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Wolf Moon
Book by Gorman, Edward
- GenresWesterns
161 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
6 people are currently reading
59 people want to read
About the author
Ed Gorman
468 books121 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Edward Joseph Gorman Jr. was a prolific American author and anthologist, widely recognized for his contributions to crime, mystery, western, and horror fiction. Born and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Gorman spent much of his life in the Midwest, drawing on that experience to set many of his novels in small towns. After working over two decades in advertising, political speechwriting, and industrial filmmaking, he published his first novel, Rough Cut, in 1984 and soon transitioned to full-time writing. His fiction is often praised for its emotional depth, suspenseful storytelling, and nuanced characters. Gorman wrote under the pseudonyms Daniel Ransom and Robert David Chase, and contributed to publications such as Mystery Scene, Cemetery Dance, and Black Lizard. He co-founded Mystery Scene magazine and served as its editor and publisher until 2002, continuing his “Gormania” column thereafter. His works have been adapted for film and graphic novels, including The Poker Club and Cage of Night. In comics, he wrote for DC and Dark Horse. Diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2002, he continued writing despite his illness until his passing in 2016. Critics lauded him as one of the most original crime writers of his generation and a “poet of dark suspense.”
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Edward Joseph Gorman Jr. was a prolific American author and anthologist, widely recognized for his contributions to crime, mystery, western, and horror fiction. Born and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Gorman spent much of his life in the Midwest, drawing on that experience to set many of his novels in small towns. After working over two decades in advertising, political speechwriting, and industrial filmmaking, he published his first novel, Rough Cut, in 1984 and soon transitioned to full-time writing. His fiction is often praised for its emotional depth, suspenseful storytelling, and nuanced characters. Gorman wrote under the pseudonyms Daniel Ransom and Robert David Chase, and contributed to publications such as Mystery Scene, Cemetery Dance, and Black Lizard. He co-founded Mystery Scene magazine and served as its editor and publisher until 2002, continuing his “Gormania” column thereafter. His works have been adapted for film and graphic novels, including The Poker Club and Cage of Night. In comics, he wrote for DC and Dark Horse. Diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2002, he continued writing despite his illness until his passing in 2016. Critics lauded him as one of the most original crime writers of his generation and a “poet of dark suspense.”
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 14, 2025
Note: I read this roughly 90-page novella as part of the anthology A Century of Great Western Stories, which I've been reading intermittently, not in the original 1993 Fawcett paperback printing, which bulked it up with a second story by Gorman. Because of its length, and the fact that it has a distinctly different tone from most of the other stories in the anthology, I felt that it deserved a separate review.
This was my introduction to Gorman's work, and I approached it cautiously, mindful of the fact that my wife (who's usually an avid Western fan, and who owns the copy of the collection that I'm reading --it was a Christmas gift to her from me back in 2010) intensely disliked it, and was turned off to the entire anthology for that reason. Reactions to it among Goodreaders vary, with some not even finishing it and some giving it five stars. My own rating of three stars (rounded up from two and 1/2) is more middle of the road, but I understand both extremes. Those extravagantly liking it are noir fans who recognize it as being essentially an expression of noir sensibility in Western garb, and appreciate its "gritty" and "raw" qualities for their own sake. It's tailor-made for those readers, but I'm not part of that target audience.
Gorman divides his tale into 32 "Parts," with Parts 3-32 set in the early summer to late fall of 1898 in the mining town of Rock Ridge (presumably in Colorado, given a reference in one place to Denver). The prologue and first parts tell, first, how a wealthy (from nefarious dealings) sociopath named Schroeder obtained a captured wolf and trained it, by means of brutal beatings, to become a subservient killing machine; and second, how 18-year-old viewpoint character Robert Chase went along with his two older brothers in holding up the bank Schroeder was part owner of, with his connivance. Rather than splitting the loot, Schroeder had murdered the older boys for their share, and Robert was savaged by the wolf, survived, and spent eight years in prison. Paroled, he moves to Rock Ridge, where his former sweetheart and pen pal from his prison time, Gillian, now lives. But, as he knows, it's also the town where Schroeder now lives under the alias Reeves, and where he's found himself another bank to partner in. (And we also know from the prologue, though none of the characters do, that the wolf has been bitten by a rabid raccoon....)
