Burton, Milton T. 1947(?)–

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Burton, Milton T. 1947(?)–

PERSONAL: Born c. 1947, in Jacksonville, TX; son of Allyne Burton (a schoolteacher); divorced; children: Seth, Samantha, David, Thomas, George (deceased).

ADDRESSES: Home—Tyler, TX. Agent—c/o Author Mail, St. Martin's Press, 175 5th Ave., New York, NY 10010.

CAREER: Writer. Worked variously as a cattleman and college-level history teacher retiring 1995; political consultant.

WRITINGS:

The Rogues' Game (novel), St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2005.

WORK IN PROGRESS: The Sweet and the Dead, a southern crime novel set in Dallas and Biloxi in 1972, for St. Martin's Press; The Devil's Own Odds, a southern crime novel set in Texas in 1942, for St. Martin's Press; Mortal Remains and Red Moon, two novels in a series featuring Bonaparte Foley, an 81-year-old retired Texas Ranger.

SIDELIGHTS: Milton T. Burton recreates the spirit of boomtown Texas in his crime novel The Rogues' Game. At the novel's opening, Burton's unnamed narrator rolls into a West Texas town in a new 1947 Lincoln convertible with his beautiful blonde girlfriend, Della, at his side. The narrator bribes his way into a high-stakes poker game, knowing he will sit at the table across from his nemesis, banker Clifton Robillard.

Burton's story introduces ex-convicts and con men, a profitable oil strike, a complicated plot for revenge, and a love affair, all of which rush the plot toward an unpredictable conclusion that pleased many reviewers. Washington Post reviewer Patrick Anderson described The Rogues' Game as a "highly readable novel," depicting the book as "an affectionate and accurate portrait of Texas as it began its painful transition from its Wild West past to the rather bland sophistication of today." Dallas Morning News contributor Jerome Weeks praised the author for his choice of setting, commenting that "the novel is strongest on sardonic, late forties atmosphere and the details of Texas-Oklahoma life that gives the characters grit and flavor." Commenting on the book in its entirety, a Kirkus Reviews contributor described The Rogues' Game as "an auspicious debut: tricky, amusing, even edifying, without a single dull page."

With such positive critical response, readers may be surprised to learn that Burton penned The Rogues' Game in just twenty-three days. Indeed, Burton told Weeks, "I like crime fiction because it gets you to the bone of human passions really quickly."