Modern Day Cowboy: The Making of a Gunfighter by Nathaniel Sheft
The Organization or O.W.A, controls everything. Hundreds of millions of dollars are bet daily via internet on the ultimate form of gambling. Today’s fighter pay will start at $300,000, and all fights are listed as high-noon. Only .45 caliber old Western handguns are allowed. Each fighter will take their perspective corner and the countdown will begin. The first fight on today’s schedule will be in the woods, somewhere in Minnesota. Two top fighters will be featured: The Housewife, who is in pink hair rollers and wearing a floral bath robe; against the SoCal Bunny, a former Southern California Playboy bunny. The second fight will come live from Park City, Utah. It will feature local favorite, Reese, the ex-actress whom most know as Sundance.— Against Amy, known as Aim, a former company exec with a long list of kills. The third fight…
Mattie Pilson had just graduated from high school with no direction in her life. She preoccupied her time by baby sitting Maurice, a mentally challenged kid. Then one terrible day it happened, Maurice was gunned down while under her care. Come to find out, it was a declaration of war from some unseen enemy. Someone set up a row of domino’s and then pushed the first one. At first, all she could do was watch; then one day her boss at the gun shop, Rusty, asked an unorthodox question.—Would she like to be trained as a gunfighter?
Seems she had a lifelong enemy before she was even born. Her enemy has wealth, nobility, and power; she holds dreams in her hand. Mattie is simplistic, just a nuts and berries type of girl. Despite her enemy having an entire continent at her whim, she desired the one thing Mattie had yet to appreciate, David.—So she went after Mattie’s prize, with a white wedding dress.
This is a game of conflict and consequences: the first being about moral dilemmas; the second is about a generational Pandora’s box, and the third is about losing your one true love. This little girl has to grow up real fast, this is a different kind of job market. Everybody is not meant to be CEO, only one very good fighter. ‘To be or not to be’, the infamous Lucy, (The most dangerous title of all). And come to find out, the last person Mattie would ever suspect, was actually the Lucy that started this mess.
“I’m attaching disclaimers to this story right now, what you read is not an admission of guilt,” a statement from Mattie Pilson.
Modern Day Cowboy: The Making of a Gunfighter Review
I was compensated with a small amount for my time and effort in reading the book and writing this review. However, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and are based on my honest personal experience reading the book. Nor did the author in any way shape or form ever pressure me to give a positive review.
Nathaniel Sheft’s Modern Day Cowboy: The Making of a Gunfighter explores the turbulent path of a young girl named Mattie as she negotiates the difficulties of her first “true” love. Due to her circumstances, we see her spiral into something akin to a series of unfortunate events. As Mattie struggles to determine her destiny, incidents in her life reveal mysteries from her mother’s past that might provide the solution to the difficulties she is experiencing. The story tells a moving tale of love, grief, and the ability of unanticipated events to reshape lives.
Mattie is a female gunfighter entangled in the high-stakes world of illegal duels, driven by the allure of money and fame. Pretty immediately, the narrative showcased the essence of Mattie’s character through a nuanced display rather than explicit exposition when she was faced with a dilemma against her opponent, a girl with breast cancer. This type of situation occurs a lot in the entire book and it really does showcase the complexity of her situation and sets her up as a more morally gray troubled protagonist.
She has reasons for her behaviour, and a lot of the consequences are due to her irresponsible nature and problematic decisions. But we also see contexts behind how she came to be this way, including but not limited to her relationships, rearing, exposure, and more. Now whether or not it excuses her actions is a different matter, but it undeniably adds richness and realism to her portrayal and makes her experiences very intimate to experience when reading.
The narrative goes further, showing Mattie’s descent into questionable behavior that ultimately causes her to lose any semblance of a typical life. Other major themes show too, such as Mattie’s family troubles, which give her acts more nuance and perspective. Her character gains depth from this investigation, which transforms the story into an engaging morality play. With a devastating realism that offers profound insights that may relate deeply with readers facing similar issues, Mattie’s dissatisfaction with life—characterized by a lack of purpose and disintegrating relationships—is described. The book is a fascinating examination of the human condition because of its perceptive representation and realistic rendering of difficult subjects.
The novel’s examination of Mattie’s internal mental battles is remarkably genuine, probing the depths of her mind with unvarnished candor. Her issues, which include juggling family dynamics, facing the fallout from her choices, and having a general sense of discontent with life, are incredibly relatable. The portrayal by Nathaniel Sheft is so realistic and vivid that it can act as a catalyst for others who are facing comparable difficulties and I honestly can see it triggering for people experiencing similar issues.
This is why I think other readers can be allowed to address the complexities of their own personal difficulties through Mattie’s story in this book. If these topics seem relatable or interesting to you, I think this book is worth a read. I definitely appreciate the way all the different events intertwined with each other to create such a complex weave of dynamics.
If you liked this review and want to see other book reviews like this one, check out my book reviews collection!
About the Author of Modern Day Cowboy: The Making of a Gunfighter
The world should use its imagination, give people a chance to fix themselves. If I had a choice between superhero, anti-hero, or villain, anti-hero would win out. Somewhere in between solves the detrimental problems that those in power refuse to deal with because of financial gain. A manifesto is nothing more than a more assertive pamphlet.