The wild life in a Texas oil boomtown in the 1920s

Just a year after Borger, Texas was founded to support new oilfields, it had already become a lawless haven for bootleggers, gamblers and pimps. It was run by a crooked city hall and corrupt police. The volatile environment attracted a gang of murderous bank robbers who, within weeks, killed three law enforcement officers and brought the worst heat imaginable in the form of legendary Texas Ranger Captain Frank Hamer. This was years before he would eventually lead the posse that tracked down Bonnie and Clyde. Drawing from newspaper articles and the self-published memoirs of Borger citizens, Pappalardo places readers in the thick of the action and crafts a story that also serves as a cautionary tale about how government overreach, as in the case of prohibition, can foster the workings of the black market.