The Crazies

The Cattleman, the Wind Prospector, and a War Out West

By: Amy Gamerman

Narrated by: Anna Sale

“Yellowstone meets Matlock” (Tom Clavin) in this dazzling tale of land lust and the American West, chronicling the rise and fall of a wind farm that triggers a 21st century range war between a struggling fifth-generation rancher and the billionaires next door.

Most locals in Big Timber, Montana, learn to live with the wind. Rick Jarrett sought his fortune in it. Like his pioneer ancestors who staked their claims in the Treasure State, he believed in his right to make a living off the land—and its most precious resource, million-dollar wind.

Trouble was, Jarrett’s neighbors were some of the wealthiest and most influential men in America, trophy ranchers who’d come west to enjoy magnificent mountain views, not stare at five-hundred-foot wind turbines.

So began an epic showdown that would pull in an ever-widening cast of characters, including a Texas oil and gas tycoon, a roguish wind prospector, a Crow activist fighting for his tribe’s rights to the mountains they hold sacred, and an Olympic athlete-turned-attorney whose path to redemption would lead to Jarrett’s wind farm. A wildly entertaining yarn, the brawl over Crazy Mountain Wind would become a fight over the values that define us as Americans, even as the most coveted rangeland in the West was threatened by forces more powerful than anything one man could muster: record drought, raging wildfires, dwindling snowpack.

“An epic tale of greed and resilience,” The Crazies “has the power to leave you feeling walloped, whip-sawed, and wildly invigorated, all within the same breath” (Kevin Fedarko, New York Times bestselling author of A Walk in the Park). It’s an exquisitely reported, ruggedly beautiful western for a warming planet—and a bighearted inquiry into how you can love a place so much you risk destroying it.

Critic reviews

“The Crazies has the sweep of The Grapes of Wrath and the storytelling power of Wallace Stegner’s The Big Rock Candy Mountain.”
—Rinker Buck, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Oregon Trail

“A fascinating story about the new energy economy. If you want to understand why change does—or doesn't—happen in America, read The Crazies.”
—Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction

“It’s impossible to say what’s more compelling about this marvelous book: the story itself—an epic tale of greed, resilience, and hypocrisy playing out against the backdrop of one of the most stunningly gorgeous pieces of real estate in the entire world—or the skill with which Amy Gamerman has masterfully woven a set of complex themes into narrative that boasts all the page-turning compulsiveness of a true-to-life thriller.”
—Kevin Fedarko, New York Times bestselling author of A Walk in the Park

“A Western drama with enough twists, clashes, and colorful characters to rival Yellowstone.”
—Cowboys & Indians

“Empire of Pain, but for the Wild West.”
—Amazon Book Review, Editors' Pick

“An absolutely wild ride through the untamed frontier of American culture. Gamerman brings alive the modern West in a breakneck story that’s outlandish but also almost mythically familiar. It turns out that the old fights over the frontier and the nature of American freedom aren’t over.”
—Christopher Leonard, New York Times bestselling author of The Lords of Easy Money

“[A] tale of greed and grit.... If you didn’t have an opinion about billionaires in this country right now, you surely will after reading this book.”
—The Colorado Sun

“Ms. Gamerman... conveys the craziness of this saga with empathy and vivid detail.”
—The Wall Street Journal

“Excellent. A timely telling of change and inequality in the American West with reporting I trust, characters I’m drawn to, and writing that sparkles.”
—Anna Sale, host of the podcast Death, Sex & Money and author of Let's Talk About Hard Things

“Amy Gamerman’s riveting narrative reads like Yellowstone meets Matlock. This gripping story of a dispute over land rights is also a tale of the ongoing struggle to both preserve and exploit the American West.”
—Tom Clavin, #1 New York Times bestselling co-author of The Heart of Everything That Is

Great Story

Weaving of great characters, story and Montana history in generational ranchers and their inherent property rights vs the billionaire neighbors who just want their way.

“The Crazies” is Fantastic!

I absolutely loved this story, and the narration was great too (make-or-break for an audio book!) This book should be required reading (or listening) for any Montana longtime resident or newcomer. It’s long, but worth it. I’ve listened to it twice so far! Just fabulous researching and storytelling. Highly recommend!

Loved it

I live in Livingston, so this had a real local impact on me. The legal proceedings in the middle chapters were a bit dry, but the book pulled me out of my comfort zone in so many ways. As someone who values clean viewsheds and private property rights, this had me vacillating between the sides. Ultimately, the oligarchs are never truly on the side of the common person, but they do have a point.

Cohesive and unbiased storytelling + superb reader!

Excellent explanation of the dilemma facing small ranch and farm owners in America. The irony of several ranchers being directly impacted by climate change, trying to implement a solution which would have saved their operations while benefiting society and being threatened with forfeiting that opportunity by non-resident landowners will not be lost on the reader.

Oligarchs win again and again with

Heartbreaking story of American inequality. Judicial system is just another tool of the wealthy to suppress.