Massacre at Crow Creek Crossing

By Charles G. West

Pinnacle, November 2019

Cole Bonner will never forget what happened to his family at Crow Creek Crossing. His wife, her parents, and their three young children – brutally slaughtered by outlaws. The horror of the massacre drove him into the wilderness. Drove him nearly mad. And drove him to seek an equally brutal revenge . . . 

Now, against his better judgement, Bonner is returning to the place that almost destroyed him. While hunting in the mountains, he discovers that a man has been murdered and a woman abducted. He manages to track the killers and free her. But to bring the widow to safety, he will have to face his own demons. Return to his old homestead. And relive the violence – and the vengeance – of another massacre at Crow Creek Crossing . . . 

Having read, and been thoroughly entertained by a number of books written by Charles G. West I was pleased to see the publication of this book and eager to read it too. But something in the back of my mind began to ring a bell and had me running to my shelves to search through my collection of Mr. West’s work – yes, there was a book called Crow Creek Crossing that I had yet to read that had been published five years earlier. Reading the blurb, it became obvious that this earlier book tells the tale of the loss of Bonner’s family so I felt I had to read it before Massacre at Crow Creek Crossing. I read both books back to back, and would suggest to anyone intending to read the new release that they ought to read Crow Creek Crossing first as it will heighten your enjoyment of both books as a couple of storylines are continued in the second book and some characters return and their relationships with Bonner develop further.

CROW CREEK CROSSING

Signet, July 2014

Wyoming holds the promise of a bright future for newlyweds Cole and Ann Bonner. Alongside Ann’s sister, her husband, and their children, the young couple has braved the long, hard road across Nebraska in hopes of building a new life for themselves on a tract of land near Crow Creek Crossing.

But their dreams of a fresh start are quickly cut short. While Cole is away in town, a gang of outlaws led by the vicious Slade Corbett raids the family homestead, leaving behind a smoking ruin and the mutilated bodies of everyone Cole holds dear.

The horror and anguish are almost too much for him to bear, and they transform this once easy-going man into a grim avenger. With cold, merciless determination, Cole vows to track down every last member of the gang and make them pay in blood.

The first book is a straight-forward tale of revenge and deals with Bonner’s grief and his lust for revenge and follows his struggles to track down the outlaws. Along the way Cole finds himself sided by an old mountain man, Harley, who prefers living with the Crow rather than the white man. The inclusion of this tribe, and the help they give Bonner in a moment of need, add a welcome element to the tale. There are strong female characters too, Maggie and Mary Lou, the latter of whom develops more than a passing interest in Cole, one he seems oblivious to, or is he intentionally turning a blind-eye to her? This leads to a great ending to the book in my opinion, but other readers found it a little annoying as the book didn’t end how they hoped it would. Now, with the publication of the second Cole Bonner book perhaps they’ll get the ending they wanted?

In a way the second book is similar to the first, in as much as a good part of it deals with Cole tracking down a bunch of outlaws. But there are some neat twists to the plot too, especially when we find out who the woman, Carrie, Bonner saves really is, and what her profession was. Carrie will also be the cause of jealously, which further complicates Bonner’s relationships with others. 

Charles G. West has created an excellent bunch of characters in these books, people he soon had me caring about and hoping they’d all get what they deserved, be this vengeance, love or death. The storylines move swiftly forwards and contain well-written action scenes and moments of humour before racing to their satisfying endings. The second book seems to tie-up all the story threads so this may well be the last time we read about Cole Bonner and for me it has certainly been a joy to read about him. 

After reading these two books I'm glad I still have a number of Charles G. West’s novels sitting on my shelves unread so I can enjoy more of his work anytime I so choose whilst waiting for Montana Territory, the third book in his terrific John Hawk series, to published in August 2020.  

You can read an interview I did with Charles G. West here.