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Title: The Fourth Horseman by Randy Lee Eickhoff ISBN: 0-312-85301-7 Publisher: St Martins Pr Pub. Date: 01 February, 1998 Format: Hardcover List Price(USD): $24.95

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Average Customer Rating: 2.9 (10 reviews)

Rating: 3
Summary: Confused; Which "Doc Holliday"
Comment: I enjoyed the story of the famous dentist, liking the novel treatment rather than the anticeptic treatment usually given to the Earps, Holliday troubles in Tombstone. What has confused me is Mr. Eickhoff's liberal use of the characterization of Holliday made famous in the movie Tombstone. It seems that the latter portion of the book, the Earp years, are steeped in the screenplays of several movie attempts to bring the story to the American public. Mr. Eickhof begins to shape "Doc" character from the very beginning to take on the Val Kilmer persona. Mr. Eickhoff has not developed "his own" John Henry "Doc" Holliday and has played fast and loose with what has already been seen by the general public from 1956 until now. A good read, but a disappointing "Doc" and a disappointing rendition of the "Troubles in Tombstone."

Rating: 1
Summary: Misplaced Royalties or Sloppy Seconds?
Comment: If Mr. Eickhoff has any integrity, he needs to send every nickel of his earnings from this book to the person whose brilliant interpretation of Doc Holliday actually wrote this Tombstone rip-off. Randy, make that check out to: Val Kilmer and you'll sleep better tonight. For a truly original book (you know the kind... the ones the grownups write...all on their own...with no help) try Bruce Olds' amazing Bucking the Tiger. Now, THAT'S art.

Rating: 3
Summary: Val Kilmer spawns book . . . Film at Eleven
Comment: I found this book to be somewhat enjoyable, as a casual read. But if you are looking for honest, hard-core facts about the man who was John Henry Holliday, then this book is not for you. But as a fiction book, it was ok. The main problem that I had with it, and that I see other reviewers had with it, is that it is *very* similar to the movie 'Tombstone'. The main character is modeled so closely after Val Kilmer's movie take that he actually uses the same phrases. Even events that happened in the movie, such as the murder of Johnny Ringo, which was probably a suicide, more than a murder, were taken directly from the movie.

On the account of the 'name-dropping', I found it somewhat quaint, almost like a 'Forrest Gump' kind of move. Running into Calamity Jane, Edwin Booth and other such notables was quite fun, if you're interested in that.

I would have given this book four stars if not for the end. It happened almost exactly as it did in the movie 'Tombstone', which was very disappointing and almost sad. And throughout the whole book, the main character was spouting off phrases from the movie, almost verbatim, such as 'You're a daisy', which was certainly the 'in' slang word of the time, but not as much as was used in the book. But the whole thing about 'I'm your huckleberry' got to be a bit tiresome, as he said it like twenty times, and a bit embarrassing for me to read it. Another example was the use of the adjective 'cosmopolitan' to describe towns, places, etc.

The book itself was well written, with the descriptions of the South being dead-on. Magnolia, and willow trees and an array of interesting characters contributed to the 'persona' that we know of as being 'the South' were all very interesting. The pace of the book was well-set, nice and easy with out being too hurried or too slow.

All in all, I'm pretty sure I would recommend this, if you have an open mind towards the *fictional* character of John Henry Holliday. But if you're looking for a true to life story, check out 'And Die In The West' by Paula Marks, which is one of the best non-biased tellings of both the fight at the O.K. Corral, and the stories of all the men involved.