Pinebox Collins

by Rod Miller

SPUR AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR ROD MILLER When Jonathon “Pinebox” Collins loses his right foot and lower leg to a cannonball in his first Civil War battle, the course of his life is forever changed. While recuperating, he learns The Dismal Trade of undertaking, the emerging art of arterial embalming, and coffin construction. His first customer is the victim of Wild Bill Hickok’s first showdown, and Collins crosses paths with the legendary gunfighter—and occasionally his victims—across the Old West. Lost love, monotony, and violence at the hands of men and Mother Nature repeatedly put the young undertaker on the road in pursuit of new places and new opportunities across the Western frontier. Violence is always there to greet him and there is never a shortage of clientele. Old West legends Phil Coe, John Wesley Hardin, Jim Levy, Porter Rockwell, Colorado Charley Utter, and Calamity Jane come and go in the life of Pinebox Collins, but death is ever-present. Often avoided and sometimes shunned owing to his practice of The Dismal Trade, Pinebox Collins learns to drink alone. Love eludes him and friends are hard to come by. His recurring acquaintance with Wild Bill proves the most lasting, even after Hickok is in the ground.

326 pages, Paperback

Published August 18, 2021

About the author

Four-time winner of the coveted Western Writers of America Spur Award--for a novel, for poetry, and twice for short fiction --twice winner of the Westerners International Fred Olds Award for Poetry, winner of the Academy of Western Artists award for Best Poetry Book, and winner of a Western Fictioneers Peacemaker Award for a novel, Rod Miller is a versatile writer. His books include fiction, history, and poetry, his short stories and poems appear in several anthologies, and he writes for a number of Western magazines.

Born and raised in Utah, Miller is a graduate of Utah State University where he earned a degree in Journalism and rode bucking horses for the intercollegiate Rodeo Team. He works as an advertising agency copywriter and creative director, and is a member of Western Writers of America, where he served on the executive board. The League of Utah Writers named Miller 2012 Writer of the Year. He is a frequent presenter on a variety of subjects to writers groups and public forums.

Visit his web sites at www.writerRodMiller.com, www.RawhideRobinson,com, and writerRodMiller.blogspot.com.

Reviews

[Thomas Clagett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many novels about the Old West tell stories of lawmen and outlaws, drovers and cattle drives, cavalry and Indians. Lately, weird Westerns concerning vampires and werewolves and zombies have crept in, too. But multiple award-winning author Rod Miller, whose books include “Rawhide Robinson Rides the Range” with its wild and wonderful tale tales, has found a way to tell a Western story in that unique way he has. This time his narrator is Jonathon Collins, who goes by the nickname of “Pinebox.” It fits, for he is an undertaker, embalmer, and a builder of coffins. He travels the West plying The Dismal Trade, sometimes with success and sometimes not, but all the while encountering potential customers, some famous, like Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane, and others, well I don’t want to give it all away. Suffice to say, Pinebox has accepted his role in life, and Miller makes this story another joy to read for his voice is authentic with a wit as dry as the prairie and an eye for the darkest of details.

[Joe Farley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn’t finish. It didn’t hold my interest.

[Joseph Baiocco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good flow. Little "old West" action. Interesting main character. Would probable re-read at a later date to flesh out additional insights.

[Easy Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jonathan “Pine Box” Collins has his foot shot off by a cannonball in the Civil War. Now requiring a peg leg and realizing the limitations of work that will bring, he seizes the opportunity afforded by war to become a member of “The Dismal Trade,” an undertaker. His affliction and occupation keep him on the outside circle of humanity, and he becomes a bystander, sitting alone in the corner of saloons, nursing one beer all evening as he watches the sweaty, swirling mass of humanity that makes up the Wild West.

Early on he becomes acquainted with Wild Bill Hickok, and like so many quiet men, becomes fascinated by a flamboyant, larger than life character. Pine Box drifts from one wild town to another, meeting up with the crusty characters who make up the west. Always intertwined is Wild Bill, and in the end, Pine Box is there when he meets his demise. Pine Box is an unusual and likable character, and any fan of westerns will be happy to take the journey with him as he shows the wild west as it was at its bloodiest. You’ll feel like you are riding in those uncomfortable stagecoaches with him, walking the muddy streets with his peg leg, and sharing a beer with unique characters from western history.