Crowbar

by Andrew Edwards

Jay and Al, exiled Rhodesian mercenaries near the end of their rope, take a bagman job for a man in black named Cohen. Launched deep into the heavy syndicate, Jay and Al navigate cutouts and cults, MK-Ultra and ethnomafias, and the shadowy founders of the digital era -- a dark journey culminating in an inconceivable collision of the criminal and spiritual underworlds. Part hardboiled noir, part psychogenic fugue, CROWBAR races at the bugged-out speed of the cocaine-and-cash-fueled '80s, as if James Ellroy mindflayed David Lynch into the arms of Dostoevsky.

Genres: Fiction

244 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 11, 2025

Reviews

[Gnarly Authenticity . · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paean to the state of Oregon. Thinkingmans ellroy. Neuromancer prequel. A tale told in blipverts. Military-industrial monolith mcguffin. Darkside psychedelia from the maxheadroom/philcollins era. A pair of S.O.F. Mag gunsels with oddly impeccable musical taste. The ghost of Robert Stone hovers over all such tales of wrong turns taken at the sixties crossroads. Guitars & cars, dope & guns--the trappings of American possibility on the Pacific's edge between eternal life and eternal buglife in scum. A novella from the wiki wormholes: of, for, by and about the spiritual war arising from the networks.

Hippy gunslinger Andrew Edwards continues to illuminate his tender noir cosmos with the faulknero-Mccarthyian flashes familiar from King Of Dogs.

[Gunter]

I’ve found myself a few times wondering what I was reading. This is not necessarily a knock on the author. It might just be me being tired, or not sharp enough with prose or style. So I’ll skip the rating for now. I think it deserves a reread at some point, or maybe I’ll try some of the author’s other work first.

[Buddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

i enjoyed King of Dogs so i was looking forward to Crowbar, I got 75 pages in and stopped reading. i hate the writing style, it seems stream-of-consciousness, condensed/compact and aimless. i dont see an interesting plot with pacing. at least king of dogs was a poor man's cormac mccarthy ripoff but this seems more influenced by burroughs. the book would've benefited from an editor/quality control. the front and back cover appear blurry.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The blurb was exactly down my alley, exiled mercenaries, shadowy agencies, CIA, and MK Ultra. I just didn't really get this book. I wouldn't put the blame entirely on myself or the book either, but somewhere in the middle. The writing style was a bit different too. I loved all the real characters, and I understood some of them, such as the Golden State Killer and Robert Maxwell, but I was unsure about why some of the very early computer pioneers (eg: Douglas Engelbart) were there. Cohen (CIA) was probably the most interesting character, but I struggled to understand what it all meant, what they were trying to do (and had been trying for centuries as mentioned by the Hapsburgs), and what the boy in the box was.

[Allen Vines · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding

Very well done and interesting. The spiritual world is very real and active. I look forward to more from Edwards.

[Austin H · Rating 5 out of 5]

a kaleidoscope on every page

What a trip. I’m going to have to read it a few more times to fully understand it. Fantastic painting put to words.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked King of Dogs more. This was frenetic and difficult to follow though I liked the structure and way it was written. Characters could be better developed

[James Mordechai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely not for me!