Black Badge

In the West, there are worse things to fear than bandits and outlaws. Demons. Monsters. Witches. James Crowley's sacred duty as a Black Badge is to hunt them down and send them packing, banish them from the mortal realm for good. He didn't choose this life. No. He didn't choose life at all. Shot dead in a gunfight many years ago, now he's stuck in purgatory, serving the whims of the White Throne to avoid falling to Hell. Not quite undead, though not alive either, the best he can hope for is to work off his penance and fade away. This time, the White Throne has sent him to investigate a strange bank robbery in Lonely Hill. An outlaw with the ability to conjure ice has frozen and shattered open the bank vault and is now on a spree, robbing the region for all it's worth. In his quest to track down the ice-wielder and suss out which demon is behind granting a mortal such power, Crowley finds himself face-to-face with hellish beasts, shapeshifters, and, worse … temptation. But the truth behind the attacks is worse than he ever imagined … The Witcher meets The Dresden Files in this weird Western series by the Audible number one bestselling duo behind Dead Acre. "They used to say the Western is dead…and now it really is⁠-in a good way! In Cold as Hell, authors Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle put a clever and fantastical spin on a well-worn and much-loved genre."⁠ "Gunslingers and demons, shootouts and monsters, cowboys and the supernatural-Cold as Hell is an imaginative, fun, and exciting novel." "A weird and wild twist on the Old West that mashes gunslingers, divine intervention, and the supernatural into one hell of a story. Highly recommended!" "Undead cowboy ronin delivering the Lord's justice in the Old West? Cold as Hell snared me like a lasso and never let go." "Cold as Hell? More like fun as hell. Take an undead outlaw hero, match him villains of the most devilish kind, and string it all together with a plot that has more twists and turns than a hangman's noose. Westerns don't get any weirder than this." "A badass supernatural western…It's like the Witcher goes to Tombstone." "An action-packed Western fantasy that can best be described as Sandman Slim meets Josey Wales…The West has never been wilder and now it's Cold as Hell." "Bruno and Castle…kick off a new collaboration in impressive style; their fantasy-western series debut blends its two genres perfectly and offers enough worldbuilding to sustain many sequels…A gritty romp sure to please fans of Jim Butcher and Mike Carey." "The rich mystical elements feel every bit as authentic to the west as the gunslinging and grit, all of which deftly bring the characters and setting to life." "Dark, gritty, and ultimately satisfying, Cold as Hell takes you on a nightmarish trip through a Weird West full of undead outlaws and hellish demons." "A weird Western starring a taciturn lone gunman who will remind readers of Andrzej Sapkowski's Geralt of Rivia." "The authors strike a good balance between action and mood, moving the story along at a breathless pace. As a horror-adventure blend, there is, of course, plenty of the expected blood and gore. For those who enjoy supernatural adventures with lots of heroic action set in a novel environment, Cold as Hell delivers." "If you love Westerns, a well-worn and much-loved genre, you will wholeheartedly enjoy this book. It provides a beautiful description of the Wild West in all its gritty glory."