Requiem for a Gunfighter

About the Book

SUMMARY This is a western love story. It is the tale of a man named Jake who, defeated and disillusioned by the horrors of the War Between the States, heads west with his brother to create a better life. However, his refusal to back down from confrontation, which served him well in war, leads to a life of violence. Through his skill with firearms and the quickness of his reflexes, he acquires a reputation as a dangerous foe. When a writer publishes a fictitious account of his exploits, everyone sees a cold-bloodied killer and no one, except his brother, sees a man of honor trying to come to terms with what he has done and who he is. Only through the love of a woman and her understanding of the demons that drive him does he begin to put his life back together again and find, among the constant battles for survival, a life worth living.

About the Author

I live in Pleasant Hill, California and am a practicing attorney and financial planner. I have a wonderful wife, a good dog who thinks too much and a brave cat who sometimes doesn’t think enough. My dream is to become a Sake poet and travel from one small, Japanese country village to the next and in exchange for a verse or two be given room and board. I come from the south and the Viet Nam War influenced my youth. Though many of the wounds have healed, the scar tissue remains. I wanted to write something about that scar tissue, so I chose to write about another war that tore America apart, the War Between the States. Though this story takes place in the west, the seeds of the drama are planted in the battlefields of Virginia.