A Thousand Falling Crows

October 19, 2015
In 1933, Texas Ranger Sonny Burton, the hero of Sweazy’s murky mystery, loses an arm in a shoot-out with Bonnie and Clyde. Sonny resigns from the Rangers and sinks into despair, until a plea for help from Aldo Hernandez, the janitor at the hospital where he’s recuperating, yanks him out of his emotional tailspin. Sonny sets out to find Aldo’s runaway daughter, Carmen, presently cohabiting with bootleggers Edberto Renaldo and his identical twin brother, Eberto. Meanwhile, Sonny worries that he’ll never find justice for a string of young women a killer has left rotting on the roadside. Sweazy (See Also Murder) handles his two plots unevenly: the emotional complexity of Carmen’s relationship with the brothers and the racy momentum of the crime spree they embark on divert attention from the mystery of the dead women, which dwindles to a flat resolution. Still, the book succeeds in bringing to life Depression-era Texas: in particular, the virtues of its self-sufficient citizens and its dusty landscape. Agent: Cherry Weiner, Cherry Weiner Literary Agency.

November 1, 2015
Just because he's lost an arm to Bonnie and Clyde doesn't mean a Texas Ranger has to hang up his spurs. Anyone else would accept his fate after a shootout with the Depression era's most famous criminal couple deprives him first of the use of his right arm, then, when infection begins to set in, the whole arm itself. And Sonny Burton's not exactly eager to go on working his job or even to strap on the prosthetic arm he's been issued. When Aldo Hernandez, a janitor at the hospital where Sonny was treated, asks his help in finding his missing daughter, Carmen, Sonny points out the obvious: no badge, no arm. But everyone in Wellington seems convinced that Sonny's estranged son, Jesse, can't fill his father's shoes even if he's got his own badge and arm. There's growing evidence that Carmen has run off with the Clever, Clever boys: Eddie, who actually is a pretty clever petty thief, and his twin, Tio, who's barely clever enough to write his name. Even worse, the area around Wellington has become a dumping ground for the mutilated corpses of anonymous young women who provide a feast for the crows who serve as a mute, abiding chorus in a world that manages to be both replete with violence and marked by an unearthly stillness. So Sonny, accepting the fact that he'll always be a Texas Ranger, goes into action, knowing his decision will put him at odds with everyone else in town. Sweazy (See Also Murder, 2015, etc.) never ties the two crime sprees together satisfactorily; it seems quite a coincidence that they're both raging simultaneously. But he knows everything there is to know about hope and hopelessness in 1934 Texas.

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Starred review from January 1, 2016

Former Texas Ranger Sonny Burton lost an arm after taking a bullet from bank robber Bonnie Parker (of Bonnie and Clyde fame), and now he's recuperating. Aldo Hernandez, the hospital's janitor, asks for Sonny's help in finding his daughter, Carmen, who has disappeared after becoming involved with two brothers suspected in a string of robberies. Simultaneously, someone is killing young women and leaving their bodies around town, with only the crows to serve as witnesses. Sonny has a deadline to find Carmen before the unspeakable happens. VERDICT Sweazy (See Also Murder) vividly evokes the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl in this gritty historical. Sonny is an engaging, determined hero drawing on his Texas Ranger experience to find some measure of justice. Sure to attract fans of Westerns and readers who favor well-plotted mysteries with plenty of atmosphere.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2015
Texas Ranger Sonny Burton has to hang up his badge after losing an arm in a shoot-out with Bonnie and Clyde. Recovering from surgery, he befriends hospital janitor Aldo Hernandez, who helps Sonny adjust to his new life. Aldo's daughter is missing, and Aldo fears she's with the dangerous Renaldo twins. Can Sonny help find her? Sonny is a cantankerous old lawman, uncomfortable learning new tricks, but when the stakes are high, he can swallow his pride and let others (temporarily) take the lead. Fans of Craig Johnson's Walt Longmire and Steven F. Havill's Bill Gastner may enjoy this Depression-era take on the Wild West.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)