Brad Smith Books In Order

Publication Order of Carl Burns Books

Publication Order of Virgil Cain Mysteries Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

Brad Smith
Brad Smith was born and raised in the hamlet of Canfield, located in southern Ontario, just a couple hours from Toronto. During his childhood, he had a Huck Finn existence, falling off his bike, catching frogs, and building rafts on a regular basis. This was during the pre-helmet days, which might just explain quite a lot.

He grew up on stories (written and oral alike) reading Scott Young’s hockey books while also listening to the old timers in his village. His next door neighbor was a veteran of the Great War that had been a sergeant at Vimy Ridge in the year 1917.

He went to elementary school in Cayuga, and then high school, albeit a bit more sporadically.

After finishing high school, he worked for the signal department of the Canadian National Railway for a total of three years, and then he got a chance to work on a rail project in South Africa. He helped install the signal system there under W.R. Smith, his uncle and a high school dropout that become one of the top three railway signal engineers in the entire world.

When he returned from Africa, he worked all over the place: British Columbia, Alberta, and Texas, and doing all sorts of jobs. Signalman, roofer, bartender, farmer, insulator, truck driver, maintenance mechanic, and schoolteacher, with select lies being told about his post-secondary education to get that job, and so on. Smith became a carpenter and built custom homes in the Dunnville area, and works as a carpenter when he’s not busy writing.

Brad began writing during his late twenties, just to see if he could, and for a bit there it seemed as though, as a writer, he’d make one hell of a roofer. There was a certain bit of partying that was going on during that time and the result was this lack of the necessary self-discipline that’s required to write. The very first effort at a novel ended just after five pages. Couple years later, however, while holed up in a tiny town of Revelstoke located in the Rocky Mountains, he was able to actually finish writing a novel that’s still unpublished to this very day, and is going to remain so.

“The Return of Kid Cooper” was a 2019 winner of the Spur Award for best traditional western novel. “One Eyed Jacks” was nominated for the Dashiell Hammett Prize.

“All Hat”, the film adaptation, made its premiere at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, which starred Rachael Leigh Cook, Keith Carradine, Lisa Ray, and Luke Kirby.

“All Hat” is a stand alone novel and was released in the year 2003. A novel about redemption, hop, and getting even, although not necessarily in that order.
Ray Dokes, who’s just gotten out of prison for attacking the guy that assaulted his sister, heads back to the tiny Canadian town that he was raised in. Vowing to lay low he moves in with a Texas cowboy named Pete Culpepper that has always served as a grounding influence on Ray, however his debts are growing up even faster than his corn.

Ray, in between roofing houses and watching Pete’s nine-year-old gelding at the races, quickly crosses paths with just about everybody in the town, which includes Pete’s new jockey, this tough young woman (named Chrissie) whose ease with horses is equaled just by her mistrust of humans, as well as Etta, an ex-lover of Ray’s, who views him with a lot more skepticism than ever before.

Then there’s the hired hands of the Stanton Stables: Dean, who this wise guy that embodies the phrase “all hat and no cattle”, and Paulie, Dean’s sidekick and a simple-hearted guy that was got a way with animals. Lastly, there is Sonny Stanton, the violent, vicious, and spoiled heir of his dad’s electronics fortune. Not to mention the guy that Ray spent close to two years in jail for almost murdering.

When the chance arises to con Sonny out of a bit of ill-gained wealth and keep themselves and their homes safe in the process, everybody’s willing to band together and take a gamble. This is a classic tale about little guys fighting big guys and reaffirming the meaning of friendship and honesty, as well as second chances, in the process.

“Busted Flush” is a stand alone novel and was released in the year 2005. Dock Bass, an aimless man, learns that he has inherited this ancient home from a deceased relative whom he never knew existed, having just been summoned by a Gettysburg, Pennsylvania law firm.

Dock, as he renovates the home, stumbles across a treasure trove of Civil War memorabilia that was squirreled away in some old root cellar, which includes photos and maybe even a recording of Abe Lincoln at Gettysburg.

While he is forced to defend this new find of his from the onslaught of history buffs, collectors, and media hounds, Dock learns that, much like ole Honest Abe himself, he is just the right man for this job: loyal, independent, funny, and just as stubborn as a Missouri mule. When all of the opportunists and scallywags, which includes this easy-on-the-eyes TV reporter with one hell of an attitude, begin to crawl out of the woodwork, he is going to need all of that and just a bit more.

“Rough Justice” is the first novel in the “Carl Burns” series and was released in the year 2016. Carl Burns has returned to his hometown just to find a viper’s nest filled with dark secrets and corruption.

After a ten year long absence and a spell spent in prison, Carl Burns has come back to Rose City, his hometown, in order to offer up support to Kate, his estranged daughter, currently one of four witnesses testifying against ex-Mayor Joseph Sanderson III, who is standing accused of multiple counts of underage rape.

Carl’s determined to get justice for Kate, whatever it takes. However with his ex-sister-in-law as his one and only ally, he finds that he’s incurring the wrath of some powerful enemies while trying to uncover the stunning truth beneath all of the layers of corruption and lies that have engulfed the whole entire town.

One Response to “Brad Smith”

1. Bill Broda: 1 year ago

   Hello Brad Smith
   Well done! My wife Jean ( a retired teacher 32 years in Haldimand -Norfolk RCSSB) and I are avid readers. I picked up your book at the Scotland library. We’ve been reading your books ever since. Great stories. We’ve lost sleep because we cannot put it down until we’ve finished reading them.
   Congratulations on a job well done.
   Thanks
   Bill and Jean Broda

   P.S. in Waterford Paul Smith and his sons ‘Brad’ and Brent operated
   Tri-County Insurance. They just recently sold to Morrison Insurance.

   Reply