Hell Bent is a novel about the life of John Wesley Hardin, the most dangerous gunslinger in Texas history. Based on both fictional and authenticated facts, his notorious life has become the stuff of legend. The legendary Texas gunfighter led the life of ten mortal men and was a walking contradiction. At times, he was the polite southern gentleman, whom the girls loved, to a two-gun, fast draw sharpshooter who feared no one and would kill at the drop of a hat. Even as a teenager, he became the lightning rod for pro-southern sentiment, which was still festering in the Texas Reconstruction Era more than ten years after the Civil War. To many, he was considered a hero for standing up to the Federal Army and State Police occupation of the Texas land that they had fought and died for, but to others, he was a villain. In truth, he was a little of both.
But even with all of his confrontations, enemies, and adversaries, John Wesley Hardin never faced a more significant opponent or more serious threat to his life than his own formidable self. While claiming his, every violent act was out of the "first law of nature: self-preservation," again and again, he made choices that jeopardized his life due to his fiery temper and eventually led to his destruction.
Hardin was a prime example of that particular breed of men known as a gunfighter and took pride in the fact of being the fastest draw and most accurate shooter of any living man. He knew that firing a gun in self-defense or anger did not make one an accomplished gunfighter and was proud of his lightning-fast draw and accurate marksmanship.
We all know that the Western gunfight seldom if ever occurred the ways it's been commonly portrayed in movies: the mannerly encounter at high noon, revolvers holstered until the very last second, giving one's opponent a chance for a fair draw, guns shot out of hands without a bloody shattering of fingers and palms or apologizing to a downed hombre with a dusty drawl. However, it is a fact that there once was a special breed of men whose violent encounters involved face to face action. Men who believed that they were right, who insisted on looking their antagonists in the eye, and being the last thing they saw on the day of their death.
A "shootist," like John Wesley Hardin was neither a bushwhacker, a robber or assassin, but rather, a highly effective and often volatile individual whose violent deeds usually arose spontaneously and out of reaction to a perceived insult or threat. He was more likely to be a loner than a gang member. Silent, pleasant, and handsome, he exuded both character and style. He felt safer and perhaps saner outside associations with normal, civilized men, and likely trusted his intuition, discernment, skill, instincts, and responses above anyone and everything else. Hardin adhered to the traditional western belief that "a good offense is the best defense." He never backed down, not because he was totally fearless, but rather, because he knew how to use his fear as fuel for assertive and oftentimes explosive action. Whether right or wrong, he acted out of moral certainty, adhering to his code of honor even when breaking existing laws and cultural taboos.
There was probably no authentic Western character more proficient with their chosen handguns nor more willing to put them to deadly use than John Wesley Hardin. By the age of twenty-one, he became public enemy #1. After reading this book, you can decide if he was a hero or a villain, but either way, you will see why he was called the last true and most fascinating gunfighter of The Old West.
