The Return of Kid Cooper: A Novel

Description

**WESTERN WRITERS OF AMERICA 2019 SPUR AWARDS WINNER!** "[A] first-rate novel."-True West magazine "Brad Smith has got the goods-he's funny, poignant, evocative, and he tells a blistering tale. A writer to watch, a comet on the horizon."-Dennis Lehane, award-winning author of Mystic River "Smith has written tight, fast-paced novels his entire career...and reading one is like riding a thoroughbred."--The Chronicle Herald In the style of Cormac McCarthy, a gritty tale of justice and revenge in the Wild West. The year is 1910. Nate Cooper is an old-school cowboy. He sees the change brought by the turn of the century-horses giving way to motorcars, his girlfriend marrying his best friend, and his nemesis running for governor-and reckons none of it to be good. The west is being tamed, and with progress, some things are lost. But people? They tend to stay the same. Even after spending nearly thirty years in a Montana prison for a wrongful murder conviction, Nate's moral compass is true and unwavering: he does all the wrong things for all the right reasons. So when he returns to his Northern Montana ranching town to find the Blackfoot Indians-the people he went to prison trying to defend-are still being cheated out of their territory by ranchers, Nate can't rest on his laurels. With grit, determination, a quick trigger finger, and the help of the woman he used to love, Nate sets out to settle the score and force some justice in into the changing world. Before long, though, he'll discover that justice doesn't come cheap.

Brad Smith has worked as a farmer, signalman, insulator, truck driver, bartender, schoolteacher, maintenance mechanic, roofer, and carpenter. He is the author of nine novels, including One-Eyed Jacks, which was nominated for the Dashiell Hammett Prize, and All Hat, which became a 2007 major motion picture staring Keith Carradine. The Return of Kid Cooper is the recipient of the Western Writers of America 2019 SPUR Award for Best Traditional Novel. He lives in Dunnville, Ontario, near the north shore of Lake Erie.

**WESTERN WRITERS OF AMERICA 2019 SPUR AWARDS WINNER!** Praise for The Return of Kid Cooper: "The Return of Kid Cooper is Brad Smith at his best-clear-eyed, tough-minded and true of heart. Smith- once a farmer, signalman, truck driver, bartender, teacher and carpenter- understands that work will take its toll, even when it's the only thing holding a soul together. This is a powerful novel, fully felt and beautifully written." - T. Jefferson Parker, award-winning and New York Times bestselling author "The Return of Kid Cooper is a western set in the forgotten time between horses and the sterilizing of the American West. Kid Cooper is a classic tragic hero and Brad Smith's rendering of him is full-hearted and poignant."- Dan O'Brien, author of Buffalo for the Broken Heart "The Return of Kid Cooper can claim a secure place in the canon of literature of the American West. Brad Smith's tale of old-fashioned courage and western justice is reminiscent, in its high drama, wit, and splendid idiosyncrasy, of Lonesome Dove. I was reminded also of Annie Proulx's laconic Wyoming stories, and that most iconic of Western loners, Shane." -John Hough, Jr., author of Little Bighorn "A tour de force. Brad Smith explores powerful universal themes while bringing to life unforgettable characters that make this book a must read. If Cormac McCarthy, Larry McMurtry, and Elmore Leonard collaborated on a book, it might sound very much like The Return of Kid Cooper." -D.B. Jackson, Winner of the Western Heritage Award, and author of Slow Moving Parts. "From the soft click of a cue ball in a quiet saloon, to lovers on the run reuniting after thirty years, or the blast of a .44 at the final shootout, Brad Smith can really tell a story. He paints this elegiac tale of early twentieth-century Montana on a big canvas with the easy authority of Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove and the unflinching violence of Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest, pulling the Western into this new era with heartbreaking intensity, where tenderness and threat exist in every character, and on every page."- Bart Paul, author of Under Tower Peak and Cheatgrass "Brad Smith has got the goods-he's funny, poignant, evocative, and he tells a blistering tale. A writer to watch, a comet on the horizon."-Dennis Lehane, award-winning author of Mystic River "Brad Smith is a writer with lots of skill, lots of heart, lots of brains."-Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls and Mohawk "A compelling, action-packed romp through politics, romance, morality and history by author Brad Smith . . . a history buff that who reportedly count the actor Burt Reynolds among his fans."- Toronto Daily Star "Men trapped outside their times-it was the great theme of Sam Peckinpah's best movies, and Brad Smith makes it his own in his first-rate novel, The Return of Kid Cooper."-True West magazine Praise for Brad Smith "Stellar...Wonderfully wrought characters, delicious wit, and droll storytelling make [Shoot the Dog] a delightful romp." --Publishers WeeklyStarred Review "Smith has marvelous control of his material, effortlessly mixing laugh-out-loud comedy with streaks of country noir that call to mind Daniel Woodrell." --Booklist "With dialogue that crackles like musket fire, Brad Smith's novel is true to Gettysburg's heroic past and madcap present, and a deliciously entertaining tale of uncivil war of the legacy of America's greatest conflict." --Tony Horwitz, author of Confederates in the Attic "Smith has written tight, fast-paced novels his entire career...and reading one is like riding a thoroughbred."--The Chronicle Herald "Brad Smith combines smooth writing with a twisted mind to give readers Carl Hiassen humor, but with horses instead of gators." --Julie Kramer, author of Shunning Sarah