Billy the Kid by Ryan C. Coleman

Published by Blackstone Publishing on October 15, 2024

Was Billy the Kid a people’s revolutionary hero or a murderer? Billy the Kid, a fictionalized account of his life, suggests that he was both.

The novel begins in 1877 when Henry “Kid” Antrium is seventeen. He has already learned a lesson that will govern his life: “No matter a man’s size, or lack thereof, there was one great equalizer: the gun.” Although Henry has mastered the art of shooting, he had been “making his living through thievery, relocating horses from the soldiers at nearby Fort Grant.”

Henry gets on the wrong side of Frank Cahill by breaking out of jail and having the arrogance to stay in Arizona. He saves himself from a lethal beating with his pistol, but Cahill’s death motivates a change of name and location.

In New Mexico, Henry has his first of many confrontations with Buck Morton. That encounter leads him to the Jesse Evans gang. Henry uses his credentials as a horse thief and killer to earn a position with the gang. He announces himself to the world as William H. “Billy” Bonney.

Much of the story takes place in Lincoln County, New Mexico. To the extent that the territory is governed at all, the government is corrupt. L.G. Murphy has made a nice living by selling and renting worthless land that he doesn’t actually own. Murphy enjoys the protection of the territorial governor, a presidential appointee who is under the thumb of Boss Catron, whose bank who holds mortgages on most of the property in New Mexico.

The Evans gang sells stolen horses to Murphy, who then sells them to a nearby Army post. Murphy knows the business is about to fall apart, but he keeps that fact from the partners who buy him out. His underhanded dealings lead to conflicts that become important to Billy’s story. Also important is Billy’s alliance with Alexander and Susan McSween, Murphy’s “sworn enemies.” The disparate power factions will inspire Billy to side with the underdog and kill anyone who seems unfit for a decent life, but what does that say about Billy’s decency?

Billy is clearly on the road to a shootout. The violence that ensues touches the good and bad about equally, although separating the good from the bad is challenging in a lawless territory, where the libertarian principles “might makes right” and “greed is good” control behavior.

We learn biographical details about Billy’s adoptive parents, his separation from his brother and their distant relationship, and a transgression that led to his first jail break and horse theft. These are presumably historically accurate and provide fodder for the way Ryan Coleman shapes Billy’s personality. Billy is motivated to gain wealth so he can give his brother a better life, but he evolves into a killer who has a fearless belief in immortality that inevitably dooms gunslingers.

Billy doesn’t appreciate the local press siding with the powerful forces that control New Mexico, but he’s hardly a paragon of nuanced thought. He occasionally frets about moral issues — particularly the exploitation of Indians, Mexicans, and working people by the wealthy and powerful — but gunslingers are shallow philosophers. Coleman probably gives Billy about as much personality as he actually had, which isn’t much. This isn’t the novel to read if you are looking for deep insights into the life of a gunfighter, although Billy’s life might not have been one that leads to deep insights.

Billy the Kid isn’t a literary achievement — it doesn’t rival Mary Doria Russell’s brilliant retelling of Doc Holliday’s legendary life — but it is nevertheless a fun tale.

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