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| Hanging out with Tom Petty |
First Published: 1980
Pages: 128
The last time we caught up with Crow in 'Worse than Death' he had come to the rescue of a wagon full of cavalry officers wives and drivers escorting them across country. It didn't end particularly well for most of the characters, Indians and settlers alike were pretty much dealt rough justice by both parties. In Tears of Blood, Laurence ?James, writing as James W Marvin gives us another neat twist in the tale, meaning that this Crow story is significantly different enough to the previous two to make if fresh and engaging. It makes we wonder precisely why this series only lasted for eight paperbacks, because so far I am enjoying them greatly and I'm now wondering if I should ration myself and spread out reading the rest?
I raced through Tears of Blood. It was just as good, if not slightly better than the previous installment; which I felt was a good sequel to the opening novel. We are as ever introduced to Crow through the familiar framing device of an old man talking to an unknown person- who it now seems to be confirmed is supposed to be The Writer. The old man gets a little bit more flesh as well, and I'm pretty convinced the intention eventually was to drop hints that he is actually Crow - let's see if the length of the series allows that to develop, and if my instinct is right?
In Tears of Blood our anti-hero in black experiences a number of firsts; being put in jail, being raped, and getting shot for the first time in the series (by a woman). He is still sporting his long black hair, his sawed-off Purdy shotgun, the trademark stained yellow bandanna and his Army sword. He still speaks with his soft, almost whisper-like voice. The voice either lulls the less fortunate into a false sense of security, or it scares the whits out of them. The opening finds him trying to enjoy a drink in a saloon in the back-water town of Dead Hawk. Trying that is, because he finds himself the latest victim of town bully and would-be shootist Bart Wells. Bart is annoying. Bart is an annoying little shit actually. We know where this is going, and it won't end well for Bart.
After dispatching Bart Wells, someone universally hated and feared by the townspeople of Dead Hawk, the local Sheriff decides to arrest Crow until it can be proved that it was not cold-blooded murder. Seemed a bit harsh on Crow in my opinion, especially after just getting rid of the local arsehole - but hey Crow doesn't seem too worried, so I wasn't. Sheriff Derekson seems to have a grudging respect for Crow, who has no bounties out in his name. An overnight stay in the jail and then moving on seems like a good plan, and despite being introduced to the Dead Hawks Major, Abe Verity and his wife Martha, Crow settles down to a quiet night behind bars after a meal of Steak and Grits with the Sheriff.
Now things get interesting; in the morning Derekson is flustered and Crow deduces that noises he heard during the early morning are linked to a raid on the Verity ranch a mile out of town. It seems the Major and his wife, Martha have been kidnapped. The Sheriff enlists the help of Crow to go out to the ranch and look around with him. They witness a burned out homestead, and two of the ranch-hands strung up and tortured to death. It all points to the local Apache tribe, the Chiricahua. But Crow is not convinced. His training and Indian tracking skills lead him to believe something else more sinister has occurred.
They are joined by the Mayor's brother, Jacob Verity, who eventually decides to pay Crow for the return of his brother and sister-in-law. He wants proof, Crow is to bring them back dead or alive, and he will get paid. He will also get paid for each of the kidnappers he kills. Crow sets off through Chiricahua country to track down the kidnappers and return Dead Hawk's Mayor.
Tears of Blood climaxes in a great stand-off and subsequent battle between Crow and the kidnappers, with a neat interlude involving an encounter with the Chriricahua. Crow also shows his dark side during a disturbing event where he comes across an abandoned Indian settlement - ravaged by cholera, with the elderly left to die in agony. He cruelly leaves an old man to die rather than answering the dying man's wishes and shooting him to end his pain.
It's not difficult to guess what has happened to the Mayor and who the kidnappers are, but this is not an Agatha Christie novel here - I'm not reading Crow to be amazed by the intricate plotting - I just want good action scenes and lots of bloody violence. James delivers, perhaps in not a blood thirsty way as in the previous two books, but he delivers nonetheless. There are guts and brain matter splattered during the shoot outs. There's some mild torture, and a sex scene that doesn't really titillate, but is employed to show how far gone a character has become. On a side note - there is a character I hoped we would come across again, an ex-shootist who seemed to have some promise if expanded upon - but it was not to be - shame.
I purchased Crow 3, Tears of Blood for £0.99. An wonderfully good value for money but from Piccadilly Publishing. I cannot recommend this series highly enough now. I really enjoy these - I just don't know how I am going to make them last longer!?