Black Powder, White Smoke

Loren D. Estleman

Apr 2007 · Sold by Forge Books

About this ebook

For freed slave Honey Boutrille, "justice" is a word that no longer bears any weight. After he saves the life of a prostitute by shooting her white, would-be killer, the price on Honey's head sends him on the run. As he narrowly escapes scrape after scrape, he learns to keep one eye in front of him and one eye on his back.

In California, "Twice" Emmerson begins a crime spree. His inflated pride and deadly temper make him a threat to anyone who crosses him. With greed as his driving force, he uses whatever means necessary to separate money from those who have it.

As word of Boutrille and Emmerson spreads, and the number of bodies they leave behind increases, two men set out to find them.

One, a hopeful writer, finds that the "Black Snake" may be more than he seems; the other, a showman, plans to promote Emmerson as a fresh, new Buffalo Bill.

Through blood and treachery, love and hate, these four men discover the defining line between truth and fiction.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

About the author

Loren D. Estleman was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a BA degree in English Literature and Journalism in 1974. In 2002, the university awarded him an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters for his contribution to American literature.

He is the author of more than fifty novels in the categories of mystery, historical western, and mainstream, and has received four Western Writers of American Golden Spur Awards, three Western Heritage Awards, and three Shamus Awards. He has been nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award, Britain's Silver Dagger, the National Book Award, and the Pulitzer Prize. In 2003, the mammoth Encyclopedia of Detective Fiction named him the most critically acclaimed writer of U.S. detective