The Man In Black is the debut novel by L.R. Liverpool. It is a bit of a gritty thriller with drama, action, adventure, emotion, MM romance, mystery, history, suspense and more. It had a bit of a documentary/memoir-esque feel to it which gave it an extra element of interest, for me.
We follow as Fenimore (Simon) leaves home to become a famous outlaw. His adventures begin and the story takes off. Along the way there is plenty of action, while Fenimore also explores his feeling for one of the members of the outlaw gang. Romance brings its own complications to the situation. But where does the Man In Black fit into it all? You really should read all the intriguing details for yourself to find out about The Man In Black.

It pains me to say this after I was auto-approved by this publisher (I´m sorry), but I couldn´t finish this book. As a matter of fact, I don´t think I managed to read even 1/3 (I´ll try again someday, though, because I´m curious about what other reviewers say about the plot and probably my current mood also has a thing to do with leaving this unfinished).

Now, why did I drop this? There´s a bunch of things:

- I felt like there was too much pointless narration. Let me give a couple of examples. The story begins with Simon (not his name back then, but hell anyway) living with his parents in a farm, explaining a bit about his dream of being a gangster in the Wild West and move to the West. There´s a good few chapters while he manages to go there and find a gang to join. Which left me wondering, couldn´t we have started the first chapter with Simon already out in the field searching for a gang? Why not use just a few paragraphs or a couple of pages of explaining his background and then go straight to the gang plot?
And here is the thing, not only plotwise I felt there were many unnecessary things, that also happened with descriptions or narration with more particular stuff. Like, right now I don´t remember what Simon was saying, but in a moment he began thinking about an aunt and what they did back in his hometown with her, and I was like, why is he telling us this? The aunt is not currently present, is not an important character as of now, why can´t you tell her story later if she ever appears?
That annoyed me, maybe also because I prefer very straightforward narrations. I like to get to the point.

- Simon´s dreams of becoming a gangster were... very childish.
It´s what I can imagine a kid these days wanting to be when they grow up. Not only his original plan of moving out to become a delinquent (cause he thought that was cool) seemed a bit strange, but he seemed truly taken aback when he realized that -surprise, surprise-, if you are a gangster you need to commit crimes, shoot weapons and be an awful person in quite a few ways.
How naive is this character? I´d say too naive, at least at the beginning of the story (don´t know if it got better).

- There was stuff that happened in the story that looked like a stereotyped western movie... And very unlikely to happen in real life.
An example? The gang was staying at a tavern and something happened (I think a waiter made a mistake). One of the gangsters got pissed, shoot someone in the foot and then continued eating his meal as if nothing happened. No sheriff came. No nothing.
I was, once again, asking myself, what am I reading?

- The way Simon entered the gang is also very surrealist. He tripped and unintentionally saved the gang´s boss of being shot. Then, by chance, the boss accepted him in the gang because he did this "brave" thing of saving his life that way.
This seemed taken strainght from a sitcom, but I didn´t mind because I like comedy. Although... Is this really a comedy? I don´t think so, not the way its narrated.

- The love story -or the part that I saw- was very... YA in a way?
I mean, Simon and Monty don´t get along well at the begining. Why is that? I´m not sure. The narration mentions Simon finds Monty too arrogant evn before we actually see how annoying Monty is. Thus, they randomly don´t like each other.
A bit later, when the train robbery happens, they randomly change their minds (Monty especially) and begin their friendships. Or well, maybe it was not so random: Simon planned something to escape the police and it worked, that was all it took to gain Monty´s respect (I say randomly because truly, the plan was not impressive at all).

I could say more but, overall, this book needs more editing. I read reviews saying it was hard to stop reading this story but, for me, the opposite happened: It was hard to pick the story and read.
It drags for too long and, when the action happens, it´s not very believable.

The Man In Black takes readers on a thrilling journey into the tumultuous life of Fenimore James, alias Simon Shaw. Set against the backdrop of the Wild West, this LGBT thriller explores themes of identity, danger, and unexpected desires. I found myself drawn in by the complex characters and the mysterious plot that kept me guessing until the very end. It's a gripping tale that delves deep into the human psyche while delivering a suspenseful story that's hard to put down.

