Norman A. Fox

 Night Passage

by

Norman A. Fox

Five years ago, Grant McLain rode for the railroad until one bad night stripped him of his name, his job, and every chance at the life he wanted.

Now he drifts the Montana frontier playing accordion in saloons, the last man any outfit would trust with ten thousand dollars in payroll money. That is exactly why they asked him. Curly Harbin's gang has robbed the B.C. & T. Railroad blind three times running, and someone on the inside is feeding them every move. McLain is the perfect courier, too disgraced to be suspected, too desperate to say no.

One night. One train ride into the Crazy Mountains. But Harbin already knows he is coming, the darkness is full of hard men with guns, and the only thing standing between McLain and a shallow grave is the grit he buried five years ago and is not sure he still has.

Some debts can only be paid in lead.

I found myself comparing the book to the film as I read, spotting the familiar beats and differences along the way. Once I set that aside, though, the story pulled me in. Grant McLain is hired by the B.C. & T. Railroad to shepherd a payroll through dangerous country — but his real mission is the Utica Kid. The two share a complicated past, and McLain’s history doesn’t end there. Verna Kimball is another ghost from earlier days, and it’s her father Ben who brings McLain back into the fold. Their last partnership ended badly, with suspicion hanging over McLain. Trust is in short supply.

Then there’s Charley Drew, driven by her own reasons for hunting the Utica Kid, adding another layer to the chase.

The question lingers: can Kimball and his people rely on McLain this time? The answer comes in a gunsmoke‑thick finale as McLain faces off against Curly Harbin’s outlaws.

Once I stopped measuring the book against the movie, I settled into an action‑packed, tightly written Western that kept the pages turning.

Published by Wolfpack Publishing, you can get the book here!