From Booklist
Judge Isaac Charles Parker tried civil and criminal cases in the Western District of Arkansas for more than two decades. From 1875 until his death, in 1896, he sentenced 79 men to hang, including 6 soon after taking the bench. He quickly established a tone, and there was no appeal. For his first 14 years, only the president of the U.S. could overturn a Parker decision. Estleman, winner of five Spur, two Stirrup, and three Western Heritage Awards for his western writing, fictionalizes Parker’s life only to the extent of imagining some conversations and combining a couple of minor characters. But, then, Parker’s world was populated by such western legends as Belle Star, the Dalton brothers, Cattle Annie McDougal, Little Britches Stevens, and Bill Tilghman, among others, so there’s not much need to make up characters. Parker himself comes across as someone who bore the weight of his decisions solemnly but who was determined to administer the law fairly. Fascinating historical fiction. --Wes Lukowsky
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