[Clavin] does a yeoman’s job of combining original research with a knack for page-turning narrative that gives readers an exciting tour of the celebrated gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Clavin pulls the curtain back on decades of legend surrounding this fight, the town, and its key players..

As [Clavin] explains in an author’s note, he wanted to complete a trilogy he had started with his books Dodge City and Wild Bill. Moreover, he writes, 'I wanted to tell my version of the Tombstone story, to have it refracted through my lens, and along the way provide new and previously overlooked characters and details.' It’s hard to know what those new details might be, since the book includes no notes section and his bibliography lists only secondary sources, which he quotes a bit too freely in the text, sometimes producing a cut-and-paste effect. Yet his account does trot along at a brisk pace: Stressing story line over nuance, Tombstone may appeal more to casual readers curious about the Earp saga..

Tombstone is written in a distinctively American voice. Unfortunately, it’s the voice of Gabby Hayes. Attempts to evoke the period are distractingly strenuous.

... filled with biographical details, primary souces, dialog, and textual references to other works and films on the subject.

As history, Clavin’s Tombstone is lightweight. Unattributed dialogue makes it read like a novel, and not in a good way. It lacks an authoritative voice; on most key incidents Clavin offers no opinion but defers to other historians such as Earp biographer Casey Tefertiller and Holliday biographer Gary Roberts. Dubious claims are left unsourced, making it impossible to sift fact from fiction.

With a former newsman’s nose for the truth, Clavin has sifted the facts, myths, and lies to produce what might be as accurate an account as we will ever get of the old West’s most famous feud..

Clavin delivers a solid narrative that usefully links significant events.

... not just another book about this famous gun battle.

... scrupulous.

Replete with a rich repertoire of colorful characters, Clavin skillfully weaves multiple storylines into a taut thread that reaches its breaking point in late October 1881.