Whoa, hold onto your hats, folks! The Man In Black"is not your typical Wild West tale—it's a rollercoaster of thrills, chills, and unexpected twists! Imagine a young outlaw named Fenimore James, trying to survive in a gang where members are dropping like flies. Add to that some serious romantic drama and a spooky, enigmatic figure known as the Man In Black haunting his dreams—talk about intense! This book is a wild ride you won't want to miss. Strap in and enjoy the adventure! 🤠

I think this book had a really cool concept, and the characters were interesting. However I found that the pacing was hard for me. When I downloaded it on the NetGalley app, the book was over 600 pages, and for a book to be that long, the pacing needs to be good. There were parts where I think the pacing was great. Introducing characters and action scenes was great because they were fast and constantly moving as you are learning about the people and whether or not I can trust them as a reader. However, the transition scenes, which there were a lot of, often were slow, and I found myself waiting for another character or action scene because those are what kept the story moving for me. I think the story could have benefited from some cuts and editing when it came to the pacing. However I did really like the characters and felt that they are what truly carried the book. They were fun and played off of each other really well along with interacting with the environment in a way that was accurate to the time period and also putting their own spin on things. The relationships that form, break, and evolve are all done well in scenes that match the pacing. If you like stories based on this time period and a group of misfits and bandits, I do recommend this, but you do have to have some patience with the pacing at times.

** Spoiler alert **

Okay this book is actually infuriating because I loved it until I didn't. It had SO much potential and I really enjoyed the first 400-500 pages! I was rooting for the characters, I wanted to know what was going to happen, I was completely invested. I adored the slow burn, the love interests had amazing chemistry. The book was huge, but the plot gripped me and the pacing was fast.

I had a few issues with it. Namely: it needed several more rounds of editing, a sensitivity reader, and that the genre/theme of the story was unclear. The focus on the mystery/thriller aspect really only begins after 400 pages or so, so the book really actually focused on the romance IMO (which was a really great romance!) but this is not a genre romance novel. Nor does it contain the tropes/expectations of a genre romance novel.

The main issue was the length and lack of editing. The author is clearly a talented writer and there were multiple points that I had the active thought 'this could be an amazing book if it was edited a bit more'. It needs to be cut down, 900 pages is way too long and did lose its momentum in parts. On the bright side, for the most part, it didn't feel like a 900 page book. It felt more like when you settle in for a 200k fanfic (which I can read faster than most novels). Because it was so long and lacked focus, the theme of the book was pretty unclear and the tone drastically changed from scene to scene.

This also needs to be said: when writing historical fiction, one has to decide how you're going to handle derogatory language, racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. and I did find that there could have been a bit more care and sensitivity when using period-typical language. There is a disclaimer in the beginning that these words do not reflect the views of the author, but there really isn't a need to keep in some words when you've already deviated from historical accuracy for the sake of readability. I do not think this was out of malice because there are points in the book where the main character makes his thoughts/feelings on slavery and indigenous peoples clear and is a good person, but a sensitivity reader could have really helped.

My last issue is with the how the romance was handled and the ending.
(**Stop reading now if you don't want any spoilers.**)
The two romantic leads were by far the most developed characters, so they were the heart of the story. So when one of them dies in the end in a relatively pointless way, it doesn't even further the other's story. It didn't need to happen, it didn't have much significance, it was just sad. The story was already wild and outlandish anyways, so the sad ending felt quite out of place. The main character didn't learn to live free and learn a valuable lesson from the death of the love interest (à la Rose from Titanic); our main character had already broken free and developed as a character mid-way through the book when he went against his father's opinion and started writing his memoir. Queer characters can obviously die and be killed off in stories, but this felt a bit BYG. I actually think a sensitivity reader could have really helped in this area, too.

So all in all: this had the potential to be a great book. If it had a few more rounds of editing and a sensitivity reader, my rating would be much higher.