recent read; SCAVENGERS

 SCAVENGERS by David J. West

David J. West continues to challenge his story writing abilities and we're all the better for it. After walking, running, and haranguing Porter Rockwell through various adventures of the Weird West, West now brings us a novel length work which - for the most part - is a straight-up Western featuring the stalwart hero.

Rockwell finds himself caught up in the hunt for lost treasure. He makes a few friends along the way but mostly he is beset by enemies - hostile Natives, criminal gangs, a bandito army, a U.S. cavalry unit lead by an unscrupulous officer, and a manic German reverend with brainwashed followers.

Rockwell needs his guns, wits, strength and fortitude to blaze his way through adventure, enemies and traps. There are some great mental images I had while reading. West provides terrain descriptions that come to life, too. Porter is often out of the frying pan and into the fire as the cliffhanger action keeps the story moving along at a brisk pace.

The only touch of 'weird' here is the Reverend's mushroom-tainted communion drink and lost Spanish treasure. The rest is a Western, with a healthy dose of spaghetti-Western, at that.

If you like action-driven Westerns, you should give SCAVENGERS a read!

recent reads; Porter Rockwell 2-fer

COLD SLITHER

David J. West has created his own Weird Western niche by crafting tales of the historic figure, Porter Rockwell. West weaves Native American myths, monsters, legends, tall tales, and touches of cryptozoology and lost civilizations into a fun and original tapestry. Rockwell strides through this collection of stories. Not to be missed if you're a fan of Weird West tales, action, wry humor, and monsters.

SIX-GUN SERENADE

Two tales of West's Weird West take on Porter Rockwell, the Mormon gunslinger. The first tale extends a story that originally appeared in shorter form. Second story is a previously unreleased bonus. Also, a teaser chapter from his first novel length Porter tale, SCAVENGERS.

Very enjoyable westerns with just the right amount of weird. West has developed his version of Porter into a fun 'cowboy' character. I look forward to reading the novels.

recent read; Bless the Child

Bless the Child by David J. West

Impelled by a quest for redemption, the man known only as The Spartan finds unholy work in The Holy Land. And work is good, there is no end of service amongst kings and robber barons for a man who sells his sword so well. But blood won’t wash away blood and The Spartan finds himself compelled toward something greater than himself. Bless The Child is a romance of redemption and glory. Numerous historical personages cross paths with The Spartan, including Solon, Nebuchadnezzar, the prophets Lehi, Jeremiah and Daniel, King Zedekiah and the poetess Sappho. Come back to 586 B.C. when Jerusalem burned and the life of a prince rested in the hands of the exiled Spartan. Can a mercenary trained only for war become an instrument of peace?

David J. West again (see Heroes of the Fallen) dives into a historical Mormon framework to weave a solid historical fiction tale.

The Spartan narrator of this story is a great character. A warrior by nature, and exile by honorable choice, the mercenary life is all he knows or wants. We follow his journey to find purpose, from the depths of working for men he despises to finding reasons to fight that have greater meaning. Along the way we see some solid combat and action, learn a haunting, tragic backstory, and meet historical characters.

As a story structure, allowing time gaps between the acts of the novel worked, but it did create some moments of telling rather than showing. Certain characters appeared and disappeared off-stage, as it were.

I particularly enjoyed the third act of the novel as the tension heightened and the action kept coming. It is written in present tense, but it is one of those rare cases where the verb tense shift worked. It definitely gave the tale a sudden immediacy.

Overall Bless the Child is a good read, And I think David's ability to write a novel length tale improved over Heroes of the Fallen.

And hey - all proceeds on this one go to charity, so if you're considering it, you should go ahead and buy it.

recent short read; Fangs of the Dragon

So, you want to read a "weird Western" tale? How about something with a lake monster and more? How about including some interesting history of schism in the Mormon church woven into the tale with a real life gunslinger?

David J. West takes the historical Porter Rockwell and makes him his own semi-fictional character. Taking the basis of Porter's modern-day Samson blessing - so long as he did not cut his hair, he would be impervious to blade and bullet - it is not an unreasonable step into the weird and supernatural.

West asks the simplest author question. He asks, "what if?"

What if Porter came up against tooth and claw? How would he survive that?

I thoroughly enjoy the character of Porter as presented by West. Porter is rough and tumble, but true to those who are true to him. He's not above a touch a medicinal alcohol - he particularly favors a tincture infused with raspberry when he needs it. But, he doesn't swear - which is great fun, because his go-to cuss word is "Wheat!"

This story is not straight forward, either, which is a good thing. There is more than a simple lake monster, and Porter needs to put together all the pieces between monster chasing and gunslinging action.

You can read "Fangs of the Dragon" in West's collection, Weird Tales of Horror (which contains other Porter Rockwell tales, too, btw) or stand-alone for the price of a cup of coffee (or less.) So, grab that cuppa (or some raspberry tincture) and enjoy a rousing tale of the weird West.

Heroes of the Fallen

I finished reading David J. West's Heroes of the Fallen and I enjoyed it. I've heard of plenty of Biblical fiction, but personally I am not familiar with LDS circles, so I'm not sure how much fiction has been spun from the Book of Mormon - but I can probably safely say no one has sprung a pulp, sword-&-sorcery styling spin on things like David has. The originality of this work is refreshing.

I will admit the first half feels a little over burdened. There are many characters and a lot of literal wanderings. But, safe to say by the end I was interested in everyone, and invested in the growing action and tension. David not only gives us heroes and anti-heroes of reflection (Amaron, Aaron & Zelph) but we also get some well-drawn stoic strongmen in Samson & Mormon, either of who could hold their own in a tavern brawl with, well, let's just say ... a barbarian from the north. ;)

The main villain, Akish-Antum and his red-capped Gadiantons are drawn with enough pulp tone that I thought of Fu Manchu and insidious plots where his agents could be anywhere, and they are.

There are a lot of characters, as I said, but they all have some level of dimension. They have reasons and desires, and like any people, some make the right choices because of those needs and some choose the wrong path.

There are lessons in this prose about honor, duty, and defiance; both in the face of villainy and in the face of weakness and apathy of the masses.

This novel, the first half of a much longer work, ends on a cliffhanger. That doesn't mean "this is the start of a series" cliffhanger. Oh no. This means "Sam alone, Frodo taken by the Enemy and things are getting bleak in 'The Two Towers'" cliffhanger.

The good thing is, the cliffhanger works. I want to know what happens. I want to witness some showdowns and battles.

I want more.

(if you want more, then click on the book cover to head over to Amazon and get a copy for yourself)