The Wolfer

by Loren D. Estleman

Feared throughout the West, wolfer Asa North is as ferocious and ruthless as the wolves he hunts. But he may have finally met his match in Black Jack, the cunning, blood-thirsty beast whose pack has ravaged innumerable herds of sheep and cattle.

Genres: Westerns

178 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Loren D. Estleman is an American writer of detective and Western fiction. He writes with a manual typewriter.

Estleman is most famous for his novels about P.I. Amos Walker. Other series characters include Old West marshal Page Murdock and hitman Peter Macklin. He has also written a series of novels about the history of crime in Detroit (also the setting of his Walker books.) His non-series works include Bloody Season, a fictional recreation of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, and several novels and stories featuring Sherlock Holmes.

Series:
* Amos Walker Mystery
* Valentino Mystery
* Detroit Crime Mystery
* Peter Macklin Mystery
* Page Murdock Mystery

Reviews

[Justin Rose]

The action in this book kept me in the story, and the historical research is incredible. He includes details about the West and that time period that are less than common knowledge. I wish that he would have developed the characters more so I got to know them and their motivations better.

[Donadee's Corner]

He hunts wolves, but men are the deadliest predators.

Asa North is a wolfer—the best there is—hunting predators across the wild, unforgiving stretches of the Idaho Territory. When a massive black wolf named Black Jack begins terrorizing ranches, leaving a trail of blood and broken livelihoods, Asa takes the job. But this isn't just any hunt. Deep in the Caribou Mountains, something more dangerous than a cunning wolf lurks—desperate men with guns, secrets, and scores to settle.

“The Wolfer” is a gripping Western where survival demands more than skill—it takes grit, instinct, and the nerve to face what waits beyond the treeline. If you love hard-charging frontier tales and heroes who walk the fine line between hunter and hunted, get your copy now and follow Asa into the wild.

• ASIN: B0FD195F3G
• Publisher: Wolfpack Publishing
• Publication Date: 7/15/2025
• File Size: 5.1 MB
• Print Length: 178 pages
• Genre: Frontier & Pioneer Western Fiction - Western Fiction Classics - US Historical Fiction

[Gary Wixom]

wolfers

Great writer; gruesome detail, but nevertheless I couldn’t put it down until complete. With books like this and others I have come to respect all animals as part of God’s plan.

[Ron Silva]

refreshing..

I read a lot of westerns and most of them. I can’t wait to get to the end to get them over with…. Yours, the wolfer, was refreshing, I thoroughly enjoyed it…

[Ronald Koltnow]

This is essentially a 3 1/2 star book, four for content, less for style. In the latter part of the 19th century, when cattlemen paid bounties for wolf skins, the population of wolves decreased dramatically. As Asa North, the wolfer of the title, says: cattle die, and even if its sickness or weather, the wolves get blamed. Wolves are tangible, they can be seen and shot. Consumptive NYC newspaperman R. G. Fulwider comes west to get stories about frontier heroes for Pulitzer's New York World. Deadwood and Wild Bill have fired the imagination of everyone in the east, and Pulitzer wants more of this stuff. Fulwider immediately is enthralled by North, a legendary wolf-hunter, and manages to join him on the hunt for Black Jack, a large, smart predator. Those expecting Moby-Dick with fur will be disappointed. The book is largely about the relationship between the two different men. Set in a wild Idaho, this has great local color and characters. If Estleman's prose goes a bit purple in the final chapters, he is to be forgiven. Wolves, among the most beautiful species in the west, are being reintroduced, after facing near extinction. Estleman provides a reader's note in the end concerning the mass extermination campaign that has been ignored by history books. We owe him a great debt for standing up for our friend Canis Lupus.

[Jeff Dickison]

Good western as tenderfoot reporter goes west to find a hero to write about to entertain his readers back home. The west is changing and there are few heroes left but he finds a wolfer to follow about and does get his story. He also gets to toughen up and has some scary adventures. Well written with lots of unexpected events make this a winner. Recommended to fans of westerns.

[Paul Parkinson]

Another great job, with some historical seasoning.