Now Available: The Trail Brothers - Troy D. Smith

The legendary days of the cattle drive era come to vivid life in THE TRAIL BROTHERS by award-winning Western author Troy D. Smith. This classic novel follows a group of cowboys, young and old, as they push a thousand head of stubborn cattle north from Texas to the railhead in Kansas, encountering Indians, outlaws, and a vengeful lynch mob along the way. If they manage to survive the dangers that dog their trail, by the time they return to Texas they truly will be brothers for as long as they live.

Troy D. Smith is a past winner of the Peacemaker and Spur Awards, and current president of Western Fictioneers. He teaches American Indian history at Tennessee Tech University. Smith is one of the most highly regarded young authors of Western fiction, and this compelling, action-packed novel is a good example of why he has that reputation. For a great yarn, saddle up and ride with THE TRAIL BROTHERS.

This is one of the best cattle drive novels you'll ever read, folks. Highly recommended.

Now Available: Wolf Creek Book 4: The Taylor County War

The fourth Wolf Creek novel is now available. For those of you not familiar with the series, the Wolf Creek books are collaborative novels produced by various members of Western Fictioneers and published under the house name Ford Fargo. This time around, contributing authors are Douglas Hirt, Clay More, Matthew Pizzolato, James Reasoner, Troy D. Smith, and Chuck Tyrell. You can read more about it here.

Now Available: Wolf Creek: Kiowa Vengeance

The second Wolf Creek novel is out from Western Fictioneers, available in both e-book and trade paperback editions. Writing as Ford Fargo this time around is an all-star group of bestselling and award-winning authors: Bill Crider, Jackson Lowry, Kerry Newcomb, Troy D. Smith, Frank Roderus, and Robert J. Randisi. Check it out!

"The Galvanized Yankees of Company D" - Troy D. Smith

The Galvanized Yankees were Confederate prisoners who volunteered to serve with the U.S. Army on the frontier during the Civil War. I researched and used this setting in some of the novels in my Civil War Battles series and have been interested in the period ever since. Troy Smith mixes battlefield action, interesting characters, and dialogue that rings true to produce a compelling story with a poignant ending. "The Galvanized Yankees of Company D" is top-notch historical fiction.

Top Ten Western Comics

If you haven't already, you really need to go over to the Western Fictioneers blog and read Troy Smith's great post about the Top Ten Western Comics of All Time, plus a whole posse of runner-ups.  I was part of the panel that selected these comics, and Troy's post sure brings back a lot of memories for me.  In fact, one of the issues pictured in his post is one of the first comics I ever remember owning and reading, and I've swiped the scan and used it here, too.  Ah, the nostalgia!

Cross Road Blues - Troy D. Smith

From the Perfect Crime Books website:


Roy Carpenter, blues-playing harmonica man
in 1957 Nashville, knows great music when he hears it.


He also knows a dangerous woman when he looks
at her . . . and finds her looking back.
Beautiful Sallymae's got a brutal husband,
just the kind of guy to wind up dead
with Roy taking the fall.


Here is a sharply observed novel steeped
in the atmosphere of character and place,
of sexual passion and the blues.


I read this novel a while back in manuscript so I could give Troy a quote for it, but I'm not sure I stated my opinion of it quite strongly enough.  CROSS ROAD BLUES isn't just one of the best crime novels I've read recently, it's one of the best crime novels I've read in a long time.  Roy is a great character, very human, very flawed, but at the same time someone the reader can't help but root for.  The other characters are very well-developed, too, and the setting is the sort of flawless recreation of a time and place that makes you think you've been there, even though you really haven't.  You need to read this one, and I recommend it very highly.

New Post on the Western Fictioneers Blog

My friend and fellow Western Fictioneers member Troy D. Smith has a fine post on the WF blog today entitled "Not Your Father's Lone Ranger".  As a Lone Ranger fan for as far back as I can remember, I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Check it out.