Some time in the past, I put this book on my "want to read" list, but I don't remember why.

This week, it was available, and I wanted something to read, so I borrowed the ebook.

As soon as I started it, I wondered why. There's no talking cats, no robots, no spaceships. It's a couple of hired guns on their way to California to kill somebody during the gold rush.

Absolutely compelling. Reminded me in a good way of a [a:Guy Vanderhaeghe|98125|Guy Vanderhaeghe|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1253558267p2/98125.jpg] western story or the TV series Deadwood.

I looked it up on Wikipedia and it turns out to be a hugely award-winning Canadian novel. It is also supposed to be "darkly comic". So comic that it won the 2012 Stephen Leacock medal.

This has taught me that I'm not up at all on Canadian literature and maybe I don't have the great sense of humour that I thought I had.

I really liked this book, but it did not make me laugh.