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Smoke 'Em
“A loving tribute to the pulp noir legacy.”
— Charles Ardai, Hard Case Crime
SMOKE ’EM
A Cadmus Gale Novel
A retired black-ops killer.
A woman built for trouble.
A Texas town that doesn’t bury its dead clean.
Cadmus Gale didn’t come back to Paris, Texas to be a hero.
He came for bad coffee, long silences, and the company of a cat that didn’t ask questions. A retired black-ops officer with too much blood behind him, Gale wants a quiet life—and nothing that reminds him who he used to be.
That ends when Smokey, his oldest friend, drags professional wrestling back into town and crashes headfirst into the Carlo crime family. What starts as a small-time wrestling promotion turns into a turf war fought with knives, guns, and men who don’t know when to stay down.
Caught between crooked promoters, wrestling-themed enforcers, and a woman who knows exactly how dangerous she is, Gale is forced back into the kind of violence he swore he was done with. In a town where every hit is supposed to be fake, the blood is very real—and somebody is going to pay for it.
Brutal, bloody, and darkly funny, Smoke ’Em is Texas noir with a pulp heartbeat—where justice wears cowboy boots, romance comes with a body count, and nobody gets out clean.
Read it hard. Feel it later.
— Charles Ardai, Hard Case Crime
SMOKE ’EM
A Cadmus Gale Novel
A retired black-ops killer.
A woman built for trouble.
A Texas town that doesn’t bury its dead clean.
Cadmus Gale didn’t come back to Paris, Texas to be a hero.
He came for bad coffee, long silences, and the company of a cat that didn’t ask questions. A retired black-ops officer with too much blood behind him, Gale wants a quiet life—and nothing that reminds him who he used to be.
That ends when Smokey, his oldest friend, drags professional wrestling back into town and crashes headfirst into the Carlo crime family. What starts as a small-time wrestling promotion turns into a turf war fought with knives, guns, and men who don’t know when to stay down.
Caught between crooked promoters, wrestling-themed enforcers, and a woman who knows exactly how dangerous she is, Gale is forced back into the kind of violence he swore he was done with. In a town where every hit is supposed to be fake, the blood is very real—and somebody is going to pay for it.
Brutal, bloody, and darkly funny, Smoke ’Em is Texas noir with a pulp heartbeat—where justice wears cowboy boots, romance comes with a body count, and nobody gets out clean.
Read it hard. Feel it later.
199 pages, Hardcover
Published January 15, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
August 19, 2026
I THINK this is a first novel--if it weren't, I would drop this review down to three stars. However, this book is a very respectable showing for someone who's never written a book before. I have two areas of criticism, which I hope will be received in the spirit in which they are intended.
1. The author needs to work on dialogue. The plot is solid, as is (for the most part) the pacing, but the dialogue was stilted. People use contractions when they speak, but the characters in this novel, which takes place in east Texas, do not. A novel is not a formal paper.
2. Tone down the carnage. The main character, Cadmus Gale, goes from being a Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade character to a Buford Pusser in Walking Tall character. And (I don't think this is a spoiler) there's no way the main character would do the things he does in this novel and not face major jail time. On the other hand, he might beat the rap due to the many concussions he suffers during the course of this novel. This guy gets hit over the head more than Mannix.
OK, enough brickbats. Here are the bouquets. I picked up this novel because the cover evoked the film noir movies I love so much. I was in an independent bookstore in (I think) Mt. Pleasant, Texas, and it turns out that the author is a local. Sadly, they didn't have any autographed copies, but I bought it nonetheless, because I like to support local bookstores and authors.
I enjoyed this book. If author Carey Gable writes another Cadmus Gale novel, I'll probably buy it, too. Would I want to hang out with Cadmus Gale? Heck, no. Would I want Cadmus Gale around if someone was trying to kill me? You bet.
1. The author needs to work on dialogue. The plot is solid, as is (for the most part) the pacing, but the dialogue was stilted. People use contractions when they speak, but the characters in this novel, which takes place in east Texas, do not. A novel is not a formal paper.
2. Tone down the carnage. The main character, Cadmus Gale, goes from being a Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade character to a Buford Pusser in Walking Tall character. And (I don't think this is a spoiler) there's no way the main character would do the things he does in this novel and not face major jail time. On the other hand, he might beat the rap due to the many concussions he suffers during the course of this novel. This guy gets hit over the head more than Mannix.
OK, enough brickbats. Here are the bouquets. I picked up this novel because the cover evoked the film noir movies I love so much. I was in an independent bookstore in (I think) Mt. Pleasant, Texas, and it turns out that the author is a local. Sadly, they didn't have any autographed copies, but I bought it nonetheless, because I like to support local bookstores and authors.
I enjoyed this book. If author Carey Gable writes another Cadmus Gale novel, I'll probably buy it, too. Would I want to hang out with Cadmus Gale? Heck, no. Would I want Cadmus Gale around if someone was trying to kill me? You bet.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review