become the woman that she was
Did I enjoy this story? In the end I thoroughly enjoyed it
Would I read more by this author? Yes
Thank you to NetGalley and Crossroad Press-Dimension W Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.
5 Stars
Dark, deadly, and disturbing this Western was a first of its kind for me. Two more unlikely characters to form a friendship and ride the trails than Boon and Edward might be hard to find. I have to say that in the beginning I almost gave up thinking this book was not for me but it indeed was for me and will have me pondering on it for some time to come.
What I liked:
* The realness of the story – it appealed to all my senses and I felt I was within the story
* The way it made me question how people end up like Boon and wondering what her thinking process was at times
* Wondering how and why Edward was so willing to tag along with her on her quest
* The strength of both characters with stoic much more silent Boon balancing the more verbal outgoing Edward
* The glimpses into the backstories of both characters
* That both main characters were flawed
* That I began to understand and care about both Boon and Edward and hope they would find what they were looking for
* The look into the life of people brought over and used as slaves when they arrived in the USA made me realize this issue has been ongoing for a LONG time
* That at least sometimes justice (of sorts) was meted out
* The depth of the friendship between Edward and Boon – even though it was different than most in books one reads
* Finding a new author that had a story to tell that was definitely worth reading
* That the story was so different from what I was expecting
* That more than one evil person met his maker
What I did not like:
* The evil men and what those evil men did
* Thinking about everything that Boon must have experienced to become the woman that she was
Did I enjoy this story? In the end I thoroughly enjoyed it
Would I read more by this author? Yes
Thank you to NetGalley and Crossroad Press-Dimension W Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.
5 Stars
July 24, 2023
Book source ~ Audible
Boonsri Angchuan and Edward Splettstoesser. That’s a mouthful of names. Boon saved Edward from a lynching and he’s been traveling with her ever since. Her mission? To find her father and kill him. Well, he didn’t have anything better to do, so why not?
It’s the Old West, the Civil War is over, and Boon is riding around the country searching for the father who sold her and her mom into slavery. While following a lead, she happens upon Edward and saves his life, so he just tags along. The story is told from his POV.
I picked this up back in 2020. I think it was on sale and sounded interesting. Otherwise I don’t know why I grabbed it. I had no idea what I was getting into. LOL It’s an entertaining and gory book about one woman’s revenge. Boon is ruthless. For the most part. And a crack shot. She doesn’t appear to be afraid of anything and she gives zero fucks about what people think of her. Considering her past, I can see why. Edward is a drunk, but a mostly decent fellow. If the Old West was half as bad as what they come across on her search, then yikes. Honestly? It was probably much worse.
This story is raw, violent, and gory. It’s also got heart. It’s a tale worth telling and I enjoyed it. Hmmm, I’m not sure enjoyed is the correct word. Let’s just say, I lived it and survived.
Boonsri Angchuan and Edward Splettstoesser. That’s a mouthful of names. Boon saved Edward from a lynching and he’s been traveling with her ever since. Her mission? To find her father and kill him. Well, he didn’t have anything better to do, so why not?
It’s the Old West, the Civil War is over, and Boon is riding around the country searching for the father who sold her and her mom into slavery. While following a lead, she happens upon Edward and saves his life, so he just tags along. The story is told from his POV.
I picked this up back in 2020. I think it was on sale and sounded interesting. Otherwise I don’t know why I grabbed it. I had no idea what I was getting into. LOL It’s an entertaining and gory book about one woman’s revenge. Boon is ruthless. For the most part. And a crack shot. She doesn’t appear to be afraid of anything and she gives zero fucks about what people think of her. Considering her past, I can see why. Edward is a drunk, but a mostly decent fellow. If the Old West was half as bad as what they come across on her search, then yikes. Honestly? It was probably much worse.
This story is raw, violent, and gory. It’s also got heart. It’s a tale worth telling and I enjoyed it. Hmmm, I’m not sure enjoyed is the correct word. Let’s just say, I lived it and survived.
