Return of Midnight Marauder: A Series of Western Novels Featuring the Adventures of John Crudder

By: Roy Clinton

Narrated by: R. William James

Driven from his home to protect his loved ones from retaliation from the town council of Bandera, Texas, John Crudder becomes a vagabond. As he moves across the state, each place he stops he sees injustice, and so continues his role as the Midnight Marauder.

In Huntsville, he finds cruelty worse than anything he has previously seen. And the man responsible escapes justice for murder and lives beyond the reach of the law. Crudder’s stand against such evil is the only way he can get the scales of justice to balance.

Crudder becomes aware of the role of a politician in central Texas who brings the Ku Klux Klan to the state and sets out to persuade him to change his ways. Crudder is now a wanted man with a price on his head. Everywhere he goes, he reads the wanted posters about the Midnight Marauder. He wonders if he will forever have to live in the shadows.

©2018 Roy Clinton (P)2018 Roy Clinton

An Avenging Gentleman Clowboy - Whoa!

Roy Clinton fires up the series with the continuing adventure in book 2. The adventures of John Crudder take on additional dimension as John and his wonderful horse Midnight use their life experience and special bond to hide in plain sight.
John Crudder is the sort of character you really want on your side. Even though he is wealthy he seems to enjoy working even when the jobs seem at cross purposes to one another. Roy crafts an intriguing facet of this character when the diversity of John’s work, depending on the city he is in, seems totally plausible.

Well known Texas cities/towns are depicted perfectly for the time of this story. It takes one back in history before so many technologies, making it quaint while uncivilized to a degree. John’s shyness around Charlotte is so sweet, even though she seems a bit out of reach. The relationship between John, Charlotte, and her father Slim is very strong, even though they haven’t known each all for very long. You can vividly feel this when plan for a picnic are interrupted so John can help Slim.

“John, I don’t know what to say,” said Slim.
“That’s all right, Slim. I’m glad to do it. But I better get started back to Austin.”
“I’m sorry, Miss Charlotte. I have to go to Austin to get the money you need.”
“What’s this Miss Charlotte stuff?” asked Charlotte. You’re not try to get rid of me are you, John Crudder?”
“No Miss-uh, I mean Charlotte. I just guess I’m a bit nervous. I’m sorry.” With those words, I swung up and started Midnight toward Austin. I figured if I pick up the pace a bit, I’ll get there in four days doing twenty-five to thirty miles a day. That’ll be easy for Midnight. I’ll be back in plenty of time for Slim to make his note payment.
As I rode, my thoughts were on Charlotte. …”

R. William James narration is flawless in book 2. It is seamless as he moves from being the narrator to capturing the voices of each character. The voice initiations are consistent from book 1 to book 2, which works for me. The timber of his voice makes this story even richer.

I highly recommend this series for those who enjoy westerns based in Texas and stories with heroes with honor. This story will keep you engaged and wanting more. Roy Clinton is a master storyteller in this genre. I bet he gets you hooked just like me.