Hellfire Canyon

Hellfire Canyon, which won an award from the Western Writers of America, is a peculiar book. It's not a bad book, by any means, but often head-scratching. The title, for one thing, isn't appropriate, because the entire book is set in Missouri and that state doesn't have canyons. According to the author Max McCoy's blog, he didn't like the title, either. So instead the title refers to a Hollywood film that is made about the main character's life story (although the film doesn't really exist). Confused yet?

Also, the copy on the back jacket doesn't accurately describe the book. It leads you to believe it's about a bushwhacking murderer being hunted down by a Union soldier, when in reality that Union soldier appears on only about two pages of the book. Apparently the author and the publisher were miles apart on how to sell this book.

Finally, the structure of the book is complex and at times exceeds the grasp of the author. Mainly, it's the recollection of an old man in the 1930's. He's being interviewed by a reporter upon the opening of said film, which is about his time in the gang of Alf Bolin, a serial murderer in Missouri during the Civil War. Though a novel, it has footnotes, which suggests it's based on a true story. I did find out that Bolin was real, but again, the movie stuff is complete fiction (Tyrone Power, who is supposed to be the star of the 1932 film, didn't make a movie before 1935). This gives the book the feel of legend, which makes it intellectually interesting but at times head-spinning.

As with many Western novels, the writing can be strained. There are some passages that could have been easily excised, such as a sequence on the reporter running out of paper and having the bartender go get some more, and another on how to make sassafras tea. But McCoy does give a good sense of what a nightmare Missouri was during the Civil War. I recently saw a lecture by Civil War historian James McPherson refer to the state as being like Zimbabwe is now. There were many factions on both sides, and most had no compunction about killing anyone.

I give credit to this book for being interesting, but inconsistent in tone and craft.