Rating: 
Summary: it only whets the appetite
Review: I'm writing in strong support of one of the recommendations below. While "Gunman's Rhapsody" is entertaining, the nonfiction account "And Die in the West" by Paula Mitchell Marks is far superior. I am very glad that the review below ("Spenser Saddles Up") suggested this alternate book."And Die in the West" compiles all of the various accounts from the time and tries to resolve them as objectively as possible. Though the stories disagree to some extent, the consensus is much less favorable to Wyatt Earp and his clan than almost any of the popular treatments of the subject, including "Gunman's Rhapsody", suggest. As is often the case, the true story is a little disillusioning after years of believing the myth.
Rating: 
Summary: A fine Wild West myth!
Review: GUNMAN'S RHAPSODY, as the flyleaf says, "is the book that Robert B. Parker has always longed to write." Most Americans have a working knowledge of Wyatt Earp, Tombstone & the Gunfight at the OK Corral. So I had some hesitation about partaking in yet another rendition of the life & times of this Old West hero. I liked this Wyatt Earp & his brothers. I liked the characters & their lives with all their flaws & their depths. I could smell the blood & feel the dust; their lives became real; their times became real & the thread of our American history glowed brighter because of this book. Buy GUNMAN'S RHAPSODY without fear & read it! Because when I finished it I felt as if Spenser & Susan had finished the book with me.
Rating: 
Summary: Spenser Saddles Up
Review: "Gunman's Rhapsody" is little more than a thin reworking of the Spenser-Susan-Hawk triad. You have Wyatt Earp who is nothing more than a taciturn Spenser, a man who lives by a masculine code which is predicated on violence; you have Josie Marcus who like Susan is intelligent, liberated, and Jewish; and you have the Earp brothers (Virgil, Morgan, et al.) who exist as a collective Hawk entity. Wyatt and his brothers spend a good deal of time in laconic discussion of how tough and bad they are and how they all live by the code of family blood, while Wyatt and Josie murmur again and again how their relationship is fated, eternal, etc. Given the lack of originality in character conception and development, the book is hampered even more by its plodding plot and repetitive diescriptions. Parker is somewhat hamstrung by the need to fit the shifting alliances, double dealing, and continual flux of the frontier into a neat package -- a package which will vindicate Wyatt and his brothers from appearing to be exactly what they were: thugs, thieves, gamblers, and political opportunists. History, however, is a hard taskmaster, for despite Parker's efforts to insert honor and romance as driving motives, his portrait of the Earps never exonerates them. The narrative pace of the book is extremely slow, and even the gunfight at OK Corral is an anticlimax, as is the falsely attributed killing of Johnny Ringo by Wyatt in the book's final pages. The repetitive elements in the book revolve around ad nauseam discussions of family honor, failed descriptions of the gunfighter's mentality (i.e., total awareness, the gun as an extension of the man, etc.), and scene after scene of Wyatt looking over the rim of his coffee cup so that he can continually scan the room for approaching danger. In short, this is not even a good Spenser novel. Its only plus is that there is little in the way of gourmet cooking, tired wisecracks, and cute dog descriptions. If a reader wishes to find a truly exciting account of the Tombstone situation, he or she should go to Paula Mitchell Marks's "And Die in the West." It is an extensively researched, yet readable piece of Western history. It is surely one of the best books on Western history ever written, and it certainly outdistances "Gunman's Rhapsody" is terms of character and pace. Parker obviously consulted this book. After reading it, he should have gotten out of town and left the territory to Ms. Marks.
Rating:
Summary: Gunmans Rhapsody
Review: Being a great fan of Parker I am Dismayed by this mail it in writing.There are fifty great books set in the old West,This is not one of them.
Proves people should stick to what they know.
