Black Badge Books in Order

Black Badge is a weird western series by Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle. Its hero, James Crowley, died in a gunfight. That should have been the end of his story, but instead he wakes in purgatory and gets a job he never wanted.

Crowley serves the White Throne as a Hand of God. His work is to track down demons and other creatures that have slipped into the mortal world. If he does enough service, he may earn release. If he fails, there is always the threat of something much worse.

The frontier is not what it seems.

The series mixes dusty towns, saloons, gangs, and rail-trail danger with witches, monsters, shapeshifters, vampires, and deals that come with a terrible price. Crowley is not quite alive and not quite dead, which gives his cases an extra edge. He is used to carrying guilt, used to being alone, and not especially happy about being ordered around by heaven.

Dead Acre works as an early entry point. It sends Crowley to a small western town where a missing cobbler and disturbed graves suggest that something dark is at work. Cold as Hell begins the main numbered run, with Crowley investigating a bank robbery carried out by an outlaw who can wield ice. The search leads to questions about who gave a mortal that power and why.

The later books widen the world around him. In Vein Pursuits, Crowley travels toward Crescent City with uneasy companions, including Rosa, while supernatural dangers and a personal mission collide. The series keeps returning to the tension between duty and mercy. Crowley is supposed to hunt monsters, but he is also forced to decide who deserves saving and how far he will go to protect people.

Rosa matters to that conflict. Her grief and her attempts to reconnect with her dead husband pull Crowley into choices that cannot be solved by simply drawing a weapon. Their relationship adds a human thread to a series full of demons and gun smoke.

The tone is dark but not joyless. There are sharp exchanges, strange encounters, frontier action, and a supernatural mystery in each installment. The books are best read in sequence after Dead Acre, though the central premise is clear from the start.

Begin with Cold as Hell if you want the full-length main series, or try Dead Acre first for a shorter introduction to Crowley and his world.