When Blood Flowed as Water: A First Tale of Old Tombstone

I received an ecopy of When Blood Flowed as Water: A First Tale of Old Tombstone from author B. A. Braxton for review.

To start, I must admit to not being much of an expert on the whole gunfight at the o.k. corral story. I think my understanding of the story comes from the old Star Trek episode where Kirk and crew take the place of the Earp faction and then the movie with Kurt Russell. That being said, I found this telling very interesting.

The days leading up to the gunfight are told in great detail from several different points of view. We get the Clantons dishing dirt on the Earps and the Earps likewise trashing the Clantons. The author did an excellent job of filling out the characters well... character. Among the main characters there are no real good guys. Mostly they are downright nasty self-centered individuals who have no respect and little tolerance for anyone else. 

The depiction of historic Tombstone is stunning. In the summer it is a hot, dusty purgatorial existence. Not particularly surprising, but the descriptions of the monsoon season were great.  There is no Hollywood style glamorization of the town or its inhabitants. I found this very refreshing from a readers standpoint.  

Naturally even readers with my limited knowledge know what is going to happen. Lots of people die. But the human intricacies are engrossing. The author uses short chapters to move from viewpoint to viewpoint. This was both a plus and a minus for me. We get multiple views of the same incidents which makes for greater understanding. At the same time though it sometimes was difficult to keep track of whose viewpoint we were reading. I found myself having to go back and remind myself who was currently telling the story. Might be more of a comment on my short term memory though.

Anyway, When Blood Flowed as Water is an excellent retelling of the gunfight at the o. k. corral. It felt like a very well balanced and honest book. Enjoy!

Mike