Rone Tempest is an award-winning journalist whose career spans four decades, including 26 years as a national and foreign correspondent for the Los Angeles Times.
The Last Western
The Unjustified Killing of Michael Rosa by Ed Cantrell
“The story has everything: a faux tough guy who is also a ‘shoot, shovel, and shut-up’ range detective, corrupt cops, a brash and exotic interloper, boomtown craziness, a flamboyant defense attorney, a laconic governor, and frontier justice of the worst kind — all within a contemporary western setting.”
“That the murder takes place outside an establishment called the Silver Dollar Bar is only the beginning of this hugely entertaining piece. Think: ‘High Noon’ meets ‘Training Day’ in ‘Deadwood.’”
“Rone Tempest has brought to light extensive new details about the characters involved in one of the American West’s strangest dramas.”
“Rone Tempest’s spellbinding latest work won’t be the last western, but it will stand as one of the very best.”
“Reading Tempest is like taking a masterclass in writing and reporting - and a seriously good time.”
“Tempest gives his readers a gripping, well-told tale, introducing us to a colourful cast of characters inhabiting the volatile, often violent world of a twentieth-century Western boomtown. … a meticulously researched account of the ways in which the unlikely partnership between Cantrell and Rosa evolved… A fascinating and highly enjoyable true crime story.”
On assignment Swat Valley, Pakistan, 2002.
Photo by Irfan Khan, Los Angeles Times