Ryan Coleman’s innovative look at Henry McCarty aka Henry Antrim aka William Bonney aka Billy the Kid, centers on Billy’s part in the war for Lincoln County, New Mexico. This is a complicated, multi-player story beginning with a disputed insurance policy and boiling down to unchecked corruption and greed in a lawless time. In 1877, we meet 17-year-old Billy, as he hooks up briefly with Jesse Evans’s cattle rustling gang, who are in the pay of crooked businessman Lawrence Murphy. John Tunstall, a young rancher from England, arrives in Lincoln to purchase land and cattle. Furthermore, he builds a store in competition with Murphy. Tunstall is an honorable man of unwavering integrity, a man in whom Billy finds newfound family of sorts, and he is temporarily on the right side of the law, even though he is wanted for jailbreak and murder. The challenge to Murphy’s authority is brief, however; Tunstall is shot in cold blood, and Billy and the newly founded Regulators seek revenge for his death, which ends in a shoot-out between opposing factions in July 1878.

Told in short vignettes, the novel is a breathless read, moving rapidly between various parties, up until the long-drawn-out showdown in Lincoln, but connection with the characters eluded me for the most part, and there are far too many secondary characters to keep track of unless you are fully conversant with historical events. I wanted to feel moved by the denouement even with foreknowledge of young Billy’s fate but was not shown much of Billy or who he truly was. Since the novel skips to an epilogue chapter set in 1881, I felt a bit short-changed. However, I warmly recommend this to readers of western frontier fiction for its wealth of detail, and perhaps a more sensitive relaying of the facts which precede the legend.

From the publisher:Age 14: Orphaned.
Age 15: Prison inmate.

Age 16: Escaped outlaw.

Age 17: Wanted killer.

In 1870s New Mexico, the territory is at a crossroads. The indigenous population is being driven out—and driven down—by the white settlers migrating west after the Civil War. The center of power isn’t the governor but rather the Santa Fe Ring, a group of wealthy politicians, businessman, and landowners who exercise power through organized crime, theft, graft, and murder. Their main source of income is a mercantile store in Lincoln known as the House.

After escaping jail, William Bonney—a.k.a. Billy the Kid—is a seventeen-year-old orphan who’s been on the run for the better part of two years. All he wants is to belong—to find a place he can call home and people he can call family.

He’d have been better off alone.

Billy falls in with a gang of ruthless rustlers and murderers who work as muscle for the House. But when Billy crosses one of the members, the gang sets out to kill him

Billy narrowly escapes, finding refuge under the tutelage of John Tunstall, an English immigrant new to the territory who has his sights set on opening a business in Lincoln—and he’s intent on competing directly with the House. But when Tunstall is murdered, any positive effect the mentor had on Billy is eradicated, leaving the Kid with only one thing on his mind …

Revenge.

From orphan to outlaw to killer, this is the untold story behind the legend of Billy the Kid.

The first time I saw the movie Young Guns, I loved it. It's a fictionalized version of the Lincoln County War, better known as the story of Billy the Kid. Several years later I read Anything for Billy by Larry McMurtry and enjoyed that as well. So when I saw the Ryan C. Coleman had a book about the Kid called Billy the Kid, I jumped at the chance to read and review it.

Coleman does a nice job giving background on how Henry Antrim became the legend known as Billy the Kid. A combination of an uncaring step-father, a dying mother, and the semi-lawlessness of New Mexico give the Kid a tragic backstory. Fateful encounters with outlaws just add to the tale. Along his journey, Billy meets a man named John Tunstall, who took the Kid in and gave him purpose. When Tunstall was murdered by John Dolan, Tunstall's rival and a member of the Santa Fe Ring, Billy's life became focused on revenge. Corrupt politicians, outlaws, and even the US Army all played a role in the creation of the legend of Billy the Kid.

The story of Billy the Kid is fascinating, and Coleman does a fine job spinning that tale. He provides adequate backstories for many of the characters in the Lincoln Country War. The gunfights are exciting and Billy's relationships with his friends and lovers are given some depth. Even the mercurial nature of Billy's personality is explored. However, there is just something missing that keeps this from being a great book. The best that I can explain is that it seems like Coleman can't decide if he is writing a novel or an historical account of Billy's life. This causes part of the story to be rather dry.

The audiobook narration was performed by Roger Clark. Clark did an excellent job, giving voice and characterization to the varied characters in the story.

Overall, I enjoyed Billy the Kid by Ryan C. Coleman. This was Coleman's first book and I would be willing to look into whatever he writes next. I would recommend this book to fans of Billy the Kid or Young Guns. They would find much to enjoy in this story.

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Ryan C. Coleman, Blackstone Publishing, and NetGalley for access to the Advanced Reader edition of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Billy the Kid is a fascinating person in US western history and yet many of us know very little about his life and what really went on in the Lincoln County war.

In this novel, the author gives us a glimpse of what it was like at that time and place. He brings the characters to life as we roll through the history of Billy the Kid from an early age. This helps us understand the man he came to be and how he dealt with the circumstances and corruption that was rampant at that time and place.

I've been a fan of westerns since my uncles first said "here, read this". Ryan Coleman's BILLY THE KID is a fictionalized account of the early life of William Bonny, Billy the Kid. Coleman does an excellent job of showing readers the hardships and challenges of Bonny's youth that will push him to become one of the most feared gunmen of his era. The story stays true to the era, life was not easy and the law was what the gun in your hand could defend. This is my first title by Coleman but I'm checking his back library now.

I love a good Western now and again. This one fit the bill quite nicely.
Billy the Kid tells the story of The Kid from his early days. Before his legend even began.
Ryan Coleman tells a great story here. I was looking forward to picking the book up again every time I had to put it down.
He brought The Lincoln County War to life with both fiction and some good nuggets of history.
I eagerly await Mr. Coleman’s next foray into the Old West.