Bad News for Outlaws

It chronicles the life of Bass Reeves, a 19th-century black deputy marshal for the United States government who worked in the Arkansas and Oklahoma Territories.

Bad News for Outlaws chronicles the life of Bass Reeves, a black deputy marshal for the United States government who worked in the Arkansas and Oklahoma Territories for 32 years.

[1] Each page tells a different story about him, ranging from his youth in slavery to clever ways he brought wanted outlaws into custody, through the day he stopped working as a peace officer (when the territory reached statehood).

[4] Publishers Weekly's starred review congratulates Nelson for "chronicl[ing] the life of African-American lawman Bass Reeves in a biography that elevates him to folk hero".

[7] Abby McGanney Nolan at The Washington Post wrote that the book "seamlessly blends moral uplift (he used his gun only when he was forced to), entertaining anecdotes (he used disguises to catch fleeing criminals), an appealing design (the paper looks like weathered 19th-century parchment) and spare but spirited language".