Bring Me The Head of Joaquin Murrieta by John Boessenecker

TL;DR: Deeply researched and absolutely blood-soaked, this was a ride.
Source: NetGalley – Thank you to the publisher!!

Structure: I enjoyed the structure, and found myself impressed with how everything came together here.
Characters: A lot of these guys blended together (there is a lot) but our author noted distinguishing things each time it was relevant which helped.
Setting: As someone who doesn’t know anything about Gold Rush era California this did a good job painting it.
Readability: Excellent. I found this easy breezy to move through.

Summary:
The story of Joaquin Murietta is the stuff of legends — in the face of adversity, the Latino outlaw embarked on a noble career as a rebel, fighting against injustice. He later became popularly known as “El Patrio” (the Patriot) and the “Robin Hood of El Dorado.” However, though Joaquin Murietta remains a folk hero to many, his checkered past has been hidden behind layers upon layers of myth — until now.

Joaquin arrived in the gold mines in 1849, and his brother-in-law, Claudio Feliz, turned to crime, driven by far more sinister ambitions than righteousness. By the following year, Claudio Feliz and Joaquin Murrieta ruled over one of the biggest and bloodiest outlaw gangs of the Old West. Despite Murrieta’s grisly death, members of his gang continued to raid and kill for more than twenty years thereafter.

Bring Me the Head of Joaquin Murrieta tells the infamous story of Joaquin’s life, his bloody career and his gruesome fate. With careful research and never-before-told stories of the violent trail Murrieta and his gang left in their wake, award-winning author and definitive Wild West historian John Boessenecker separates fact from fiction in this gripping portrait of the California Gold Rush era, for readers of Tom Clavin and H. W. Brands.

Thoughts:

A full disclaimer here is that I know very little about this time and place in history. I grew up watching Westerns with my Dad and grandfathers but that’s it (and it probably does more harm then good). So this really caught my eye, I’ve heard of Zorro and I don’t know anything about the source – I was down to try it!

As with any nonfiction book we worry about the density of the writing, and how easy it is to read. This one, while it reads slow is very easy to read and engrossing. It’s hard to look away even if what you’re reading is lots of folks stabbing and shooting each other. Which they do, a LOT. The place is given a real feeling and I wasn’t lost at any point in the book.

This story is very interesting. The author cites extensive sources, and works very hard to bring what he believes the truth of this story to light. For an every day reader or someone new to this story and history this was a great read. I kind of wanted another story all about Joaquin’s widow. Her life was WILD.

I really enjoyed this and for History fans this could be a huge hit. Give it a try if you’re interested.