White Crow

The House of Crow, Book 1

By: John W. Wood

Narrated by: Stephen Floyd

After mountain man Isaiah Crow and his companion, Jacques LeRue, arrive in Alta, California, they intervene and save a group of people from local bandits.

As luck would have it, they are family and Vaqueros from the rancho of Don Hernando Batista, one of the most powerful families in Southern California - and very anxious to take their new friends to meet the Patron.

After Señor Batista introduces his daughter Francisca to Isaiah, the two soon fall in love. From this union a child - Jedadiah - is born. He will learn not only how to read and write but also the art of war, and through Jedadiah the House of Crow will become one of the most powerful families in the country.

©2018 John W Wood (P)2019 John W Wood

Great Western

Wonderful book, really enjoyed it, the narrator does a good job, I like the idea of an Irish Indian, good story line and everything explained as it went

Great setting

I like Westerns, but my husband loves them. We’re both readers, but we so rarely agree on genres that White Crow was a great opportunity for a joint listen. We both enjoyed this atmospheric tale as well as the chance to listen together.
This start to the House of Crow series is a bit of a slow burn type story, yet it doesn’t feel like it drags. In fact, the pacing works well for introducing the reader to the characters and the setting. It does go back and forth between past and present, which also works well for this book. John W. Wood does give us chapter titles as well as lead ins for timeline changes, which is a big plus. The sections that go back in time kind of feel like we’re hearing memories rather than just another part of the story. I don’t know whether that is due to the way it’s written or the way Stephen Floyd reads it, but either way, it resonates.
John W. Wood certainly knows his stuff when creating atmosphere and painting a scene. The details made it easy to picture everything taking place as well as the land and its people. As I mentioned, this is a slow burn, and while it is a slower pace than I expected, we do still get some action along the way. It feels more character driven, but the time and place wouldn’t have worked nearly as well without a bit of action and danger.
The narration and sound quality for White Crow was very good. I didn’t notice any distortions or static, and I think Stephen Floyd’s performance here fit this story perfectly. He also did a good job with the accents, which is something I’m rather picky about. A bad accent can be jarring and ruin an otherwise good listen, but Floyd’s worked wonderfully with Wood’s characters, and the story just flowed.
All in all, White Crow is an entertaining listen and a solid start to what looks to be a promising series. I would say that anyone who enjoys a good Western or even historical fiction would enjoy this one quite a lot.