Lucky Billy: A Novel About Billy the Kid

According to legend, Billy the Kid killed twenty-one men, stole from cattle barons to give to the poor, and wooed just about every senorita in the Southwest. In Lucky Billy, John Vernon digs into the historical record to find a truth more remarkable than the legend.

Billy the Kid met his end at the hands of Pat Garrett, his one-time partner, turned sheriff. In Vernon's telling, the key event of Billy's life was the Lincoln County War, a conflict between a ring of Irishmen and a newcomer from England, John Tunstall, who wanted to break their grip on the town. Billy signed on with Tunstall, and when the conflict spun out of control and Tunstall was murdered, an obscure hired gun became Billy the Kid.