Death Rides a Red Horse

Cotton Smith has been a writer all his life—from award-winning advertising to unforgettable Western novels. He is also a Western historian, artist and horseman. His books have won accolades from critics and readers alike for their historical accuracy, memorable characters and intriguing plot twists. A Spur Award finalist, he is a former President of the Western Writers of America.

Roundup Magazine states: “These days, the traditional Western doesn’t get much better than Cotton Smith.” True West magazine says, “Cotton Smith is another modern writer with cinematic potential. Grand themes, moral conflicts and courage are characteristic of his fiction.”

Jay Wolpert, screenwriter of Pirates of the Caribbean, states: “When it came to literature, middle-age had only three good things to show me: Patrick O’Brian, Larry McMurty and Cotton Smith.” Seven-time Spur Award–winning author, Elmer Kelton, says, “In just a few years on the scene, Cotton Smith has made a strong mark as a Western writer of the new breed, telling it like it was.” Spur Award–winning novelist Loren D. Estleman adds, “The traditional Western will never die as long as Cotton Smith is writing.” And Don Coldsmith, Spur Award–winning author of the Spanish Bit series, states: “Cotton Smith is one of the finest of a new breed of writers of the American West.”