Cold as Hell

This book proves that a good narrator cannot save a book for me.

When it comes to Westerns, I must admit that I am not a fan. Besides liking the cowboy action when I was a kid, I never got into the genre much when it came to books. Classic western authors were ones I did not try, as they seemed to write stories that bored me.

Reading The Black Badge series was something I hoped would change my mind. I had read and loved the first prequel of this series, in which Crowley takes on a necromancer. I thought this novel would hold as much fun and surprises as the previous one, as well as more information on Crowley's powers and their limits.

This book features a former outlaw named James Crowly. Shot to death, he now fights in a sort of zombie-like limbo for the White Throne as an agent of God, officially known as a part of the Black Badges. On his travels, he comes across three people who have been robbing small town banks using powers that appear to be the work of the Devil. Now James must stop them, and to do so, he will have to sacrifice helping those he loves to achieve his mission.

Firstly, before I get into the meat of this review, let me say that if you have the chance to listen to the audiobook, then you should do so. It is read by Roger Clark, the same man who voiced some characters in Red Dead Redemption 2 and I loved it here as much as in the previous novel. He is just meant for this series, and whatever my thoughts on this book, I know that, if I do read the next book, then it will have to be on audio, as I think this is the superior version.

I also liked the powers that James has in this book. Being, essentially, undead, he can not feel pain or tiredness like humans, and he also has superior hearing and sight to normal folk. Then there are his weapons. Both his pistols and rifle use silver bullets, and he has a magic lasso designed to harm those with evil intent who use otherworldly powers. All of these are used to great effect in the fights here, which are written well. This makes for a fun novel from a supernatural perspective.

Then there is the historical aspect of this book. Set in the Old West, the novel explores racism related to Native Americans as well as manifest destiny and ‘enterprising' white people taking land for personal profit. This, coupled with the mention of Western staples like high-walled canyons and saloons make for a good Western if nothing else.

Sadly that is about it for me, as the rest of this novel is a bit of a letdown.

Firstly, there is the pacing. It tends to be more of a slower-paced novel than I was expecting, to the point where I was tempted to listen to it at about .4 times the speed of the narrator. Many scenes seem to be added in with little in the way of an overall point. Perhaps this is because it is, first and foremost, a western, but I was expecting there to be more active than what I got.

Then there are the characters in this book. Many of them simply aren't interesting, or as interesting as they should be. Firstly, we have a deputy who Crowley finds in his journey to stop a series of bank robbers. Sadly, this deputy may have shot his Sherif in the gunfight in a case of friendly fire, resulting in that Sherif's death. The Deputy then decides to join Crowley on the journey to find the people who robbed their bank. This would have been an excellent character to explore survivor's guilt, how he was seeking redemption for his misdeed, and how Crowley would help him grow into a competent lawman. That would have happened, should have happened, even, except his sub-plot was dropped, in favor of exploring Crowley and his gang, and how Crowley became a Black Badge. This leaves us to be told about the Deputy, and how he feels rather than showing it. So, when he is eventually written out of the story, it is supposed to be dramatic, but I just found him annoying, and so didn't really care.

Then there is the love interest in this story. She was a little girl when Crowley tried to stop her mother from being assaulted, resulting in Crowley's murder by his own gang. This plotline should have served as a nice exposition if told better, but then, when it came to the backstory itself, I just thought “Wait, this is just going to be important later for the plot with the bank robbers, isn't it?” Sure enough, one of the members shows up later as an antagonist. This makes me shake my head, as I knew there was no reason for this backstory to get so much attention without this reveal later.

Couple all this with the fact that I could not remember these characters' names and we have side characters that do not make as much of an impression as I think the author intended.

Finally, there are a few scenes that could have been cut from this book. Perhaps it is because it is a Western, and they move at a slower pace with more scenes to develop the world, but there are a few encounters with both men and monsters that have little to do with the overall plot, and which I felt could have been cut with no real loss to the story.

So, this book is proof that just because an excellent narrator reads the book, does not mean that the story is worth reading. I think I may read the next book, but it is low on my list, and I will only do it if the next book is shorter than this one. I give it a two out of five.

Edit: Earlier versions of this review said the narrator was Arthur Morgan. It has been corrected to Roger Clark.