This book had me hooked by the second page. It’s on the same trajectory that brought us Charles Portis’ [b:True Grit|257845|True Grit|Charles Portis|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51XHR1NY3TL.SL75.jpg|1320617] and the HBO series Deadwood.

Patrick deWitt skillfully uses the voice of his narrator, Eli Sisters, to tell us about the gold rush-era American west. Eli and his brother Charlie are hired guns headed for California, and leave a trail of blood in their path.

Episodes veer from comedy to tragedy almost instantaneously; actually, they don’t “veer” as much as portray simultaneous duality. How can a scene be both funny and awful at the same time? deWitt shows us how.

Early on, after sustaining a spider bite, Eli says:

“The left side of my face was grotesquely swollen, from the crown of my skull all the way to the neck, tapering off at the shoulder. My eye was merely a slit and Charlie, regaining his humor, said I looked like a half dog, and he tossed a stick to see if I would chase it.”

That is the tone of brotherhood in this book.

As much as Charlie is a heartless SOB, Eli is a little more sentimental. Portrayed as “heftier” and rather slow-witted, Eli periodically reflects on his life and gives us wonderful lines like this:

“When a man is properly drunk it is as though he is in a room by himself.”

Like Eli’s horse Tub, the book stumbles along at the end. There’s a little too much speechifying by some characters, and then there’s an ending that…seems…a little off. My reaction is that we are not supposed to trust Eli as a narrator. I’m trying not to give away anything here, but concluding events work out a little too easily in his favor. With more careful reading, I’d probably be able to pick up more clues (perhaps from the “intermissions”?).

Finally, five stars to the superb cover art by Dan Stiles.