Overview

Noir meets the Western in this hyperkinetic debut novel, which recounts the exploits of the Winter Family band of outlaws over three decades, from its inception in the midst of the Civil War to its final bloody stand in the Oklahoma Territories. After being court-martialed for their actions during the Civil War, a band of hardened Union soldiers recast themselves as outlaws. Among these twisted men who've found brotherhood in battle are a psychopathic killer, a mean, moronic pair of brothers, an impassive ex-slave, a dangerous child prodigy and, at the malevolent center, their cold, stoic leader- Augustus Winter, a man with an almost pathological resistance to society's rules and a preternatural gift for butchery that is matched only by his eerie charisma. From political thuggery during a Chicago election to work as bounty hunters in the deserts of Arizona, Winter and his crew follow a grim, borderland morality that plays out, time and again, in ruthless carnage.

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9780804173711

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Reviews

Longlisted for the 2015 Giller Prize “Calculating and poetic . . . holds you with a compelling brutality from which it is impossible to turn away.” --Craig Johnson, New York Times bestselling author of the Walt Longmire mysteries  “Capable of standing in [Cormac McCarthy’s] company, which is high praise indeed. The Winter Family is a philosophical spaghetti western that doesn’t stint on the tomato sauce, served up with flair.” —Quill & Quire (starred review)    “Sadistic but mesmerizing. . . . From the first rifle shot to the last burned body.” —The New York Times Book Review    “Stink and filth, corruption and depravity, lawlessness and unruliness. . . . [Augustus Winter is] as fascinating as any other complicatedly deadly thing.” —The Globe and Mail “The adventures of a gleefully nihilistic group of outlaws. . . . Brutal, at times darkly funny, and utterly gripping from the first page to the last.” —Scott Smith, New York Times bestselling author of A Simple Plan and The Ruins “A blood-soaked historical western covering over three decades of mayhem. . . . [A] vivid portrayal of men who choose violence and lawlessness as their way of life, and the justifications they create to rationalize their immoral behavior. This is a chilling tale.” —Publishers Weekly “A wild ride into the conflict between freedom and civilization written in brains and blood. . . . This book is a round house punch of awesome. It came out of nowhere and tackled me into the dirt.” —Michael D. Griffiths, SFReader.com “Enormously enjoyable.” —Literary Review of Canada “Satisfyingly violent.” —The Toronto Star “Bloodletting as philosophical exercise, and not for the faint of heart.” —Kirkus Reviews “Brutal. Nihilistic. Extreme. Clifford Jackman's debut, The Winter Family, lit my synapses up like a pinball machine. I joined golden-eyed Augustus Winter and his band of merry sociopaths on their journey through the dying West, civilization squeezing in from every angle—this is a raw, blood-splattered picaresque that I enjoyed immensely. Jackman throws nine kinds of hell at you in this book, unloading with both barrels, and never lets up the intensity.” —Craig Davidson, author of Cataract City

Longlisted for the 2015 Giller Prize Calculating and poetic. . . holds you with a compelling brutality from whichit is impossible to turn away. --Craig Johnson, New York Times bestsellingauthor of the Walt Longmire mysteries Capable of standing in [Cormac McCarthy s] company, which is high praise indeed. The Winter Family is a philosophical spaghetti western that doesn t stint on the tomato sauce, served up with flair. Quill & Quire (starred review) Sadistic but mesmerizing. . . . From the first rifle shot to the last burned body. The New York Times Book Review Stink and filth, corruption and depravity, lawlessness and unruliness. . . . [Augustus Winter is] as fascinating as any other complicatedly deadly thing. The Globe and Mail The adventures of a gleefully nihilistic group of outlaws. . . . Brutal, at times darkly funny, and utterly gripping from the first page to the last. Scott Smith, New York Times bestselling author of A Simple Plan and The Ruins A blood-soaked historical western covering over three decades of mayhem. . . . [A] vivid portrayal of men who choose violence and lawlessness as their way of life, and the justifications they create to rationalize their immoral behavior. This is a chilling tale. Publishers Weekly A wild ride into the conflict between freedom and civilization written in brains and blood. . . . This book is a round house punch of awesome. It came out of nowhere and tackled me into the dirt. Michael D. Griffiths, SFReader.com Enormously enjoyable. Literary Review of Canada Satisfyingly violent. The Toronto Star Bloodletting as philosophical exercise, and not for the faint of heart. Kirkus Reviews Brutal. Nihilistic. Extreme.Clifford Jackman's debut, The Winter Family, lit my synapses up like a pinball machine. I joined golden-eyed Augustus Winter and his band of merry sociopaths on their journey through the dying West, civilization squeezing in from every angle this isa raw, blood-splattered picaresquethat I enjoyed immensely.Jackman throws nine kinds of hell at you in this book, unloading with both barrels, and never lets up the intensity. Craig Davidson, author of Cataract City

