Gone to Texas by Forrest Carter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The movie The Outlaw Josey Wales is probably my favorite Western film, and one of my favorite all-around movies. I’ve been watching it for years and years without reading the source material, so I was a little nervous about taking on the novel that inspired the film.

No need, though.

The novel was every bit as exciting as the film and is one of the better “fast” Western novels I’ve ever read (fast opposed to the sprawling epics like Lonesome Dove). The film is pretty faithful to the book, though the movie adds and plays up the role of Fletcher and the “red-legs” so that there is a consistent bad guy, while the book is more episodic, without a central villain.

Gone to Texas won’t stretch your mind or change your social views, but for a fun, quick read filled with action and blazing pistols it’s one of the best I’ve read.

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