Wild Bill #1: Dead Man's Hand [Mass Market Paperback]

Judd Cole (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2008 | Series: Wild Bill (Book 1)

No man could handle a gun as well as Wild Bill Hickok, and few men used one as often. That's why he's hired by Allan Pinkerton's new detective agency to protect an eccentric inventor on a train ride through the worst badlands of the West. With hired thugs out to kill him and angry Sioux out for his scalp, Bill knows he has his work cut out for him. But even if he survives that, he still has a worse danger to face--a jealous Calamity Jane.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Leisure Books (April 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0843944870
• ISBN-13: 978-0843944877
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,595,327 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars PORTRAITS OF WILD BILL, January 31, 2008

By 

Kay's Husband (Virginia, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wild Bill #1: Dead Man's Hand (Mass Market Paperback)

It's too bad the other reviewer here did not see the value in this series, it is really an enjoyable read for all who enjoy western fiction.

And few other real life personages from our western past, such as Wild Bill, have had more 'fiction' doled out about his life, many times under guise of 'non-fiction'. At least in Judd Cole's (John Edward Ames) entertaining books it is correctly labeled fiction rather than fact. Along with some solid facts as well.

The story is not overly difficult: a new invention, an ice making machine is being patented, with some men trying to wrest the machine from the German scientist inventor. One of the immediate uses of ice on the plains was the reducing of fever in diseases, especially the scarlet fever now raging in the big pest house east of town in Denver. Due to a large availability of man made ice, the death rate has dropped 80 per cent. As this new invention is put on display aboard a train, Wild Bill is hired by Allan Pinkerton at $5 per day, to guard both it and its inventor. One episode quickly follows another, even a Lakota war party attack, before the tale reaches it end. But touch Wild Bill for luck, it is a good read and a good series.

Note #1: Judd Cole has Wild Bill drinking Old Taylor Bourbon in the book, yet the earliest I can determine an Old Taylor distillery being established is 1887. This novel can be dated by mention of 3 years after Promontory, Utah, 1869, and George Pullman cars in 1870, which makes the date of the novel, 1872. Sorry.........these dates make Old Taylor Bourbon being in existence pretty slim. Great reading none-the-less.

Note #2: at the time I wrote this review, Leisure Book westerns had said they were going to reprint the entire series (8 books). Think they did reissue the 1st volume but stopped at that point. (12-24-2011)

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars *DONT* WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY, April 27, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Wild Bill #1: Dead Man's Hand (Mass Market Paperback)

The book " Dean Man's Hand " is a horrible book. The author puts way too many adjectives in the story. If you read it, you'll know what I mean. Every single sentence has like 5 or 6 adjectives. After a while, it gets boring to read. The only parts I like are when Joshua keeps annoying Wild Bill, the main character. One time, Wild Bill and Joshua went to meet a friend of Wild Bill. While they were going there, they found the girl who loves Wild Bill. She didn't know it was him because she hadn't seen him in years. So she was about to shoot him. I also DO NOT like how the author uses too many big words. Even though I know what they mean, it gets annoying to not just have simple words. She uses words that I have never heard and have to ask my dad. I think that's good, because it gives you a bigger vocabulary, but it gets frustrating that I have to put down my book and go ask my dad what it means. Do not waste your time or your money. It is a dull book that I would not reccomend to anyone.