Billy the Kid's Last Ride [Paperback]

John A. Aragon has written a compelling tale of the old west and of William Bonney, also known as Billy the Kid. As most who have read my reviews know, I have never been known to read westerns. This book intrigued me from the beginning, because Aragon is a practicing trial lawyer and I was curious about his perspective. Much is known and much is not known about William Bonney.

The year is 1922. We meet Billy the Kid through the investigations of prim and proper New York reporter, Percival Baron Chesterfield. He is sent to New Mexico to do an article on Pat Garrett, the man credited with killing the man who was known as William Bonney, or Billy the Kid. In the course of his investigations, Percy discovers himself a both a man and an investigative reporter. He also finds that his story shifts completely from Pat Garrett to the charming, well mannered man known as Billy the Kid. Percy becomes obsessed with the Kid, wanting to understand who he was as a person, and why his life had ended the way it had.

Percy struggles in the wilds of New Mexico, but he becomes infatuated with a woman, Rosario, whose family knew Billy the Kid well. His desire for her leads him to a better understanding of the events of William Bonney's life.
William Bonney was born William Henry McCarty, Jr. in New York, the son of an Irish immigrant. He later took the name of his stepfather, Antrim, as an alias.

He later decided to call himself William Bonney, or as the Irish would say, `Pretty William'.

Aragon's ability to get into the head of his characters and his description of William's life and times is riveting. I was completely drawn into his world.

The more that Percy digs, the more he finds, and what he finds turns everything he thought he knew on its head. What is not widely known is that he had immense respect for the Mexican people and a deep relationship with them. They considered him to be one of their own, and called him El Chivato. They tell Percy that to them El Chivato was no Anglo. He was `muy macho', very brave like one of them, and that he could `smell the truth'.

The two stories, that old one of William Bonney and the modern one of Percy Chesterfield are entwined and both are revealed bit by bit, like glimpses through a curtained window.

I highly recommend this tale to anyone who is looking for a compelling story that will sweep them away to another place and time.

This really is so much more than just about Billy the Kid, although he makes a wonderfully sympathetic, albeit flawed main character. It's a true saga of the west and is wonderful in its scope.

In spite of the violence, I enjoyed reading John Aragon's fascinating version of Billy's life, which provides the reader with a different perspective on what made the young man the bad dude he was. Mr. Aragon, a trial lawyer, is able to take this flawed young man and make him a likeable character who stuck by his friends. He shows how the circumstances of his life forced Billy off the narrow path and into a life of crime.

One has to feel empathy for the lad. As I read, there were so many places where I wished his life had taken a different turn; that he could have pursued his dream to ride south to Mexico, with the woman he loved, and live peacefully ever after.

I was 15 years old when I first saw the movie "The Outlaw." starring Jane Russell who was quite famous at the time. The man who played Billy the Kid was a virtual unknown, but he was extremely good looking, and I had a crush on him for a long time. Consequently, although history has often told us that Billy was bad, I've always had a bit of a soft spot for him.

Mr. Aragon's wonderfully descriptive narrative transports us into the sun-filled, blue-sky country of southwestern United States. His settings carried me back to the four trips that my husband and I made through Arizona and New Mexico. I remembered how much I loved the terrain of that dry, pinion-studded and mesa filled land. There's even a special smell to it.

I also liked how the author interweaves the story of the milquetoast, New York reporter, Percival and his search to know Billy as well as his obsession with Rosa. It adds comedy and breaks up the tension of the constant violence in Billy's life. Without giving too much away, I can tell you that the episodes with the steer outside the outhouse, and the encounter with the rattlesnake while Percival goes about his "business" were hilarious.

Mr. Aragon is a gifted writer and I think we will be seeing more of his work.

I could not put this book down. John Aragon has skillfully weaved together a narative that is based on historical research on the life of Billy the Kid, but brings to the story an understanding of life that I felt relates to contempory issues in our society. I was reminded of the stark and beautiful writtings of Cormac McCarthy. John in some similar ways writes beautiful descriptions of the Southwest landscapes and juxtaposes these with some violent episodes. But, while Cormac McCarthy's characters seem to be mostly psychopathic with their total lack of moral or spiritual motivation, John Aragon brings to his subjects a deeper understanding of human nature and spirit. John Aragon is reaching deeper into the human nature of us all.
The "wild west" of the Southest was truly wild and without many rules. If anybody believes that our society should return to some noble idea of the beauties of laissez faire capitalism, laissez fair government or laissez fair tribal customs, they should reead this book. A culture that is ruled by the gun might not be such a cool place to live. That is, of course, my take while reading the book and not one that John Aragon might have focused upon, but John Aragon shows how individuals such as Billy the Kid while living and being trapped in such a world can enoble themselves with personal codes of justice that raise the spirit.
This is a very interesting novel and could be made into a different kind of movie.
David Willis