"Western action and justice certainly figure in Hell on the Border, but they are relayed here with a nuanced lyricism, more Larry McMurtry than dime novel. . . . Bass Reeves, as Thompson portrays him, is a complex, compelling character, a fully evolved hero."—Michael Ray Taylor, Chapter16.org
“Gripping, hard-to-put-down.”—Sean Clancy, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
“A finely calibrated trilogy about a subject who couldn’t be more necessary to our moment. The voice with which Thompson pursues Bass Reeves, at once austere and ornamented by its historical circumstances, is just one of the book’s many enviable achievements.”—Kevin Brockmeier, author of The Brief History of the Dead
“Hell on the Border imaginatively reclaims the life of pioneering African American U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves. . . . This may be a book set in the historical past, but it contains stories and lessons we should contemplate today.”—W. Ralph Eubanks, author of The House at the End of the Road
“In Sidney Thompson’s hands, this story of a remarkable life shows us that Oklahoma was always Indigenous land, Black lives have always mattered, and the white supremacy that seeks to squash Black brilliance still must be destroyed. With masterful structure, pacing, and language, this historical fiction reveals the truth of our present moment. . . . If you finished the first book desperate to see Bass Reeves free, in this book you will watch him become legendary, and you’ll end this novel dying to know what happens next.”—Erin Stalcup, author of Every Living Species
