The Laramie River Crossing by Jack Ehrlich

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The Laramie River Crossing (1973) by Jack Ehrlich

After a career as a lawyer, a district attorney, and a reporter for Newsday, Jack Ehrlich started writing fiction late in life. Thank God, because The Laramie River Crossing is stunning—a lean, mean, hard-edged adult-oriented western that left me hungry to read everything by the author. 

This is a genuinely literary novel that takes the time to craft characters of real depth with myriad shades of gray. Smith (no first name given), and Preacher are bad men with a history of violence and crime. The first half of the book has a classic “men on a mission” set-up as Preacher goes about putting their previous crime ring back together at the behest of The Limey, their old handler and heist mastermind. 

Preacher is not above bushwhacking his former colleagues or breaking them out of jail to force their involvement. The plot itself is deceptively simple: The Limey wants to go legit and reunites the old gang to protect his investment as he brings sheep into traditional cattle country. The problem is that the local cattle barons are willing to start a full-scale range war to keep the sheep from reaching the former crime boss’s property. To give away any more plot would be a disservice to the reader. 

Suffice to say, nothing goes as planned—loyalties are tested and broken, and things get brutally violent as Smith and Preacher find they possess a previously undiscovered moral compass. Strong language and a frank sexuality are prevalent, though nothing is overtly explicit. When it comes, the action is swift, brutal, and protracted, yet all described in a clear fashion that keeps the reader engaged as the suspense ratchets up and the body count rises.

This book deserves to be heralded as a classic of the western genre. I have not read a better western in the last several years, and I have read many. This was the book that sent me on a quest to read everything that Jack Ehrlich ever wrote and I have not been disappointed in a single one of his works to date. I give The Laramie River Crossing my very highest recommendation!

Reviewed by Steve Carroll

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