 Branded by
Ed Gorman Berkley,
2004
“He
wanted to build himself a cigarette, but his hands were covered with the
woman’s blood. There was something vile about cigarette paper soaked with
blood.”
Branded—which is
currently available as an ebook from Speaking Volumes—was originally
published as a paperback original in 2004 by Berkley and (needless to say) it
didn’t get the play it deserved. Andy Malloy is nineteen
and preoccupied by the daydreams of youth. Andy, Sir Andrew as he is known in
the realm, imagines himself a knight of King Arthur’s Court where he is
brave, just, and admired. But his reality is much different. He works as a
store clerk, his father is a drunk, and his stepmother, Eileen, is petty and
unfaithful. Arriving home from work Andy discovers Eileen lying dead on the
couch, a gunshot wound to her forehead. His father, Tom, is the obvious
suspect and Andy hides the body until Tom convinces Andy he isn’t the killer.
The only problem is the Sheriff, a hard man with a reputation for beating and
killing suspects, doesn’t believe any of it. Branded is
a superior western novel. It is a heady mixture of character, plot, and
action. Populated by real people who act and behave, at different times, both
rationally and irrationally. A town gossip whose only joy is causing trouble,
a violent lawman with a suspicious background, a town drunk whose personal
frailty and desire for respect is painful, an isolated woman with a burned
face. And townspeople who do their best to ignore it. The plot is closer to
crime, shadows of serial killings no less, than a traditional western and
there is a satisfying, and surprising climactic twist. But it is also
appealing as a traditional western and readers of both genres will find much
to like here. * * * This is a slightly
revised version of a review published on June 8, 2016. |
|
Check out Branded on Amazon—click here for the Kindle edition. |
