Cheap Aces and Eights (Book) (Loren D. Estleman) Price

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Customer Reviews of Aces and Eights

Pretty good book, in spite of inaccuracies
I like Loren Estleman, don't get me wrong. He puts things together really well, writes good dialogue, good characters, and a pretty good story. But he really needed in his early books to concentrate more on his facts. I guarantee you this book deserves more than the one star Todd N gave it. But I can't honestly give it any higher than a three. I'm an avid reader of Kirby Jonas westerns because of the fact that he stays so historically accurate with EVERYTHING. I have to say he's the new king of the western novel. But Loren Estleman certainly has his place. If you can pass up a few errors in your history, natural history, and firearms, and a few outstanding contradictions that come from writing too fast, try Estleman out. But make sure to pick up one of those Kirby Jonas books if you want to know the REAL west!

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This novel a Spur Award winner
ACES AND EIGHTS is an early Estleman Western for which he won a Spur Award from Western Writers of America, Inc., and justly so. This author's 'take' on Western icons is always fresh and provocative, and this story of Wild Bill Hickock and his nemesis Jack McCall is vintage Estleman. Read his novels on Buffalo Bill Cody (THIS OLD BILL), the O.K. Corral gunfight (BLOODY SEASON), and JOURNEY OF THE DEAD on Pat Garrett (which has just won the 1999 Spur Award for best novel) and sample one of the greatest Western writers at work.

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Only a Novel
Don't be misled by the synopsis...this is far more court room than card room. While it is intended as a novel, Estleman could have provided far better set up so far as historical points about Hickok; points which are easily accessed and historically correct. The opening sequence is provided as some sort of preface about Hickok, however is endlessly riddled with obvious errors. This "Legend of Wild Bill" fails from the start with speculative shortcomings and utterly ridiculous inaccuracies. It spirals downward into an unimaginative old west court room. For any western buffs, especially those looking for books about Wild Bill, you'll definitely want to leave this one in the dust.