The Chivalry of Crime

Desmond Barry's first novel, The Chivalry of Crime, is the story of one of America's most compelling figures, the outlaw gunslinger Jesse James. Bringing real and invented characters together in a dramatic and moving story, The Chivalry of Crime mingles the life of an imaginary boy with a factually faithful account of the lives of Jesse James and Robert Ford, the man who killed James, in the days when shootists were legends. Joshua, a young, idealistic friend of Ford's, is determined to get a gun of his own - a desire that puts his own life in jeopardy and reveals the painful realities masked by America's most cherished myths.The title is a quote from a Kansas City Times editorial that condemned Jesse James for robbing a bank but celebrated his style for showing that after the Civil War, there were still unbowed men of blood in the south. Violent, lyrically written and heart-rending, The Chivalry of Crime is a brilliant debut.