For six years following the Civil War, gunslingers John West and Lawson Kimbrell led the notorious West-Kimbrell Clan in robbing unsuspecting travelers on the El Camino Real. John West found a criminal kinship in partner Kimbrell, and as gang leaders they were absolutely merciless in creating mayhem far and wide, to an unprecedented degree. "Nightriders" chronicles the rise of these madmen in and around Winn Parish, Louisiana, and details their ultimate downfall. " . . . when read as a lightly fictionalized history, in the tradition of Bruce Duffy's novels and Norman Mailer's The Executioner's Song, this hybrid beast of a book proves successful in bringing the past alive and weaving a sinister bedtime story for readers. -- (Kirkus Reviews)