Bad Boys

by Frank Roderus

Abandoning his wild youth to pursue a new, law-abiding life, Danny Southern is suddenly confronted by the past in the form of his two one-time best friends--Henry Read and Red Clybourne--who turn his life upside down with the deadly havoc that only they can accomplish. Original.

208 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 3, 2008

About the author

Frank Roderus wrote his first story—it was a western—when he was five. It was really awful, as might be expected, but his mother kept that typed and spell-checked short story tucked away until the day she died.
Later, Frank became a newspaper reporter, thinking that books are written by authors which he most assuredly was not. He kept trying to write though, and eventually did it wrong enough to learn how to get it right. That first sale, a young adult novel published by Independence Press, was more than thirty years and a good many books ago.
As a journalist, the Colorado Press Association awarded Frank Roderus their highest award, the Sweepstakes Award, for the best news story of 1980, and the Western Writers of America has twice named Frank recipient of their prestigious Spur Award. Frank passed away at age 73 in December 2015.

Reviews

[Jeff Tankersley]

Danny, Red, and Henry are inseparable youngsters who engage in the usual boyhood mischief but eventually their aptitude for petty theft turns to outlaw robbery when they get older.

There's a light, quick, rowdy, and brash tenor to "Bad Boys" (2008) that reminded me of Robert Parker's "Cole & Hitch" series, so if you are fan of those westerns, this one might be one to hunt down. As the trio make their way across the West, stopping in small towns for liquor and girls, occasionally committing stagecoach or merchant robbery, we see how the three are reconciling the deeds they are performing with their roles as men, with varying degrees of moral scruples.

At about the halfway point the gang is separated and we follow along with just one of the characters (Danny) while he gets along his own series of curious western adventures.

Verdict: A good, short, rowdy, 'bad guy' adventure western.

Jeff's Rating: 3 / 5 (Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: R

[Susan]

Whether in a movie or a book, sometimes I just love a good Western. I'd read an interview with author Frank Roderus and decided to check out his book Bad Boys
 
It's a bit different from the typical gunslinger showdown story. Danny Southern is introduced in the beginning as a reformed "bad boy" whose past has caught up with his clean-living present.
 
The story then goes back to recount the day Danny and his friend Henry met Red when he moved to their small town in eastern Kansas. After beating each other up, the trio became fast friends. Red introduced the other boys to petty theft and other mischief for which they never seemed to get into trouble. With disturbing accuracy, Bad Boys shows how the young men progressed to more violent crimes.
 
The gang developed a near fool-proof procedure, until a failed stagecoach robbery injured Danny and his best friends left him to die on the side of the road.
 
But Danny survived and had to figure out how to make it in the West with few useful skills. This transition made for an interesting story, as Danny's ethics proved relative. It's not until the very end of the story that Red and Henry show up and intrude on Danny's plans to propose to his lady friend.
 
The showdown in the street takes awhile to get to, but it was definitely worth it. I would have liked more time spent with Danny coming to terms with his past and deciding how best to deal with his old friends. It is currently selling at just a bit above cheap at $5.99 on the Kindle.

[Leigh Woods]

The plot follows MMC Danny as he tells his sweetheart his life story. Fun adventures ensue as we watch Danny grow into himself. Well written, and had me eagerly reading on to see what would happen next.

[Dailycheapreads]

Whether in a movie or a book, sometimes I just love a good Western. I'd read an interview with author Frank Roderus and decided to check out his book Bad Boys
 
It's a bit different from the typical gunslinger showdown story. Danny Southern is introduced in the beginning as a reformed "bad boy" whose past has caught up with his clean-living present.
 
The story then goes back to recount the day Danny and his friend Henry met Red when he moved to their small town in eastern Kansas. After beating each other up, the trio became fast friends. Red introduced the other boys to petty theft and other mischief for which they never seemed to get into trouble. With disturbing accuracy, Bad Boys shows how the young men progressed to more violent crimes.
 
The gang developed a near fool-proof procedure, until a failed stagecoach robbery injured Danny and his best friends left him to die on the side of the road.
 
But Danny survived and had to figure out how to make it in the West with few useful skills. This transition made for an interesting story, as Danny's ethics proved relative. It's not until the very end of the story that Red and Henry show up and intrude on Danny's plans to propose to his lady friend.
 
The showdown in the street takes awhile to get to, but it was definitely worth it. I would have liked more time spent with Danny coming to terms with his past and deciding how best to deal with his old friends. It is currently selling at just a bit above cheap at $5.99 on the Kindle.