The Last Cowboys of San Geronimo: A Novel

Ian Stansel

jul 2017 · HarperCollins

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Murder ends a sibling rivalry and ignites a manhunt in this “stirring narrative of hostility, pursuit, and the desire for vengeance” (Kirkus Reviews).

When Silas Van Loy flees home on horseback to avoid capture for his brother’s murder, he is followed by both the police and his brother’s wife, Lena, who is intent on exacting revenge. She reluctantly lets her trusted stable assistant join her in a journey across the wilds of Northern California in the hopes of catching Silas for one final showdown. Stansel follows the chase and shares the story of the brothers’ rise from hardscrabble childhood to their reign as the region’s preeminent horse trainers, tracking the tense sibling rivalry that ultimately leads to the elder’s death . . .

A “fast-paced, moving narrative in which family loyalty is tested, broken, and redeemed in unexpected ways,” The Last Cowboys of San Geronimo will satisfy fans of Kent Haruf, Charles Portis, Molly Gloss, and Smith Henderson, and establish Stansel as a new voice in this grand tradition (BookPage).

Praise for The Last Cowboys of San Geronimo

“One of the most compelling novels I’ve read in a long time.” —Eowyn Ivey



“Shares the trail with the likes of Edward Abbey, Cormac McCarthy, and Larry McMurtry.” —Craig Johnson, New York Times–bestselling author of the Walt Longmire Mysteries, the basis for the hit show Longmire

“In his forthright, beautifully rendered first novel, following the PEN/Bingham Prize-winning story collection Everyone’s Irish, Stansel limns the murderous tension between two brothers, showing how families can fracture for mysterious reasons. . . . Stansel has written a captivating novel, elegantly spare in language but big in purpose.” —Library Journal (starred review)

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IAN STANSEL is the author of the collection of stories Everybody’s Irish, a finalist for the PEN/Bingham prize for debut fiction. His fiction has appeared in numerous literary journals, including Ploughshares, Joyland, Ecotone, and Cincinnati Review. His nonfiction has appeared in Salon,CutBank, and The Good Men Project. He holds an MFA in fiction writing from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a PhD in literature and creative writing from the University of Houston, where he was the editor of Gulf Coast.He currently serves as assistant professor of creative writing at the University of Louisville.