This is a very grim and dark tale, in which the adult characters tend to be morally gray (if they're not coal black); it's not a feel-good read by any means. Gorman's vision is actually not morally nihilistic; he understands the distinction between right and wrong, and his sympathies lie with the former. But he's depicting a villain whose sympathies are decidedly with the latter, and who has basically no scruples; and the author has a clear-eyed perception of the potential for vengefulness and greed to cloud human judgment, and to lead to disastrous and tragic consequences --for the undeserving as well as for the deserving. It's a page-turner, the characters are well-developed and complex (though in most cases not especially likeable), and the tale is emotionally evocative; but I'd be lying if I characterized it as really pleasurable to read in most places. For me, it pulls the overall rating of the anthology down rather than enhancing it.
Whatever sexual situations exist in the story are few and not really handled in a problematic way. However, trigger warnings for cruelty to animals are sorely needed, the violent content is frequent and often pretty gory, and there's more profanity than necessary. We also have two uses of the f-word, which I believe are probably anachronistic in this setting, because of the way it's used. (As a verb, the word goes back to Anglo-Saxon times; but to my knowledge, its use as a curse or as an all-purpose adjective/adverb that simply vents the speaker's aggression isn't attested in contemporary sources until the 1940s, and probably would have originated in the Roaring 20s, or possibly among soldiers in World War I.)
This was my introduction to Gorman's work, and I approached it cautiously, mindful of the fact that my wife (who's usually an avid Western fan, and who owns the copy of the collection that I'm reading --it was a Christmas gift to her from me back in 2010) intensely disliked it, and was turned off to the entire anthology for that reason. Reactions to it among Goodreaders vary, with some not even finishing it and some giving it five stars. My own rating of three stars (rounded up from two and 1/2) is more middle of the road, but I understand both extremes. Those extravagantly liking it are noir fans who recognize it as being essentially an expression of noir sensibility in Western garb, and appreciate its "gritty" and "raw" qualities for their own sake. It's tailor-made for those readers, but I'm not part of that target audience.
Gorman divides his tale into 32 "Parts," with Parts 3-32 set in the early summer to late fall of 1898 in the mining town of Rock Ridge (presumably in Colorado, given a reference in one place to Denver). The prologue and first parts tell, first, how a wealthy (from nefarious dealings) sociopath named Schroeder obtained a captured wolf and trained it, by means of brutal beatings, to become a subservient killing machine; and second, how 18-year-old viewpoint character Robert Chase went along with his two older brothers in holding up the bank Schroeder was part owner of, with his connivance. Rather than splitting the loot, Schroeder had murdered the older boys for their share, and Robert was savaged by the wolf, survived, and spent eight years in prison. Paroled, he moves to Rock Ridge, where his former sweetheart and pen pal from his prison time, Gillian, now lives. But, as he knows, it's also the town where Schroeder now lives under the alias Reeves, and where he's found himself another bank to partner in. (And we also know from the prologue, though none of the characters do, that the wolf has been bitten by a rabid raccoon....)
This is a very grim and dark tale, in which the adult characters tend to be morally gray (if they're not coal black); it's not a feel-good read by any means. Gorman's vision is actually not morally nihilistic; he understands the distinction between right and wrong, and his sympathies lie with the former. But he's depicting a villain whose sympathies are decidedly with the latter, and who has basically no scruples; and the author has a clear-eyed perception of the potential for vengefulness and greed to cloud human judgment, and to lead to disastrous and tragic consequences --for the undeserving as well as for the deserving. It's a page-turner, the characters are well-developed and complex (though in most cases not especially likeable), and the tale is emotionally evocative; but I'd be lying if I characterized it as really pleasurable to read in most places. For me, it pulls the overall rating of the anthology down rather than enhancing it.
Whatever sexual situations exist in the story are few and not really handled in a problematic way. However, trigger warnings for cruelty to animals are sorely needed, the violent content is frequent and often pretty gory, and there's more profanity than necessary. We also have two uses of the f-word, which I believe are probably anachronistic in this setting, because of the way it's used. (As a verb, the word goes back to Anglo-Saxon times; but to my knowledge, its use as a curse or as an all-purpose adjective/adverb that simply vents the speaker's aggression isn't attested in contemporary sources until the 1940s, and probably would have originated in the Roaring 20s, or possibly among soldiers in World War I.)
August 17, 2017
I guess that, outside of Lonesome Dove, I'm not going to end up being a big Western fan. I went into this one with high expectations based on the reviews of both the praised book and appreciated author, who died last year. By tribute, I picked one of his well-known books that sounded interesting to me. For some reason I always found the subject of rabies intriguing, but I found a lot of inaccuracies in this book regarding that.
