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Branded
Spur Award-Winning Author
ED GORMAN
Sometimes a man’s reputation can kill him...
A MAN IS INNOCENT—UNTIL HANGED...
Andy Malloy has always known his father, Tom, is a no-good louse. He drove away his first wife by cheating on her—and has been driven to drink by his second wife. So when bride number two is brutally killed while Tom is on a bender, the blame k easy to place.
Painful as it is, even Andy suspects his own father is guilty—so it's no wonder the local law is preparing to string Tom up. But your pa is still your blood—no matter what. Now, in a desperate effort, Andy must piece together a bloody puzzle, and try to save a man who hasn’t been able to save himself.
ED GORMAN
Sometimes a man’s reputation can kill him...
A MAN IS INNOCENT—UNTIL HANGED...
Andy Malloy has always known his father, Tom, is a no-good louse. He drove away his first wife by cheating on her—and has been driven to drink by his second wife. So when bride number two is brutally killed while Tom is on a bender, the blame k easy to place.
Painful as it is, even Andy suspects his own father is guilty—so it's no wonder the local law is preparing to string Tom up. But your pa is still your blood—no matter what. Now, in a desperate effort, Andy must piece together a bloody puzzle, and try to save a man who hasn’t been able to save himself.
- GenresWesterns
209 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2004
2 people are currently reading
24 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 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 14, 2023
Andy Malloy is an adult male that lives with his father Tom and stepmother Eileen. They are a very mismatched couple in a terrible marriage. Tom is a drunk and Eileen is a woman that welcomes amorous adventures with many men. They fight all the time, and their marital difficulties are no secret to the townspeople.
When Andy comes home and finds Eileen dead from a gunshot wound his first thought is that Tom killed her. Not thinking clearly, he buries Eileen in a shed and waits for his father to come home. His plans are compounded by a snoopy woman that had been on her way to visit Eileen. The town Sheriff Burkett is a man lacking in scruples, although he has reduced crime in the town. He is not above beating up a suspect and there have been rumors that he has moved many times, leaving behind a set of unsolved murders.
There are many supporting characters, including Delia, a girl sweet on Andy, the Sheriff’s wife, a town drunk, two dishonorable deputies, Delia’s lawyer father, some town gossips and a woman with a severely disfigured face. All of them provide key backdrop points as we follow the action while Sheriff Burkett at times follows the law and other times takes it into his own hands.
The writing is superb, and the reader is distracted as to who in fact pulled the trigger in the death of Eileen. The conversations are very modern in that the characters do not use dialog consistent with the cliches of the west. It is a great mystery story that could have been contextually placed in modern times, albeit in a small town.
When Andy comes home and finds Eileen dead from a gunshot wound his first thought is that Tom killed her. Not thinking clearly, he buries Eileen in a shed and waits for his father to come home. His plans are compounded by a snoopy woman that had been on her way to visit Eileen. The town Sheriff Burkett is a man lacking in scruples, although he has reduced crime in the town. He is not above beating up a suspect and there have been rumors that he has moved many times, leaving behind a set of unsolved murders.
There are many supporting characters, including Delia, a girl sweet on Andy, the Sheriff’s wife, a town drunk, two dishonorable deputies, Delia’s lawyer father, some town gossips and a woman with a severely disfigured face. All of them provide key backdrop points as we follow the action while Sheriff Burkett at times follows the law and other times takes it into his own hands.
The writing is superb, and the reader is distracted as to who in fact pulled the trigger in the death of Eileen. The conversations are very modern in that the characters do not use dialog consistent with the cliches of the west. It is a great mystery story that could have been contextually placed in modern times, albeit in a small town.
March 18, 2012
Not one of Gorman's best. He is usually a fairly good writer, but here his characters are so broadly drawn as to become caricatures, instead of characters. His evil deranged sheriff is too evil and deranged, his whorish step-mom is too whorish, his drunken worthless father is too drunken and worthless. None of them feel real. Gorman can do much better. Not recommended!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews