Book Review and GIVEAWAY: Holliday, by Matthew Di Paoli (ends 7/30)

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

In Tombstone, the leaves had all turned canary, complementing the grass, which had burnt beige. Evergreens swayed in the distance, and the mountains loomed ash and golden like the clouds. It was mid-October and the weather finally dropped below eighty. The rotten stench of politics lingered in the air as Garfield made his final push against Hancock. Doc never voted because he always felt like he lost no matter who got elected. Still, he admired Garfield’s beard. It reminded him of a fashionable lady’s pubis.

Having been released under Wyatt’s supervision, Doc decided to pay Joyce a visit on his sickbed. He was holed up with his wife and a doctor in his house. Outside teetered a curlicue metal fence that Joyce had probably built himself. From his craftsmanship, thought Doc, it wouldn’t matter much if he had one hand or two. Doc could see Joyce on the bed through the dirt-caked window, so he climbed over the knee-high fence and knocked on the glass.

John Henry Holliday never meant to be a legend. He just was doing what he needed to do to get by while he searched for the miraculous fountain that would cure him of consumption.

Official synopsis:

Holliday follows the infamous 1880s gambler, dentist, and gunslinger, Doc Holliday. From the outset, Doc has been diagnosed with tuberculosis and is told to head to dryer climates and imbibe to prolong his life. He has also heard of a spring located somewhere along the frontier that could cure him—what he believes to be the mythical Fountain of Youth. The novel portrays Holliday as a rock star, a living legend, increasingly hounded by paparazzi, enamored by death, cards, booze, and women. Doc is a mixture of Clint Eastwood and Jim Morrison, and though he is able to help his friend, Wyatt Earp, exact revenge, his condition worsens, traveling from Arizona to Denver, and finally dying in a sanatorium in Colorado with his boots off. A slow and unfitting end for such a bombastic outlaw.

This was such an interesting read! The story starts some time after Doc Holliday left his childhood home in Georgia, where he buried his mother and caught the same consumption which killed her. His father, new step-mother, and love Mattie remained, but Doc was told to go to a hot, dry climate, and he hoped to find the fountain that could cure him. 

The author, in a unique twist, offers delightfully varied musical selections intended to go with each short chapter of the story. And his musical tastes sound pretty varied: Nine Inch Nails, The Killers, The Rolling Stones, The Doors, Modest Mouse, The Pixies, and Kings of Leon, just to name a few. While the music is definitely a great addition, the book is obviously readable without it, too.

Overall, the story and the way it was told were engaging and entertaining, which was also enhanced with lots of potentially recognizable side characters. The book earned a high 3 out of 5 stars and would be enjoyed by those who like westerns and history from the era.

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Becki Bayley is a wife, mom and theatre supporter Some of her favorite (non-musical) shows have included Radium Girls, Ashland Falls, and She Kills Monsters. See what else she’s been up to on Instagram, where she posts as SweetlyBSquared.

GIVEAWAY:

One of my lucky readers will win a copy of Holliday!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Tuesday, July 30th, at 11:59pm ET, and winner will be notified via email the next day and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

U.S. residents only, please.

Good luck!

Holliday, by Matthew Di Paoli