The Ballad of Clay Moore by Eric S. Hoffman

The quiet life of Clay and Ash is swept away when a strange airship lands on their property carrying an even stranger cargo in Eric S. Hoffman’s The Ballad of Clay Moore, a heartwrenching, genuinely funny, and beautifully written tale of a modern cowboy grappling with a game much bigger than himself.

Leaping from a silent valley in Wyoming into the world of megapowers and conspiracies, Clay, Ash, Baxter the Hound, and their neighbours embark on a dangerous journey chased by a ruthless secret military branch known as the U.S. Asset Command. Their valley destroyed, they soon realize that to survive they need to expose the truth behind the USAC and bring down those who are trying to hide it. They face car chases, wild bears, life-threatening wounds, and unheard-of weapons, but most of all they are confronted with themselves; only by looking their traumas and fears in the eye can they find the courage to do the right thing.

Hoffman’s language is explosive, a cowboy slang that turns poetic, as adventure and danger force Clay to turn inwards, balancing drama with irony, reflection with action, and flashbacks with Clay’s fully present, profoundly tactile love for life. The seemingly random involvement of his small, normal life in the chaos of “powerful people with powerful secrets” highlights the contemporary sense of helplessness about those who rule behind the scenes, wreaking terrible damage on people and the environment.

Weaving a delicate story about love, friendship, and spirituality in which our ballad-style heroes are revealed as complex and deeply human, Hoffman has created a masterful story on the backdrop of worldwide intrigue, deftly exposing the cruelty of the power-hungry.