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New Trilogy, Book 3 of Doc Holliday's story
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Print Book
$ 14.99 Tradesize Paperback
Reviews
ISBN: 978-1-932695-96-0
Rated PG 13
When John Henry “Doc” Holliday died at age thirty-six in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, he left behind more than a reputation. He left a son. Would the boy live down the lies or live up to the legend?

Death Takes a Holliday follows Henry McKey Holliday’s transition from unsure youth to confident, accomplished adult in the turbulent Arizona Territory of the waning years of the 19th century. Henry is a young man locked in an ongoing quest for self and past while forging a future in a changing world.
A stint in the First United States Volunteer Cavalry as a member of Theodore Roosevelt’s legendary Rough Riders thrusts the youthful Henry into the Spanish-American War. Maturing is not optional, but obligatory.
Back home in Arizona life is good. Henry marries and raises a family, but violence intervenes. Rustlers murder three McKey cowboys, including long-time family friend, Texas Jack Vermillion.
Devastated by the loss, Henry turns to the county sheriff for justice, but the lawman can do little. Holliday then looks to the Arizona Rangers, knowing their authority crosses boundaries and their tenacity, even so early in their forming, is legendary.
With his life in chaos, Henry’s sense of balance is reborn with the appearance of a trusted friend.
The future is out there, waiting. What it holds is up to Henry. As Doc Holliday’s son, will he live up to the myth or become a legend unto himself?
Death Takes a Holliday
by
S.M. Ballard
Death Takes a Holliday is the largest and the best of Ballard’s “Doc” Holliday trilogy.  Each of her cleverly titled books (Borrowed Time, Holliday in Tombstone, and now, Death Takes a Holliday) lives up to its promise. 

This latest is a classic “what if” novel—What if John Henry “Doc” Holliday had married Clementine, Southern belle and his first love?  What if they had a son?  What if Doc and his assorted sidekicks had nurtured that son?  How would the son turn out? 

         Ballard answers all these questions as she seamlessly blends fact and fiction. Doc Holliday, living under the assumed name “John McKey,” establishes a ranch with trusted riders who would fight and die for the brand. He does this for Clementine and the child he fathered, knowing he is living on “borrowed time.”  Through various twists and turns, Ballard believably brings Doc to Glenwood Springs, Colorado, where he reportedly died …at 9:42 on the morning of November 8th, 1887.

And where the death of Doc ends his story, the story of his seven-year-old son Henry McKey Holliday really begins. Throughout her story, Ballard weaves recognizable names from the Doc Holliday era into the turn of the century.   

As young Henry enters early manhood, he becomes engulfed in the Spanish-American War as a member of the First Volunteer Cavalry—Arizona Column. There Henry develops bonds with such notables as his favorite writer, Stephen Crane, and his commander, Colonel Theodore Roosevelt.

It is in her descriptions of things historical that Ballard really shines, yet nothing is presented as dryly factual.  These are part and parcel of her fiction weaving as she takes Henry McKey’s transition from unsure youth to confident, accomplished, and successful husband, father, and Arizona rancher.

A great read...don't miss it!

-- J.D. Harkleroad


After his association with the Earps and the other legends of Tombstone, John Henry “Doc” Holliday led a secret life as John McKey, Arizona rancher and family man. When Doc passed away due to consumption in Glenwood Springs, Colorado on November 8,1878, he left behind many things.
More important than his often exaggerated history, Holliday left behind a son, Henry McKey.“Death Takes a Holliday” is the last book in a Doc Holliday historical fiction trilogy by S.M. Ballard and joins “Holliday in Tombstone” and “Borrowed Time” in Ballard’s quest to tell the story of Doc. In “Death Takes a Holliday,” young Henry McKey Holliday learns his true identity on February 24, 1892, his 13th birthday,and Ballard takes him on an event filled, shoot-‘em-up journey from unsure youth to confident adult and from Arizona to Cuba and back again. Having taken the surname Holliday, in order to honor his parentage, Henry Holliday leaves a budding romance and the responsibility of running and defending the family ranch to enlist in the Volunteer Cavalry at age 19
and go to war alongside Colonel Teddy Roosevelt. Then, it’s back to Cochise County and more adventures for the reader to discover.

---Reviewed by Sgt. Shuster, SASS #60835
Cowboy Chronicle