Backlands - (American West Trilogy) by Michael McGarrity (Paperback)

About the Book

Catapulted into early adulthood after the death of an older brother he idolized, eight-year-old Matthew Kerney assumes difficult responsibilities to save the family ranch against a backdrop of the Great Depression and a drought-stricken Tularosa Basin.

Book Synopsis

In the New York Times bestselling Hard Country, Michael McGarrity gave readers "an expansive, lyrical period Western in the tradition of A. B. Guthrie Jr. and Larry McMurtry" (Hampton Sides). Now McGarrity continues his richly authentic epic of life on the last vestiges of the twentieth-century American frontier.

Scarred by the loss of an older brother he idolized, estranged from a father he barely knows, and deeply troubled by the failing health of a mother he adores, young Matthew Kerney is suddenly and irrevocably forced to set aside his childhood and take on responsibilities far beyond his years. When the world spirals into the Great Depression and drought settles like a plague over the nation, Matt must abandon his own dreams to salvage the Kerney ranch. Plunged into a deep trough of dark family secrets, hidden crimes, broken promises, and lies, Matt must struggle to survive on the unforgiving, sun-blasted Tularosa Basin.

Review Quotes

Praise for Backlands

"McGarrity writes about the landscape of the American Southwest with loving detail and rough-hewn eloquence, but he is equally good here with the human stories and the historical backdrop....[it] claims our emotions much in the manner of Ivan Doig's similarly heartfelt historical fiction."--Booklist

"McGarrity knows New Mexico, and it shows with his authentic descriptions from transcendent beauty to parched ugliness. The Roaring Twenties, the dust bowl years, the Great Depression, and the years of World War II are conveyed with truth."--Genrefluent

Further praise for Michael McGarrity and for Hard Country

"A master storyteller. Michael McGarrity has his finger on the pulse of the Old West."--Margaret Coel, Author of Buffalo Bill's Dead Now

"A stunning saga of the Old West....Saddle up with McGarrity and let him take you back."--New York Times Bestselling Author Linda Fairstein

"A 'Western' in the sense that Lonesome Dove was a Western. It transcends the genre...an unforgettable book. I loved it." --Douglas Preston, Coauthor of Gideon's Corpse

"Michael McGarrity really gets--and loves--the Southwest: its colors, its rhythms, its blessings, its cussedness....Savor this one." --Hampton Sides, Bestselling Author of Hellhound on His Trail

"An epic Western in the classic sense...a true Western."--Bookreporter

"A spectacular journey."--Max Evans, Author of One Eyed Sky

About the Author

Michael McGarrity is the New York Times bestselling author of Hard Country, the Anthony Award-Nominated Tularosa and eleven other bestselling Kevin Kerney crime novels. A former deputy sheriff for Santa Fe County, he also served as an instructor at the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy and as an investigator for the New Mexico Public Defender's Office. He lives in Santa Fe with his wife, Emily Beth.