The Tuesday Update

Here's a new review for The Badger's Revenge:

The third book in Sweazy’s Josiah Wolfe, Texas Ranger series, The Badger’s Revenge, is aptly titled, as the book serves up that cold dish left, right, and center. It also whips up a mess of guns, heat, trail dust, Texas Rangers, Comanche Indians, and people stuck in hard-luck lives, doing their best with the cards they’ve been dealt. This time out, Josiah Wolfe has a price on his head. He is dogged by two Comanche scouts, a murderous Irishman nicknamed The Badger, and the whiff of something—or someone—unseen and dangerous.

It’s a pleasure for me to sink back into the dusty, dangerous, and complex world of everyman Josiah Wolfe. His rich inner monologues, his self-doubts, and his moments of emotional vulnerability counter the convictions that form who he is and what he stands for. But in The Badger’s Revenge, that rigid moral core threatens to fill him completely.

As with all of Sweazy’s characters, Wolfe is refreshingly human. Even the bad guys aren’t wholly bad, they’re driven by understandable, if unacceptable, impulses. Wolfe is still plagued by a bloody war and the brutal deaths of his wife and daughters. His young son is a constant reminder of what should have been, and his trying friendship with Scrap Elliott hints at something unknown, but looming.

The Badger’s Revenge is a richly layered story that offers twists and turns that dare the reader to speculate who is guilty and why. There is blood, killing, deceit, anger, mistrust, and betrayal and, in the midst of it, Josiah Wolfe does his best to keep it all at arm’s length as he tries to make sense of the mayhem, even as bullets whistle by his ears. My only complaint is that since I have grown so fond of these characters and Sweazy’s artful unfolding of their predicaments, I have to wait for the fourth book before I find out what happens next.

 —Matthew P. Mayo

 Indianapolis Star -- 3/31/11 by Betsy Reason

Noblesville author's 3rd Western to be released Tuesday

Larry Sweazy, Noblesville, gets a kick every time readers ask him to sign copy of his book

When someone asks local author Larry D. Sweazy to sign a copy of one of his books, he says, "it's a dream come true, every time."

It gets even better when a reader talks with Sweazy as if his book characters were members of the reader's family and wants to know what's going to happen next.

"That's the greatest compliment there is," said Sweazy, 50, Noblesville.

He is amazed sometimes when he thinks about how a Western series he debuted in 2009 has grown in popularity with the release of every book.

"It took me 15 years to get my first novel published, and there were days -- heck, years -- when I didn't think it would really happen," Sweazy said. "I'm glad I didn't give up, though."

Sweazy, who wanted to be writer since childhood, will release the third book in his Josiah Wolfe, Texas Ranger Western series, "The Badger's Revenge," on Tuesday nationwide. He'll make two book-signing appearances this month. The first is Tuesday in Noblesville and the other is April 9 in Fishers.

His books are on library recommended lists throughout the nation, including Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library, he said.

"It makes readers aware that my books are available for them to check out. There are more than 25,000 books published every month, so anytime a library recommends my books, it really helps to grow my readership."

After more than 300 rejection slips, Sweazy got his big break six years ago when he won the Western Writers of America Spur Award for Best Short Story in 2005. His first published novel, "The Rattlesnake Season," came out two years ago, a milestone he calls "right place, right time." The book was a finalist in the 2010 Best Books of Indiana competition.

The second book in his Josiah Wolfe series, "The Scorpion Trail," came out a year ago. The fourth book in the series, "The Cougar's Prey," will be published in October, with "The Coyote Tracker" to be published in late 2012 and "The Gila Wars" in mid-2013.

Sweazy said sales have been strong enough for his publisher to show continued support and enthusiasm for the series.

Sweazy said Westerns in general have seen a recent uptick in popularity, mostly because of the remake of "True Grit" and upcoming movies like "Cowboys & Aliens," expected to be released in July.

An Indiana native, Sweazy is a 1978 graduate of Anderson Highland High School who as a kid watched "Bonanza," "The Virginian," "The Rifleman," "Gunsmoke" and his favorite, "The Wild, Wild West," on television.

He lived in Texas five years after graduating from high school, which he said helps explain why he writes about a Texas Ranger. Josiah Wolfe is a single father in the 1870s. In the new book, Wolfe must escape after being captured by two Comanche bounty hunters.

While Westerns are Sweazy's focus, in February 2012 he'll publish a stand-alone mystery novel, "The Devil's Bones," set in Central Indiana.

Book signings:

Noblesville author Larry D. Sweazy will release the third novel in his Josiah Wolfe, Texas Ranger series, "The Badger's Revenge," on Tuesday. He will sign copies of the book at the following locations:

Tuesday -- 6 to 8 p.m., Barnes & Noble Booksellers, 17090 Mercantile Blvd., Noblesville.

April 9 -- 1 to 3 p.m., Mudsock Books & Curiosity Shoppe, 11850 Allisonville Road, Fishers.

Visit www.larrydsweazy.com

Call Star reporter Betsy Reason at (317) 444-6049.