James Crowley was your typical outlaw until his life was ended in a hail of gunfire; however, his well-earned trip to hell was unexpectedly interrupted by the White Throne. He now serves them as a Black Badge, also known as a Hand of God, hunting down demonic entities in the old American West. His task this time is to visit a small town known as Dead Acre, a place where outsiders are never welcome. He doesn't exactly know why he is sent to the ass end of nowhere, but upon arrival he quickly discovers that the local cobbler is missing and a number of graves outside the dilapidated church have been desecrated. Certainly a suspicious situation, which is only made worse by the less than warm welcome he receives at the only saloon in town. Of course Crowley is not easily intimidated, so he starts investigating following the clues and eventually discovers that a few of the locals are nto what they seem to be. A number of dark entities have indeed made Dead Acre their home, so Crowley is definitely the right man for the job.

This is a free novella available to Audible members that is essentially book 0.5 of the Black Badge series, so it is a prequel to Cold As Hell. If you think that the Weird West sub-genre might be something that interests you, then this is a great way to dip your toes in the water without committing. This book, as well as the entire series so far, is narrated by Roger Clark, who has the perfect gravelly voice for James Crowley. Clocking in at a little over 3 hours long this provides a low-risk opportunity to get a feel for the series before picking up the first book. I'm not a big fan of vampire stories, and I've not dabbled into the Weird West genre before, but in my opinion this series is worth a read, and most definitely worth a listen.