The Gallows Pole
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3.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A violently poetic English western inspired by the true story of the Cragg Vale Coiners and as wild as the moors on which it is set.
Set in the moorland hills of 18th century Yorkshire, The Gallows Pole is the true story of an organized crime of forgers known as the Cragg Vale Coiners. Lead by the charismatic King David Hartley, a man prone to violence and mystical visions, they rise to glory until the bloody murder of a government official brings them to the attention of the authorities. An English western, The Gallows Pole is a poetic and visceral telling of a secret history and a wild landscape.
"Myers’s exquisite prose sizzles with tension and the plot unfolds at a perfect pace. Readers will be mesmerized by this stunning page-turner of bleak violence, crisp historical detail, and vibrant characters." - Publishers Weekly
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Myers (Turning Blue) dazzles with his outstanding novelization of 18th-century crime and powerful personalities. In the late 1760s in Yorkshire, David Hartley recruits a crew of men facing economic hardship and the looming threat of industrialization into a complicated coin forgery scheme. They form the Cragg Vale Coiners and risk execution to clip coins and melt the shavings into new ones, dubbing their leader King as their success grows. Imperious exciseman William Deighton comes to the area to root out the forgers, but he is stymied by the loyalty of the locals to King Hartley. When David sexually humiliates James Broadbent, a member of his inner circle, the latter decides to turn in his fellow criminals for monetary reward. As the lawmen close on the Hartley family and James gets antsy about delayed payment, everyone resorts to drastic choices with rippling consequences. Myers interjects David's dialect-filled confessions from his jail cell between the action to form a striking portrait of the mastermind's fractured emotional state, including his conviction that he has visions of dancing stag-men on the moors. Myers's exquisite prose sizzles with tension and the plot unfolds at a perfect pace. Readers will be mesmerized by this stunning page-turner of bleak violence, crisp historical detail, and vibrant characters.
