El Paso

Long fascinated with the Mexican Revolution and the vicious border wars of the early twentieth century, Winston Groom brings to life this period of history in a saga of heroism, injustice and love. El Paso pits the legendary outlaw and revolutionary Pancho Villa, against a thrill-seeking railway tycoon known as the Colonel whose fading fortune is tied up in a colossal ranch in Chihuahua. When Villa kidnaps the Colonel’s grandchildren in the midst of a cattle drive and absconds into the Sierra Madre, the patriarch and his adopted son head to El Paso, looking for a group of cowboys brave enough to hunt the Generalissimo down. Replete with gunfights, daring escapes and an unforgettable bullfight, El Paso, with its blend of history and legend, is an indelible portrait of the American Southwest in the waning days of the frontier.

"Groom has unleashed a new work of imaginative, peripatetic fiction... [El Paso] is a rich and engrossing tale - something Hollywood will, no doubt, take little time to notice." -- The National Book Review "[Groom] combines military savvy with storytelling skill for a satisfying saga pitting an American railroad tycoon against Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa...An engaging epic that could be headed for the bestseller lists and then the big screen. This is the big one that fans have been waiting for, and they'll grab it up like they would a delicious box of chocolates." -- Michele Leber - Booklist (starred review) "El Paso is sure to entertain... To Groom, the public is likely to say, 'Welcome back to the land of fiction.'" -- Jim Ewing - Clarion-Ledger "Winston Groom proves life - and fiction - really is like a delicious box of chocolates... The novel has it all - heroes, villains, family, rescues, shootouts, cattle, bits of history and much more. And maybe a feature film in its future?" -- Celeste Williams - Fort Worth Star-Telegram "Groom's epic narrative is a hefty yet entertaining page-turner, at times funny, heartbreaking, emotional, and brutal. An involving, intricate story vividly told." -- Donna Bettencourt - Library Journal (Starred Review) "Groom's expansive, rich novel is set in the harsh deserts and mountains of northern Mexico during the 1916 Mexican revolution, with sharply drawn fictional characters in a bloody mix with Gen. Pancho Villa and a cast of true-life personalities... Battles, a tense prisoner exchange, and clever ransom negotiations round out this historically vivid and marvelously complex tale." -- Publishers Weekly "Dark and daring, El Paso does for the West what Gump did for the South - it takes a tumultuous, crucial time in American history and feeds it to us in ways acute and unforgettable." -- Laura Taylor - Oxford Exchange "El Paso has the drama, coincidence and class intrigue of Dickens's Great Expectations in a setting reminiscent of Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove... In Groom's capable hands, this history mixes easily into what is at its core a story of family, class warfare, loyalty and the violence of revolution." -- Bruce Jacobs - Shelf Awareness

Winston Groom is the author of twenty previous books, including Forrest Gump, Conversations with the Enemy (Pulitzer Prize finalist), Shiloh 1862, and The Generals. He served in Vietnam with the Fourth Infantry Division and lives in Point Clear, Alabama.