The Crowman by Gareth Clegg

I would like to thank Twisted Fate Publishing for a copy of this novella in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher – Twisted Fate

Published – Out Now

Price –£1.99 Kindle eBook £5.99 paperback

In a dying world, one lone rider is the only hope for salvation.


Some say the world is shattered, that our way of life is dying. Our sun fills half the sky and the scorched lands struggle to provide enough to sustain us. Still, there has always been hope. But as that fiery red orb descends below the rocky skyline, then comes the shadow: Dark spirits hell-bent on destroying what’s left of humanity, as if we needed any help.

My name is Cheveyo Santiago. I cheated death as a child, but that trauma marked me, and now I sense the evil in others. So here I am, drawn like a moth to the flame. Though I carry a revolver, I’m no gunslinger, there are plenty faster on the draw than me. My real edge is knowledge.

Old family recipes passed down through the ages – the secrets to banish the shadow back to the hells that spawned it. Salt, Brimstone, Silver and Tallow shall be my weapons.


So, hear this, all creatures and spirits of evil. I know you. I see you. Prepare yourself for judgement.

I do like a good revenge ghost story. Call it my sense of justice ad particularly this week I want to see bad people get their jst desserts. Westerns tend to have a lot of revenge stories probably all the gunfights leave a lot of angry spirits. In Gareth Clegg’s enjoyable novella, The Crowman we get a strange new setting that offers a solid story.

In a future world we have reverted to a western style society of limited technology but also magic. Our narrator Santiago arrives in the town of Providence as a man on a mission to somewhere else, but he realises the town is being haunted by a dark spirit known as The Crowman. Teaming up with the wily gambler Ms Ruby Diamond they unpick a local mystery, a terrible crime and try to work out how to stop a spirit.

I liked Gregg’s storytelling a lot – Santiago has a great voice a mixture of sarcasm and intelligence as a lone man happy tp out himself up against both loudmouths, villains and ghosts. It’s an enjoyable mystery to solve and I did like that in the character of Ruby we have someone who matches him for the wits and violence. Unpicking the reason for the Crowman is well delivered and I enjoyed the pacing and resolutions. Gregg also has a visual style so you can easily see the town and landscape the story takes place in.

Wat I felt wasn’t quite working was the worldbuilding. I really didn’t feel that the future earth setting added much the tone is very much an older western and say compared to Rebecca Roanhorse’s tales it didn’t feel that close to our own world and sensibilities. There was also a really fun coda that could easily have been built into the wider story rather than feeling glued on at the end

This is a fun ghost ride with some great storytelling and plotting. If you fancy a quick adventure, then this will pass a good hour but for future instalments I’d like to se this world expanded beyond just the wild west and make it feel a little more speaking to today’s world.