A Man Called Crow

By Chris Adam Smith

The Crowood Press

Paperback edition, November 2018

Hardback edition, January 2016

Old time lawman Charlie Crow finds peace and tranquillity in Wyoming, but before he can settle down with the woman he loves, he must face a distant and dangerous past. 

The long forgotten trail leads back to the lawless Texas borderlands and a date with destiny. Old ghosts, graves and range wars; greed and double cross mark the long trail back to his youth.

His quick gun is wanted one last time if the town of Carol Creek is to survive the threatened chaos. From behind a county badge, Crow tries desperately to ride out the storm and return to Cheyenne, and the woman he left behind. Young gunfighter Billy Joe Watts rides hard on the lawman’s trail, determined to kill the one man he fears.

It is a long, hard ride for a man named Crow. . . .

I’ve read quite a few Black Horse Westerns by Chris Adam Smith, under his own name or pseudonyms, and have yet to be disappointed by any of them, and this one is right up there with his very best.

Crow is an engaging hero and he’s supported by a variety of characters equally as well-drawn as he is, especially Billy Joe Watts. The author uses flashbacks to fill us in on Crow and Watts' background, they used to ride together and separated with much animosity.  The tale revolves around their inevitable meeting, especially as Watts has been hired to kill Crow. 

The threat from the arrival of Watts isn’t all Crow has to deal with.  There are soon others eager to blast Crow into eternity. Then there’s a growing attraction to a woman much younger than himself that Crow has to ignore – at least he tells himself he has to as he has a lady waiting for him back in Wyoming.

Chris Adam Smith tells the majority of the story from a first person point-of-view through Crow, although he occasionally switches to the third person when the plot needs carrying forward through others. There is also a nod to the horse owned and ridden by singer and actor Roy Rogers that put a smile on my face, as it should any fan of westerns.

Packed with action that is graphically described, this story races through a number of twists and turns before it reaches its bloody climax. But does it have a happy ending for our aging hero Charlie Crow? I guess you’ll just have to read it to find out and hopefully you’ll enjoy making that discovery as much as I did. 

Available in hardback, paperback and ebook.