I received this ARC for an honest review.

For me, this was the time I read this author and I enjoyed the book and the characters. Joe Noose knows the killer because he carries the brand “Q” from him from when he was a kid. Now along with two U.S. Marshals are tracking the killer down.
I Like the character Bess Sugarfoot, a Marshal, and daughter of a Marshal who was killed. You feel that there is something that could happen between her and Joe but Joe does not want to do anything about his feelings. The story moves along at a good pace and will keep you entertained all the way through. Good characters as well.

The prologue of Branded gives some important background into Joe Noose, and a bitter lesson that Joe learned at thirteen.
U.S. Marshall Emmett Ford appears in Bess Sugarland's office in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He's tracking a serial killer who brands his victims, sometimes entire families.

Joe Noose recognizing the brand and the killer, joins Bess and Emmett Ford in tracking down the deranged killer through a Wyoming winter.

Another fast-paced adventure with plenty of action. Read in November; blog review scheduled for March 20, 2021.

NetGalley/Kensington Books

Western/Thriller. 2021. Print length: 281 pages.

Branded by Eric Red
A Joe Noose Western #3

The prologue provides the background event that was a catalyst in the life of a thirteen-year-old boy who would become Joe Noose. Joe is a sheriff when the story begins but his past has been varied and interesting though we don’t hear many details about that time period. Coming into the series on book three was fine as I was easily able to get a feel for Joe and what may have happened in the previous books.

What I liked:
* Joe: a big man in more ways than one. He is strong, enduring, has a credo of his own, gets the job done, does what it takes, loves his horse, doesn’t have a biological family but may be on the way to having a chosen family. I like him.
* Bess Sugarfoot: a strong woman, a marshal, the daughter of a marshal, a force to be reckoned with, can take care of herself, good friend to Joe, believe there is more to her than I met in this book.
* Ethan Ford: a marshal working with Joe and Bess to bring in The Brander is hiding something, and it is a big something that is a bit of a twist when exposed.
* That though there was violence not all of it was graphic…some was left to the imagination.
* The gritty feel of the time on the trail and the realness of what that might have been like
* The plotting, writing and way the story was told. Some scenes may have seemed over-the-top or too much but it fit with the story and characters and was good fun.
* Not knowing it all in advance and being someone that often reads the end of a book first that is saying something.
* That this portion of the series felt complete
* The way the introduction to book four was made.

What I didn’t like:
* What I was meant not to like…the bad guys and the way they behaved. It was easy to be okay with the way they ended
* The loss of the animals…always makes me sad to have an animal misused, abused or die in some sad way.

Did I enjoy this book? I think I did
Would I read more in this series/by this author? I believe I would

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington-Pinnacle for the ARC – this is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

An outstanding western that takes us along on the ride to find a killer who brands his victims. Joe Noose carries this brand, burned into his chest when he was young and stupid. Now he wears the brand as a reminder to never stop until justice has been done.
I love westerns. Eric Red has now joined my TBR library as a followed author.

The novel “Branded” by Eric Red is one that shows the ways that humans can do very bad deeds. It is focused on a bounty hunter named Joe Noose who has partnered with two U. S. Marshals – one male, Emmet Ford, and one female, Bess Sugarland. Yep, a female marshal is on the job. This brings an interesting dynamic to the storyline.

As the book’s title notes, there is branding going on and we are not taking the branding of cattle. There are people being branded by a seeming madman. Joe, as a kid, while running around with several older boys, was caught stealing cattle by the owner. The man took it on himself to hang the older boys but since Joe was too young, he only branded him on the chest with a large “Q.” Now as a 34-year-old adult, Joe carries the brand mark but instead of embittering him, he used the evil experience to turn his life around. But the idea still strikes fear in him.

The task that Noose and his Marshal friends, Ford, and Sugarland, have taken on is to track this fiend down. They are spurred on as recently there was a mass murder where each victim was branded with the letter “Q.” The difference with Joe is that after his ordeal, he was left alive. This did not happen with the most recent victims; they were chopped into pieces with the mark of “Q” on every piece that had been hacked off.

During the midst of winter in Wyoming, the “posse” roamed through lots of snow seeking the Brander, as they have started referring to him. He is very elusive and has almost been caught several times. The pursuing bad discovers some unusual secrets but begin to bond as a team.

Cornered in heavy snow, the Brander might be expected to fight, and he does but the outcome has several twists right to the bitter end. An interesting book that is hard to put down until the posse begins to wrap-up this adventure. An enjoyable adventure.