Just out of prison for attacking the man who assaulted his sister, Ray Dokes heads back to the small town where he was raised. Vowing to lie low, he moves in with Pete Culpepper, a Texas cowboy who has always been a grounding influence on Ray, but whose debts are growing faster than his corn. Between roofing houses and watching Pete's nine-year-old gelding at the races, Ray soon develops a plan to con his sister's attacker, a local heir to an electronics fortune and a know-nothing horse breeder, out of a considerable chunk of money. Surprisingly poignant yet laugh- out-loud funny, All Hat tells a classic story of little guys fighting big guys and reaffirming the meaning of honesty and friendship--and second chances--in the process.

Brad Smith, writer born and raised in the hamlet of Canfield, in southern Ontario, a couple of hours from Toronto. After high school, he worked for the signal department of the Canadian National Railway for three years, and then got a chance to work on a rail project in South Africa. Upon returning from Africa, Smith worked all over the place - Alberta, British Columbia, Texas - at a variety of jobs. Farmer, signalman, insulator, truck driver, bartender, schoolteacher, maintenance mechanic, roofer, and so on. He became a carpenter and built custom homes in Canada. He still works as a carpenter when not writing. He now lives in an eighty-year-old farmhouse near the north shore of Lake Erie. His books have been published by Penguin Canada, Doubleday Canada, Simon & Schuster Canada and his forthcoming novel will be published by At Bay Press.

Brad Smith's profile page

“It's been awhile since I've read a novel so packed with vivid, energetic, pulsating characters. Their creator--Brad Smith--is a writer with lots of skill, lots of heart, lots of brains, and, yes, lots of hat.” —Richard Russo

“For such a furiously funny writer, Smith has great reserves of tenderness.” —The New York Times Book Review

“All Hat is an incendiary example of pedal-to-the-floor country noir. Brad Smith has got the goods--he's funny, poignant, evocative, and he tells a blistering tale. A writer to watch, a comet on the horizon.” —Dennis Lehane

“Brad Smith could give clinics on how to write a mystery novel.” —The Charlotte Observer