Wheres Spencer
Rating: 
Summary: good, quick read
Review: Parker has left the mystery field to turn out a Western about Wyatt Earp, Tombstone, and the Gunfight at the OK Corral. You won't learn much new if you've read or seen any of the numerous books or movies on this subject, but Parker's spare, laconic style gives a savory flavor to this retelling of the tale. If Parker had gotten deeper into the story and characters, this would have been better, but then I suppose it wouldn't have been a Parker book. Parker portrays the events in Tombstone as a struggle between northerners (Earps) and southerners, townspeople (Earps) and cowboys, people who come at you "straight" (Earps) and those who don't, and the rivalry for a woman (Josie Marcus) between Wyatt Earp and Sheriff Johnny Behan. Wyatt Earp and other admirable characters, notably Johnny Ringo, are adherents to an unshakeable code of loyalty to family and friends. There's no room for compromise with this code. Wyatt and Ringo admire each other but their ties of family and friends force them to take different sides of the quarrel. Wyatt's brothers support him unconditionally even though they disapprove of his affair with Josie. In the vast Earp sub-genre of literature, "Gunman's Rhapsody" is minor, but suitable for a quick, satisfying read. For a different -- less historical but more appealing -- Wyatt Earp take a look at my all-time favorite: Henry Fonda in John Ford's movie, "My Darling Clementine."
Rating:
Summary: Fun fast escapism
Review: Another reviewer wished this had been his first Robert Parker novel because he thinks he might have enjoyed it more. This was my first Robert Parker novel, and I couldn't have enjoyed it more. I bought it in order to have some light reading while vacationing in Orlando. While my kids were splashing in the pool, I was sitting in the sun, lost in the world of the Earps and Tombstone. This book is exactly what I wanted. It's fast-paced, easy to read, full of good dialog, and goes great with a refreshing beverage of your choice. Mr. Parker tells a great story. I highly recommend this book for summertime reading.
Rating:
Summary: Western History Lite
Review: This book reads more like a story outline than a genuine novel. The book starts out strong and then dribbles away into a series of disconnected conversations. Anyone who is in anyway familiar with the actual events or has even seen any of the movies on the subject will be disappointed in this book. The complex story of the Earps, Holliday, Clantons, et. al., is condensed into a series of short chapters (several are only 2 1/2 pages long), occasionally interrupted by bits of historical trivia (for example, the Boer War and death of Jesse James is mentioned). Instead of describing the world and culture of the times, they actually distract from what little connecting plot line exists. Historical events significant to the Tombstone saga are mentioned briefly and then drift away completely unresolved. For example, the accusation that Wyatt Earp and Ike Clanton conspired together to capture some stage robbers is discussed in chapter 27, a plan is arrived at, and then never mentioned again! Anyone with a genuine interest in the Earps would be much better served by Casey Tefertiller's biography of Wyatt or Paula Mitchell Marks' "And Die in the West" or even Stuart Lake's much maligned "Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshall." Gunman's Rhapsody, like Mr. Parker's characterization of Ike Clanton, promises much - but delivers little.
Rating:
Summary: Spenser & Hawk in a time warp
Review: Great story! I had trouble with the chronology leading up to the 1881 shootout and agree with the critics that the somewhat random Chronicles from the day of the battle detract from the story. But Parker more than makes up for this by puting a Spenser-like taciturn toughness around Wyatt and building the solid relatonship among the five brothers and between Wyatt and Josie Marcus. The politics of Tombstone are believable with the devious but effective Johnny Behan a real character, not just the stereotypical power broker of Western lore. It's better than a Spenser story because the character is constrained by historical fact and not cast in the often outrageous extremes of a Parker plot. Parker's Earp can get along with anyone, even the ranchers / rustlers like Johnny Ringo, part of a group who are Southern, ranchers and Democrat as opposed to ex-Union and town folk like the Earps. Is the final showdown in March 1882 real? Wyatt has killed Curley Bill, and Behan shows up with a posse and a warrant. While everyone pretends Wyatt's not there, Ringo stares him down and asks if he killed Curley Bill. "I did" "Always knew it would turn out like this. Now I'm going to have to kill you." "If you can." Later Wyatt finds Ringo drunk sitting under a tree. Too noble to have it out with a drunk, he walks away, then turns and fires when he hears the draw at his back. An interesting postscript: Wyatt and Josie move on to LA where Wyatt dies at age 80 in 1929. Josie and Virgil's wife Allie live into the 1940s.