Sadistic but mesmerizing... -- New York Times Book Review Clifford Jackman usesthe adventures of a gleefully nihilistic group of outlawsto tell the story of 'civilization s' implacable march westward. The members of The Winter Family are the advanced guard the thugs that more refined and powerful men send out to batter the world into submission. They burn Georgia for Sherman; they fix an election in Chicago for the young Republican Party; they clear Oklahoma of inconvenient natives for rapacious land barons. If Sam Peckinpah had been a novelist rather than a filmmaker, this is the book he would ve written: brutal, at times darkly funny, and utterly gripping from the first page to the last. --Scott Smith, New York Times bestselling author of A Simple Plan and The Ruins Clifford Jackman's novel somehow manages to beboth traditional and eerily unique. Think of it as a combination of High Noon and The Shining. -- Jeff Guinn, bestselling author of Glorious and The Last Gun Fight The Winter Family is both calculating and poetic and holds you with a compelling brutality from which it is impossible to turn away. -- Craig Johnson, New York Times bestsellingauthor of the Walt Longmire mysteries the basis of the hit drama series Longmire Brutal. Nihilistic. Extreme.Clifford Jackman's debut, The Winter Family, lit my synapses up like a pinball machine. I joined golden-eyed Augustus Winter and his band of merry sociopaths on their journey through the dying West, civilization squeezing in from every angle this isa raw, blood-splattered picaresque that I enjoyed immensely. Jackman throws nine kinds of hell at you in this book, unloading with both barrels, and never lets up the intensity. --Craig Davidson, author ofCataract City A taut Western for those already missing the TV show Justified . Westerns are enjoying some of their most substantial works in years and Jackman's book has earned pre-release acclaim from all the industry gate keepers -- Huffington Post, A BookFilter Top Pick Four years ago I had the morbid delight of... reviewing Patrick DeWitt s The Sister s Brothers [I] thought it would never be topped. Wrong! Into my life came Clifford Jackman s The Winter Family. ...This isa high-octane novel....The kind of novel that you would expect from Sam Peckinpah or Quentin Tarantino, blood-drenched but allegorical. It is a rampage around the American west through the eyes of a Canadian, which makes this one very special. -- Sun Times This noir Western is a violent rampage through the American West. Canadian author Jackman is a deft hand when describing the world, both physical and social, that the gang moves through... Fans of Cormac McCarthy s Blood Meridian and James Carlos Blake s In the Rogue Blood will appreciate this latest entry in the gritty Western genre. -- Library Journal If [ The Winter Family] is any indication, the coming western boom is going to be good. Bloody good [Jackman] describes how society s rules might make us yearn for a less regimented time. But is that real freedom? Jackman is the perfect guide for that kind of exploration. Not only in terms of style tight, propulsive sentences, with just the right amount of poetry but also by training. As a practicing lawyer he knows a thing about lawlessness. Or maybe that s reading too much into his story. Better to read the story he wrote. It s a good one. Violent, thrilling and beautiful. -- Sharp Magazine Jackman s novel is a blood-soaked historical western covering over three decades of mayhem, from the Civil War to 1900 Los Angeles. There are no good guys here, just killers, thieves, liars, crooks of every stripe, and piles of victims killed in numerous ways The strength of the story is Jackman s vivid portrayal of men who choose violence and lawlessness as their way of life, and the justifications they create to rationalize their immoral behavior. This is a chilling tale. -- Publisher's Weekly Jackman writes well, with great atmosphere...The hard realism and violence, combined with the evocative prose, will intrigue readers of Cormac McCarthy and James Lee Burke. -- Booklist In Jackman's allegorical Western tale, Augustus Winter, with the strength of will, the sense of purpose, radiating off him like heat, is cut from the same bloody cloth as Blood Meridian's mysterious nihilist, Judge Holden Add St. Augustine, Hobbes, scalp-hunting and, yes, waterboarding, and it's evident that the unrelenting violence is symbolic of Jackman's belief that every society has at its core an animating myth, a guiding narrative, a shared lens through which to view the world and here, it's persuasion by Spencer rifle. Bloodletting as philosophical exercise, and not for the faint of heart. -- Kirkus Review Jackman s expansive novel tries to explain how America changed between the Civil War and the end of the West. Although it is difficult to have any sympathy for the characters, Jackman builds a great deal of sympathy for the human race, at once ignoble and sublime If you are a fan of Cormac McCarthy and the new era of Western novel, you will enjoy The Winter Family. -- Muskogee Pheonix From the Hardcover edition.

Author Information

Clifford Jackman was born in Deep River, Ontario, and grew up in Ottawa. He studied English literature at York University and Queen's University before attending Osgoode Hall Law School and being called to the bar in 2008. HelivesinGuelph, Ontario, with his wife, Cathy, and his son, Anthony.

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