It didn't help the beginning of the story started with two horrible injustices that were hard to stomach. The main character was betrayed and falsely imprisoned, which is a big pet peeve of mine. Even worse was the horrible scene with the family of wolves, which was hard to stomach for any animal lover. Beware of these vicious scenes tainting the book. It doesn't get any better for the poor wolf unfortunately. I was mad on his behalf all the way up to the end.
I couldn't get into the storyline much either. I understand the anger of the main character but it was loosely constructed in terms of a revenge plot. When there was something depressing happening to the main character, I still couldn't bond with him well. The writing held no punches back with tragedy - some of it was surprising in the end.
There's a storyline but it's slow going and not evenly paced. Combine a ho-hum main character with the opening and ending with the wolves, and it was a disappointment. Westerns are definitely brutal.
It didn't help the beginning of the story started with two horrible injustices that were hard to stomach. The main character was betrayed and falsely imprisoned, which is a big pet peeve of mine. Even worse was the horrible scene with the family of wolves, which was hard to stomach for any animal lover. Beware of these vicious scenes tainting the book. It doesn't get any better for the poor wolf unfortunately. I was mad on his behalf all the way up to the end.
I couldn't get into the storyline much either. I understand the anger of the main character but it was loosely constructed in terms of a revenge plot. When there was something depressing happening to the main character, I still couldn't bond with him well. The writing held no punches back with tragedy - some of it was surprising in the end.
There's a storyline but it's slow going and not evenly paced. Combine a ho-hum main character with the opening and ending with the wolves, and it was a disappointment. Westerns are definitely brutal.
November 2, 2016
Read this off & on in between H. P. Lovecraft binges.
Highest possible recommendation.
This is a very dark crime-suspense novel dressed up in turn-of-the-19th century cowboy-drag.
People ride in wagons or buggies or astride horses, pistols resting in holsters hanging from their waists.
Other than that they have the same passions and larcenous leanings as any other modern villain or anti-hero.
Brilliantly written by a master of both the Western and Crime-Suspense/Detective genres, Ed Gorman is a writer -very recently passed- well worth the investment.
You can find his novels on-line or you can come across them in used paperback-shacks from here to infinity.
January 10, 2020
3.75; a no-frills but well-written noir in western form, laced with hardboiled lyricism, and with a somber yet poignant finale reminiscent of Jim Thompson.
June 22, 2016
Ed Gorman is a prolific writer, specializing in crime, mysteries, westerns, and horror and methinks he enjoys combining those genres from time to time. This novel certainly has all the trappings of a classic western story but it has major elements of crime and even a bit of horror thrown in. Call it “western noir.”
The plot is more realistic than you typically find in western novels. Even though it’s told in first person POV, the protagonist isn’t very good at bragging about himself. While he does have honorable tendencies, this gets crowded out by his motivation for revenge, even at the expense of his own well-being. He isn’t a gunfighter or the typical square-jawed, narrow-waisted, stranger come to save the town from the bad guys. Instead he is sort of a dim-bulb farmer’s boy, being duped by the conniving rascals that he has pitted himself against time after time.
This sounds like a recipe for a disastrous novel but Ed Gorman is a great storyteller and the story here is a good one. I liked the easy-going, page-turning style and as soon as I realized this wasn’t going to be the “typical” western novel, and be burdened by predictable outcomes, I settled in for a great read. This is without a doubt the best “western” novel I’ve read in the past several years although I hate to pigeonhole it with that moniker. I’ll definitely be seeking out more Gorman in the future.
The plot is more realistic than you typically find in western novels. Even though it’s told in first person POV, the protagonist isn’t very good at bragging about himself. While he does have honorable tendencies, this gets crowded out by his motivation for revenge, even at the expense of his own well-being. He isn’t a gunfighter or the typical square-jawed, narrow-waisted, stranger come to save the town from the bad guys. Instead he is sort of a dim-bulb farmer’s boy, being duped by the conniving rascals that he has pitted himself against time after time.
This sounds like a recipe for a disastrous novel but Ed Gorman is a great storyteller and the story here is a good one. I liked the easy-going, page-turning style and as soon as I realized this wasn’t going to be the “typical” western novel, and be burdened by predictable outcomes, I settled in for a great read. This is without a doubt the best “western” novel I’ve read in the past several years although I hate to pigeonhole it with that moniker. I’ll definitely be seeking out more Gorman in the future.