Rating: 
Summary: A Rhythmless Rhapsody
Review: In "Gunman's Rhapsody," Parker tries to tell the story of the Earp brothers and their time in Tombstone using his terse, sparse style. While this style of storytelling generally works fantastically for the Spenser mystery novels Parker pens, it fails here, as does Parker. First and foremost, with a few differences, this is essentially Spenser and Susan, simply in Old West costumes. While I have no problem with Parker focusing in on Wyatt's relationship with Josie (and its possible repercussions), the language he uses to describe their feelings and reactions to each other are nearly verbatim from the Spenser novels. Parker defenders may try and claim he is merely using his distinctive style to communicate the love story; for me, it seemed territory Parker had tread many times before in a too similar fashion. Secondly, the story of Tombstone is a complex one, with many factors and players. Parker is staggeringly inept at informing the reader of the environment (political, social and physical) which is crucial here -- far more crucial than with his Spenser novels, where, because they take place NOW, the reader can easily fill in the gaps, whereas with a story taking place well over a hundred years ago, the reader cannot. While I do understand Parker's main interest (as with most, if not all, of his works) is exploring or illustrating his brand of male-ness, the reader needs MORE explanation and understanding of Wyatt's world. Parker seems to write as if every reader is an expert in Earp-mania; readers unfamiliar with the facts and disputed events of Tombstone may very easily become confused and not understand the import and impact of people and situations. Parker utterly fails to flesh out the secondary characters; many are not even given brief physical descriptions, and he fails to supply something as basic as explanations for the colorful nicknames some of the characters have. (Where is Turkey Creek and why does Jack Johnson have that attached to his name?) Parker's sparse style also fails him in getting the reader to identify with and experience Wyatt's feelings. At one point, while interrogating one of the cowboys, Wyatt actually yells and swears at the man -- and instead of feeling (or at least understanding why Wyatt feels that way) the anger along with Wyatt, I was merely surprised, not at all sympathetic. Up to the point, Wyatt had either been utterly flat emotionally or moon-eyed over Josie. For me, Parker's biggest failure in the novel was to add utterly nothing to our understanding or thinking of Wyatt and Doc Holliday's friendship. I don't know how to true to history Parker's characterization of Holliday is, but he is presented (even through Wyatt's point of view) as a shrill, completely unlikeable psychopath. Parker himself, I have to assume from the book, seems to have no clue about why they were friends, as the two seem to have no chemistry or genuine mutual affection. Another mortal sin Parker commits here is constant telling instead of showing. I get the feeling that Parker is fairly lost outside of the first-person narration used in his detective novels; in "Gunman's Rhapsody," we switch third-person point of view at whiplash pace, sometimes getting three POVs in a page, as well as declarative statements from the author about the character. If Parker had challenged himself to write fuller text, he could spent a bit more time SHOWING the reader things about the characters through their action and dialogue, rather than simply telling the reader how the character feels. On the positive side, Parker does a fair job showing the strong bond between the Earp brothers. However, this is really simply another variation of Parker's "manly" motif that runs through his books, and is something he can do typing blindfolded and with one finger. He also does not flinch from showing us Wyatt's selfish side as he abandons Mattie in favor of Josie, and that he beds Josie while she is sharing a house with another man. If you are determined to read this, I would recommend waiting for the paperback or borrowing it from the libray. Those interested in getting insights into the Earps should look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: The Boston Bullet
Review: The Boston Bullet delivers a .44 magnum punch shot throughout Gunman's Rhapsody...Wyatt and his bros casually crack skulls as they lazer stare you past midnight leading you rapid fire through pages of pure delight...Old Dutch has got to like this one..me too...Come on Leonard, dust off the ten gallon and return us to the days when your word must have counted otherwise you were rendered speechless...Don't stop now, Bullet, one secondary character from the old west could clean sweep the streets of Boston with a stare...
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