Summary

The book tells the story of Robert Ford, a seemingly insecure man seen as a coward by those around him. He has grown up idolizing the outlaw Jesse James. He finds James in Missouri and joins his gang, taking part in a train robbery. Gradually, he forms a complex love/hate relationship with James, still admiring him to the point of obsession, but also becoming resentful and somewhat fearful due to James's bullying nature. Even after the gang members have gone their separate ways after the last train robbery, Jesse James takes to calling in on his old gang, killing some of them and terrorising the relatives of others. The film suggests this is because Jesse is convinced they are out to betray him. Ford ends up shooting Wood Hite after he comes to the house looking for Dick Liddel. Wood and Dick had a falling out because Dick defiled Wood's father's wife in Kentucky. In the resulting gunbattle, Ford shoots Wood in the head just as he is about to do the same to Dick.

Eventually, Ford and his brother Charles are hired to arrest James by Governor Crittenden. This is not as easy a task as it seems: Charles is too scared of Jesse to raise his gun against him and Jesse proves on more than one occasion that he is never out of reach of his guns. Even when he appears to be asleep, he can awaken at a moment upon hearing the sound of a gun drawn or footsteps. Given these circumstances, Robert decides killing him would be safer. On the day of the shooting, both Ford boys wrestle with task they have been given, especially Charlie. Robert notices a paper on the couch with the headline "The Arrest and Conviction of Dick Liddel" and hides it under a cushion from Jesse. Jesse finds the paper and reads about how he was caught three weeks before and asks Robert if he was in the area. After some silent contemplation, seemingly knowing his time has come and accepting it, Jesse takes his gun belt off. He notices a dusty Picture on the wall then watches in the reflection of the picture as Ford draws his gun and shoots him from behind.

After the assassination, Ford becomes a celebrity and ends up in a theatre show, re-enacting the assassination night after night with his brother playing James. However, Charlie becomes tormented by what he's done, questioning why he did what he did. He eventually kills himself due to this. The public mood turns against Robert, as James, rather than being seen as a paranoid, unstable murderer (which was Ford's experience of him, and the way he is portrayed in the film) is idealized as a Robin Hood-like hero and Ford demonized as a cowardly traitor. Eventually, Ford is himself murdered by a man named Edward O'Kelley.