January 13, 2023
I'm not much of a western reader. I took a chance on this because I love Kurtz's horror novels. Boon did not disappoint. The story is gripping (and gruesome) but it's the narrator's voice that made me love this book.
September 12, 2020
This is not your typical western. The story of a young woman's search for her parents with less than friendly intentions, BOON by Ed Kurtz was a very interesting reading experience. Boon's story is told through the voice of her riding companion of three years, Edward. Boon saved Edward's life so he joined her in her quest. But this journey has Edward confused and conflicted most of the time. The book does have an abundance of violence, Boon answers most questions with a bullet, or worse. The story follows them through many stops along Boon's journey. With Edward's unfailing wit and determination to keep Boon and himself alive, he provides plenty of comic relief and manages to make Boon human.
I have to admit that this book grew on me. The further into the story of these friends and their troubles, the more I tried to figure out the story. It's a uniquely told western that I think most people will love if given the chance. Read at your own risk....you'll soon be looking for more Kurtz titles.
I have to admit that this book grew on me. The further into the story of these friends and their troubles, the more I tried to figure out the story. It's a uniquely told western that I think most people will love if given the chance. Read at your own risk....you'll soon be looking for more Kurtz titles.
April 6, 2021
The beginning didn't catch my attention right away, but it did in the end, and I loved the story! This is the type of story that gets you thinking. I feel like the majority of female protagonists who aren't the stereotypical lady in distress can be badass, but there's typically a supernatural/magical element to their badassery. That was not the case with Boon. She was an interesting character who pulled me in, not because she was emotional within the story, but because she was the opposite. Just imaging all the crap she had dealt with while growing up and how those negative encounters created such a cool, albeit emotionally damaged, character.
Joshua Saxton, narrator extraordinaire, did an amazing job. He never disappoints!
Joshua Saxton, narrator extraordinaire, did an amazing job. He never disappoints!
October 6, 2020
There's nothing like a good western and there's nothing like a good Ed Kurtz western. Boon is a sprawling tale of bloody revenge with a twist that you may not expect. You won't find John Wayne in Kurtz's West. You won't even find Eastwood. Instead, you are presented with the harsh reality of a world filled with hate, blood, and bullets. In Boon, we see this through the perspective of a Thai woman and her steadfast companion and narrator. Together, they cross the country seeking a reckoning and meet the oddest, vilest characters you could imagine. Great action, deep, flawed characters, and lots of great humor peppered in makes for one fantastic read. Highly recommended.
November 1, 2022
Compelling, with a voice that sucks you in
While I normally read Weird Western, I picked up this straight Western and got sucked right in. The narrator, Edward, is the sidekick telling Boon's story in a voice that evokes the Old West and pulled me forward, chapter after chapter. Boon herself is somewhat mysterious and aloof, but Edward's stories keep her human despite her prodigious skills with weapons. She's more a force of nature than human, but Edward sees the hidden humanity peek through and passes it on.
Definitely worth the read.
While I normally read Weird Western, I picked up this straight Western and got sucked right in. The narrator, Edward, is the sidekick telling Boon's story in a voice that evokes the Old West and pulled me forward, chapter after chapter. Boon herself is somewhat mysterious and aloof, but Edward's stories keep her human despite her prodigious skills with weapons. She's more a force of nature than human, but Edward sees the hidden humanity peek through and passes it on.
Definitely worth the read.
October 2, 2020
This was a really enjoyable western, with the perfect amounts of comedy and violence. A sort of quest western, but the quest is for revenge. Will need to find more by Ed Kurtz, and hope for more adventures with Boonsri Angchuan and Edward Splettstoesser.
May 15, 2021
I enjoy stories with strong women protagonists; Boon delivers and then some! The choice of a secondary character, Edward, as the storyteller was refreshing and oddly heartwarming. Am looking forward to reading the next in the series.
April 26, 2021
I've never been a western fan--but Ed Kurtz has made me one now.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews