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Max McCoy teaches at Emporia
State University
Hellfire Canyon wins Spur Award
NOVEL FEATURES OZARK SERIAL KILLER ALF BOLIN
A hundred and forty-five years after a slingblade came down on Alf
Bolin's wicked head, the notorious outlaw lives again in the Spur
Award-winning novel by author Max McCoy. Hellfire Canyon, McCoy's
fourteenth novel, was named Best Paperback Original by the
Western Writers of America.
It was released in 2007 by Pinnacle Books.
In the story, Bolin a real-life killer who terrorized this neck of
the Ozarks from a fortress-like limestone formation called Murder Rocks
plays mentor to a budding fiddler and outlaw named Jacob Gamble.
"McCoy spins quite a tale of Civil War-era Missouri featuring one
of America's first serial killers who terrorized an area of southern
Taney County near the Arkansas state line," says Thomas Garrett of The
Baxter Bulletin of Mountain Home, Arkansas. "The novel focuses
on 12-year-old Jacob Gamble's trek across Missouri and the Ozarks to his
ultimate encounter with outlaw and killer Alf Bolin
. McCoy includes
vivid details in his story that breathe life into it. Violence comes
quickly, often unexpectedly and sometimes in graphic detail."
The character of the precocious Jacob Gamble first appeared in an
award-winning short story about the 1862 Palmyra Massacre, "Spoils
of War," published in the 1990s by Louis L'Amour Western Magazine.
HELLFIRE CANYON follows Jacob and his mother, Eliza, from northeastern
Missouri to the wilds of Taney County, where he befriends the
red-headed, literature-quoting Bolin.
"The title of the book refers not to a location in the Ozarks but
to a fictional motion picture that is released in Joplin, Missouri, in
the 1930s," McCoy said. "The film is supposedly the life story
of Jacob Gamble, the outlaw fiddler. I came up with the idea after the
publisher changed the title, as a bit of fun after all, canyon is
not an Ozark word, but it is something Hollywood would use."
The novel's original title was Murder Rock.
The real Alf Bolin was so mean, McCoy said, that he murdered his own
step-father. He and his gang ambushed scores of travelers from their
hideout at Murder Rocks, which overlooked the stagecoach road to
Arkansas. The location, which is on private property just off JJ Highway
near Kirbyville, is just a few miles from downtown Branson.
"At one time, Bolin was the most feared man in the Ozarks,"
McCoy said. "Now, about the only time his name is heard around
Branson is at Silver Dollar City, where a dim-witted character named
Alfie Bolin is regularly and comedically foiled in his attempts to rob
the tourists riding the park's steam train."
The real Bolin's killing spree came to an end on Feb. 2, 1863, when a
Union soldier named Zach Thomas, posing as a sick Confederate on his way
home, struck Bolin over the head with a slingblade while the outlaw was
kneeling to light his pipe from a cabin hearth. After death, Bolin's
head was hacked from body and put on a spike in front of the Christian
County Courthouse at Ozark.
Hellfire Canyon follows another historical novel that McCoy set
in the region, A Breed Apart, a novel of Wild Bill Hickok's days as a
Union spy and gunslinger, and his famous 1865 fight with Dave Tutt on
the Springfield Square. A Breed Apart was released in November by
Signet.
McCoy, an award-winning author and investigative reporter, often sets
many of his novels in Missouri, including the 2004 thriller, The Moon
Pool. His other books include four original Indiana Jones adventures
for Bantam/LucasFilm and the novelization of Steven Spielberg's epic
miniseries, Into the West.
McCoy is an assistant professor of journalism at Emporia (Kansas) State University. His next novel, to be released in May 2008 by Signet, is about the last days of William Clarke Quantrill, the notorious guerilla chieftain. It is called I, Quantrill.
Praise for Hellfire Canyon:
"A good example of a great modern
western is Max McCoys Hellfire Canyon... Hellfire Canyon is the
story of Jacob Gamble: outlaw, renegade and general hell-raiser. He is
the archetypal western outlaw, with one exception: He is likable, and
rather than the antagonist, he is the hero... Hellfire Canyon is
not the typical. There is violence and even gun play, but there is
morea yearning and understanding of history, legend, and even
folklore... Hellfire Canyon is a campfire story. It is raw, tender, and
fresh, but we are left knowing it isnt the real story. It is the
story the witnessJacob Gamblewants us to know, or perhaps more
accurately thinks we want to know. It is more folklore and legend than
anything else, and I loved every word."
-- Benjamin Boulden, the Gravetapping books blog. Read
the review.
"In Hellfire Canyon, Max McCoy spins quite a tale of Civil War-era Missouri featuring one of America's first serial killers who terrorized an area of southern Taney County near the Arkansas state line...While billed as a Western, Hellfire Canyon is an interesting historical novel, an engrossing, intriguing, well-told story."
-- Thomas Garrett, the Baxter Bulletin.
Hellfire Canyon, which features Ozark serial killer Alf Bolin, was released in February 2007 by Kensington.
Praise for A Breed Apart:
"McCoy at his best, proving himself once again as a master of his craft."
-- Ralph Cotton, USA Today bestselling author.
"This is a fast moving story that is easily told with fascinating characters. McCoy is a veteran western writer and his shows both in his settings and dialogue. The people are so believable, it is easy to imagine this is truly how it was in a much unsettled and untamed country. This is a terrific book and I hope McCoy comes back to tell more stories about the legendary Wild Bill. Theres lots more to tell."
-- Ron Fortier, Pulp Fiction Reviews. Read the review.
"McCoy blends fact and fiction in A Breed Apart, creating a Wild Bill Hickok as full of self-doubt and uncertainty as a frontier Hamlet... McCoy's style is crisp, his language and description is colorful, all quite suited for his book's setting."
-- Thomas Garrett, the Baxter Bulletin.
A
Breed Apart was released in November 2006 by Signet. The
novel covers the early life of Wild Bill, up to his showdown with Dave
Tutt on the Springfield, Missouri, square on July 21, 1865.
The Moon Pool has been hailed as an "intelligent thriller" by Publishers Weekly:
"Mystery and mythology collide in this intelligent thriller, which is set largely in the uncharted depths of an underwater mining city beneath Bonne Terre, Mo. McCoy (who has written several Indiana Jones novels) draws on his experiences as an investigative journalist and an Advanced Open Water scuba diver to tell the tale of a serial killer bent on reenacting the abduction of the Greek mythological figure Persephone.... Tightly drawn characters, a vile villain and a satisfying, thought-provoking conclusion make this a compelling read."
For more about The Moon Pool, go here.
Go to the Leisure Books website.