Kent - Chestertown

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2013

Format:	Book
Author:	Johnstone, William W.
Title:	Butch Cassidy : the lost years / William W. Johnstone with J.A. Johnstone.
Publisher, Date:	New York, NY : Kensington Publishing Corp., ©2013.
Description:	282 pages ; 24 cm
Summary:	Asking the question "What if Butch Cassidy wasn't killed in the infamous Bolivian shootout in 1908?", an exciting novel of the Old West follows Butch as he, after fleeing South America, is pulled into the most dangerous train robbery he's ever attempted along with a new Wild Bunch.
Subjects:	Cassidy, Butch, 1866- -- Fiction. West (U.S.) -- History -- 1890-1945 -- Fiction.
Other Author:	Johnstone, J. A.
Other Title:	Lost years
LCCN:	2013930668
ISBN:	9780758290342 (hbk.) 0758290349 (hbk.)
System Availability:	2
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# Local items:	0
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Fiction/Biography Profile

Characters
	Butch Cassidy (Male), Rancher, Survived the infamous shooting in Bolivia that killed his partner the Sundance Kid; returned to Texas; came across a dying rancher who 's been shot by rustlers; promises to avenge the man's death and take care of the ranch; changed his name to Jim Strickland; gets pulled into a train robbery to stop a corrupt railroad baron; changed his name to Henry Parker
Genre
	Fiction
	Western
	Biographical
	Historical
Topics
	Ranchers
	Outlaws
	Ranch life
	Life changes
	New identities
	Railroads
	Corruption
	Revenge
	Widows
	Train robbery
Setting
	Texas - West (U.S.)
Time Period
	1914 -- 20th century

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Publishers Weekly Review

Johnstone's irreverent revisionist western picks up in 1914 with famed outlaw Butch Cassidy, long thought killed in Bolivia, working as a cattle rancher in Texas under the name Jim Strickland. Decades later, Cassidy spins his yarn to a Pinkerton detective who admits to liking "a dramatic moment." Johnstone is a masterful storyteller, creating a tale that is fanciful and funny, exciting and surprisingly convincing: Butch roams Texas in anonymity until an encounter with a dying rancher gives him a chance to go straight. He keeps a low profile and earns a good reputation until deciding to teach a lesson to a railroad that has covered up a death and cheated the dead man's widow. After robbing a train, Butch finds that he missed the excitement and action, and thinks his new wild bunch of misfits might rob some more. His involvement with a preacher's daughter is dangerous enough, but a tenacious Pinkerton detective sets a clever trap that results in a showdown between Cassidy and the law. This is great fun, and Johnstone's lively, crisp style lets Butch say it best: "The truth was never as good as a legend." Agent: Robin Rue, Writers House. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

Legend has it that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid died in Bolivia in 1908. Johnstone and his nephew flesh out a variant theory in which the Kid dies, but Cassidy, as Jim Strickland, shows up in west Texas a few years later. A dying man wills him his ranch if he will kill three rustlers. Strickland promptly dispatches the rustlers and hires on men to run a respectable ranch. But when a railroad worker dies because of company negligence, and officials renege on their responsibility to the widow, Strickland's sympathies kick in. With his new Wild Bunch, he robs several trains, taking care of the widow; then he pays for a new church. Of course, he's romancing the pastor's daughter, Daisy Hatfield, and the question becomes, Will Strickland's deeds catch up with him? The Johnstones offer nothing new about the Butch Cassidy of history; their Butch could be most any tough hombre. But they tell an entertaining story with lots of plot twists, carefully set up for a sequel.--Mort, John Copyright 2010 Booklist

Summary

Readers of Johnstone's many westerns appreciate his taut writing and good storytelling. --Examiner.com

"Engaging and entertaining." -- Spur and Lock on The Brothers O'Brien

On November 3, 1908, in the town of San Vicente, suspected of stealing a mining company payroll, Butch Cassidy was killed in a bloody shootout by the Bolivian Army.

Or was he?

In a small Texas town in 1950, a man from the Pinkerton Detective Agency interrupts an old-timer's daily game of dominos to learn the truth about Butch Cassidy--who is still alive and well and sitting right in front of him. . .

So begins the novel of the West's most legendary outlaw--as told by America's master storytellers, William W. Johnstone and J.A.Johnstone. Butch Cassidy The Lost Years reveals the stunning secret behind that infamous shootout in Bolivia that claimed the lives of the Sundance Kid and, allegedly, Butch himself. For years, there were rumors that Cassidy survived. Now, almost half a century later, an old man playing dominos tells the real story of his life and times, legend be damned.

After fleeing South America and informing the beautiful Etta Place that her beloved Sundance is dead, Butch returns to Texas searching for a place to call home. When he comes across a dying rancher who'd been shot by some rustlers, Butch promises to avenge him--and take over the ranch after his death. Assuming the name Jim Strickland, Butch tries to start a fresh new chapter in his life. But even with his old gang gone and his outlaw past behind him, trouble has a way of finding Butch. Cruel injustice--in the form of a corrupt railroad baron--pulls him into the most dangerous train robbery he's ever attempted. But if Butch Cassidy is going to ride again, it'll have to be with a newer, and wilder, Wild Bunch. . .

Filled with page-turning action and authentic historic details, Butch Cassidy The Lost Years is an exciting and fitting tribute to a true American original. Robert LeRoy Parker. Butch to his friends. Mr. Cassidy to those on the business end of his gun.

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