The Winter Family Paperback – March 22, 2016

Or maybe Blood meridian was just longer. There was more implied violence maybe in The Winter Family. I don't know if what we're looking for is just violence however. I thought there was more story to Blood meridian also.. no denigration to Mr. Jackman. Mr. McCarthy has been turning over rocks and writing about what he sees for a long, long time! I enjoyed The Winter Family.. I really did. I enjoyed the way he segued his entire cast from one end of the country to the other in just a few pages. Randy Wayne White could have written the same story from beginning to end and it would be four or five thousand pages long. And I enjoy reading Mr. Whites books also. Stuart Woods could get by with a novellas worth of paper.. same story. And I'd read and enjoy that one too. It's all good stuff.

This was a extremely interesting book. There are no characters with whom you can identify, but I liked it nonetheless. The writer does a good job of roping you into the narrative and I really wanted to know more about the characters and how they became so despicable. It is not for the faint-hearted and the story itself is very dark, but also very entertaining. Not your typical thriller or mystery.

“War is hell”, said General Sherman, and proved it to anyone in the path of his army in Georgia. Although Sherman makes no appearance in this novel, his influence is abundantly evident, as the story line begins with the march across Georgia. The protagonists are a scout party from that army, who are joined by an escaped slave and some Confederate deserters, and become a criminal gang after being cashiered from the Union Army. Thus begins a saga of the dark side of American history that extends over some 40 years and ranges from Mexico to California. It is not an easy book to read; the level of violence is just overwhelming. But the insights into some little appreciated aspects of American history are tantalizing. Two vignettes will suffice to describe them. The Winter Family, named from the most psychopathic of the group, is hired by a Republican in Chicago as mercenaries to block Democrats who are engaging in multiple voting in an election, resulting in a bloodbath at the polls. Years later, while hounded by the Pinkertons, a semi-official law agency, the gang moves to Indian Territory, also known as the Oklahoma Territory. There they invade a town set up by Sooners, the people who illegally set up homesteads in the Territory before the official land rush. It is the ambiguities of law vs might that make these stories so compelling, an aspect of American history that few appreciate today.The separate stories are interspersed by short historical summaries that are useful in putting the episodes into context. The protagonists also occasionally mutter bits of philosophy to justify their brutality and psychopathic tendencies. If you can stomach the violence, this novel has some interesting lessons about American history and how its culture developed into the current nation. But it is a very brutal lesson.

This if for you.Reminds me of Blood Meridian like another review pointed out. Great action, dark humor and tense moments made this enjoyable.

Seemed very derivative of "Blood Meridian," and mixed with a dose of "The Jungle" and another crappy western book called "Smote" and maybe elements of "White City."Just read "Blood Meridian" again. Or maybe "In the Rogue Blood" by James Carlos Blake. Better written, more original, not trying so hard.

Very good read. But a lot of rough stuff. Bodies and shootouts all over the place.

this was a great novel about a gang who get together in late civil war, then thru reconstruction, into the politics of chicago & back out west for more violent adventure; like the way the characters were developed; violence was graphic but so were other things like the description of the slaughter yards in chicago; i really enjoyed the book; also had some philosophy in it; i recomend it highly; lots of action & descriptions for a book of only 300 plus pages

I don't mind violence in a Western but it was so repetitious. Someone was always getting their head blown off. And- I was never sure what the motivation was for many characters - i.e.- the Shakespeare brothers. That most of the Winter gang were sociopaths was evident but I couldn't figure out why they stayed together. Besides having a grudge against society, they seemed to have problems just getting along. It seemed like fear of Augustus was their only bond. It seemed like they were all just a step away from becoming farmers, ranchers, tradesmen etc if only one of them could have shot Augustus in his sleep. This was close to being a fine Western if only the author had remembered to add a few good guys to root for. In this novel, everyone except innocent citizens got what they deserved.

This book kept me glued to it from start to finish. The character development was wonderful and you feel for both the protagonist and the antagonist. Their journeys intertwine time and time again resulting in an extremely compelling narrative from start to finish.

I bought this book to read while on holiday not really knowing what to expect. I can't say that I knew much about the era this book is set but the author describes everything so vividly that I don't feel I needed to. Despite there being quite a lot of characters, they are all clearly defined and by the end you feel like you know them well and I definitely ended up caring what happened to them. The story rattles along at quite a pace despite it covering a few decades which meant I found it very hard to stop reading (although being on holiday that didn't really matter!). Overall, this is an excellent book and I look forward to reading more from this author.

Look, just about any western is worth a read, but every so often you'll get one written by a "serious" writer and that can set it apart from the herd (see what I did there? Cowboy/Herd !!??!!).This is one of them.Excellent story, well paced, informative and enjoyable.

Fast paced. Violent. Spanning time. Tension. Characters. Settings. History. Story. Visual. Compelling. Gripping. Action. Stylish. Powerful. Unique. Recommended. Worth reading.

fast paced and interesting. Should read California 1901 to get the full story.