April 17, 2025
The plot was good: A hayseed jailbird gets revenge on the sadistic banker who doublecrossed him. But Gorman must have thought that it wasn't good enough, so he added a wolf and a cute kid. Adding a sprinkle of fantasy and a dollop of sap to an otherwise zesty crime story left a bad aftertaste. The parts without the whelps make me want to read more Ed Gorman books.
April 19, 2010
I devoured the book in one sitting. I really enjoyed it. The book came out a few years ago and it's unlike any western I've read before. Think of it as western noir, with an emphasis on noir, though you wouldn't know that from the standard "western" cover and "frontier" font. Sure, it takes place in the west and has all the expected genre trappings...but it's the kind of tale Charles Williams, Harry Whittington, Dan J. Marlowe, Wade Miller, Vin Packer and Charles Willeford like to tell. Dark and violent. Grim and doomed. It's about a bank robber who gets double-crossed, goes to prison, and seeks revenge. Sounds pretty standard but trust me, it isn't. The hero of this book is an original...a guy who is literally rabid with revenge. I can't help but wonder how the book would have fared, and the attention it might have garnered, if it was marketed as a weird twist on a dark crime tale instead of western.
October 22, 2016
Wolf Moon is a grim and bloody noir telling the story of a young man, fresh out of prison, seeking vengeance against the criminal that killed his brothers and implicated him in a bank robbery. Reads like those short and fast-paced 50s crime paperback originals that I love. I devoured it a couple of sittings, finding it very difficult to put down.
May 5, 2017
This a dark tale of revenge story without a sliver of a happy ending. Man is double crossed and sent to prison and vows revenge. He finds revenge is not always sweet, and he finds this in one of the most brutal stories I have ever read. This is a very quick read as I finished it in two hours. Recommended to those who like something different.
April 8, 2019
Ed Gorman was born too late to be one of the Gold Medal writers of the 1950s but he never let that stop him. This book’s got some flaws but I’m already looking forward to reading it again some day. Full disclosure: If you’re only going to give Mr. Gorman one chance to claim your time and money, I’d recommend either Lynched or Lawless over this one.
April 21, 2020
This is a brutally dark Western novel (and followed by a brutally dark Western short story). Both are exceptionally well-written. This reader will certainly be looking at other Westerns written by Ed Gorman.
July 26, 2010
Gorman is quite possibly my second favorite western writer after L'Amour. I like his books very much. Gritty and realistic, and with a lot of action and great characters.
November 3, 2017
Very good book
This was my first Ed Gorman novel and I thought it was very good. It had a melancholy undertone that was very different from the other westerns I've read. It was very well written with a great story and great characters.
This was my first Ed Gorman novel and I thought it was very good. It had a melancholy undertone that was very different from the other westerns I've read. It was very well written with a great story and great characters.
May 24, 2023
4.5/5 Wow that was very good! My first western and Gorman is an author I will be reading more of! Very punchy writing and no filler chapters. Only downside was the ending being a bit abrupt.
September 4, 2023
Ed Gorman was one of the last of the writers that could write any genre, and write it well.
This short western was a little gem of ' life is what it is and that don't mean it's fair'.
This short western was a little gem of ' life is what it is and that don't mean it's fair'.
October 5, 2009
Chase had spent a decade in prison for bank robbery. His two older brothers had made a deal with one of the bank owners and he went along. The owner had double-crossed them, shooting one and having his "pet" wolf kill the other, ripping Chase's face to shreds.
Chase came out of prison wanting revenge. When he returns to his old girl friend, he learns he has a daughter. They marry and he settles in as a policeman in a new town, content for the first time.
Then the old enemy turns up using a new name and working the same scam. He buys into the local bank and when two hard looking strangers arrive in town, Chase knows a robbery is going to happen.
Chase came out of prison wanting revenge. When he returns to his old girl friend, he learns he has a daughter. They marry and he settles in as a policeman in a new town, content for the first time.
Then the old enemy turns up using a new name and working the same scam. He buys into the local bank and when two hard looking strangers arrive in town, Chase knows a robbery is going to happen.
October 18, 2009
I used to say that I didn't like Westerns - would never read one. Then I got introduced to Ed's Westerns. I've changed my tune.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews