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Wild
When Colonel Albert Waters, a controversial Civil War veteran, and his thirteen-year-old son Henry disappear from their El Paso, Texas home, Deputy Sheriff Kurt Kearney calls upon Matthias Jacoby, a strange newcomer, to help with his investigation. Word is, Jacoby’s handled a few cases like this before. Kearney and Jacoby form an uneasy alliance with Black Tom Catch, an infamous New Mexico rancher, cattle rustler and outlaw, and take off after the bandits they suspect kidnapped Waters. Could the gunfighters have bitten off more than they can chew, however, when their search for the colonel reveals strong ties to black magic and blood sacrifice?
60 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 27, 2011
8 people want to read
About the author
Lincoln Crisler
25 books40 followers"...a kick missing from most of today's horror...packs a considerable punch."
-- Fright.Com on MAGICK & MISERY
"[S]ome of the most fun you’re likely to have reading this year...Highly recommended!”
-- Grade Z Horror on WILD
LINCOLN CRISLER’s body of work consists of over thirty short stories, two novellas and editorship of two anthologies, most recently Corrupts Absolutely?, an anthology of dark superhero fiction. His work has appeared in a variety of print and online publications, to include HUB Magazine, Shroud Publishing's Abominations anthology and IDW's Robots vs. Zombies anthology.
He served as a contributing writer for The Horror Library e-zine from 2007 until its close. His editorial credits include the now-defunct Lightning Journal ezine and the Our Shadows Speak anthology. Other credits include high school and city newspaper experience. Lincoln has appeared in various print, radio, television and online media to promote his writing. He reviews books for his own site as well as Shroud Magazine; his contributions have been featured in their print and online editions.
A United States Army combat veteran and non-commissioned officer, Lincoln lives in Augusta, Georgia with his wife and two of his three children. He enjoys spending time with his wife and kids, listening to music, cooking, web design and politics. Lincoln and his wife own a virtual assistant business, Crisler Professional Services. You can contact him at lincoln@lincolncrisler.info.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 23, 2011
Wild is one hell of a wild ride.
Weird westerns aren't new to horror, but Lincoln Crisler's tale is certainly one of the more memorable ones.
Wild centres around a cadre of outlaws and cowboys in search of a missing colonel and his young son. It's not long before the would-be heroes realise that it's not your typical search and rescue when they're attacked by the undead.
Crisler paints a very realistic picture of the wild west, but he does it with subtlety as well. There's a lot of mystery and the action scenes (and there are many) in between are well imagined.
While the story ended a little too soon, I enjoyed Wild a lot - it was fun and freaky and it was pretty clear by the ending that we'll be seeing more of Crisler's wild west very soon.
Weird westerns aren't new to horror, but Lincoln Crisler's tale is certainly one of the more memorable ones.
Wild centres around a cadre of outlaws and cowboys in search of a missing colonel and his young son. It's not long before the would-be heroes realise that it's not your typical search and rescue when they're attacked by the undead.
Crisler paints a very realistic picture of the wild west, but he does it with subtlety as well. There's a lot of mystery and the action scenes (and there are many) in between are well imagined.
While the story ended a little too soon, I enjoyed Wild a lot - it was fun and freaky and it was pretty clear by the ending that we'll be seeing more of Crisler's wild west very soon.
July 29, 2016
I love novellas. They are short, easy to digest, and really fit in well with my current lifestyle of all work and little play. One of the things I love most about novellas is that it gives the author a few thousand words to explore an idea, no matter how weird, crazy or illogical it may seem. For example, if you ever wondered what would happen if we had zombies in the Wild West, then you need look no further than Wild by Lincoln Crisler, a short story about a Wild West detective who gets the shock of his life when his missing persons investigation turns up a zombie infestation.
Wild is set in the cosy town of El Paso where not much unexpected goes on, oh except for that unexpected kidnapping. Enter Matthias Jacoby, the stranger, who has a reputation for his investigation skills and would be an ideal assistant to the deputy in solving this case. The story progresses much the same as you would expect a mystery to progress, things move slowly yet deliberately, you get clues, you get red herrings, and in the process the detective uncovers information to suggest that this kidnapping is just a small part of some much larger mysteries. Well, that at least holds true until we run into the Zombies, at which point things truly become wild as the name suggests and the story becomes more of an action/adventure.
The pace here accelerates rapidly, the action is an absolute blast and there is plenty of it as the story motors along to its conclusion. There is a lot going on during the last half of this book, and to Crisler’s credit he manages the transition from scene to scene very effectively, ensuring that I am able to keep up with the electric pace despite the constant viewpoint shifting. Unfortunately the conclusion misses the mark by a short distance, the story having been so overcome by the action that it loses a lot of the detail and does very little if anything to resolve a number of those mysteries set up at the start of the story. If you are a stickler for detail and love to have all your plots and subplots tied up in a nice little bow then this story may annoy you, but I didn’t mind too much as I get the impression that this is either an introduction to what will be a much larger story, or it is part of a world that has already been established by Crisler in his previous collections of short stories.
In a story that is driven by plot and action, you don’t get to see too much character development and that is the case here. What we do get though is very good, and I think Matthias Jacoby has the makings of a fantastic character. Deputy Kearney, the outlaw Black Tom and the doctor Juan Vargas are all very solid support characters who are original, relatable and fun to read about. The problem with the characters for me is that I didn’t get to see much of their motivations. There is evidently a lot of backstory that drives these characters to do the things they do, but we rarely get an insight into these motivations before the action takes over. This is a small gripe given the size and structure of the story, however, character motivation is very important and for this short story to progress into something bigger I would need this issue to be addressed for it not to become a big issue.
I really like the idea of zombies in the Wild West, and I think Crisler has done an admirable job of weaving this idea together with the missing persons mystery story. While the fast pace of the plot causes a lot of the detail to be left behind, the well written high intensity action scenes do a lot to make up for this. If you are strapped for time and don’t feeling like picking up another 400,000 word epic fantasy, I recommend you pick up Wild as something quick and fun to read with bucket loads of entertainment along the way.
Wild is set in the cosy town of El Paso where not much unexpected goes on, oh except for that unexpected kidnapping. Enter Matthias Jacoby, the stranger, who has a reputation for his investigation skills and would be an ideal assistant to the deputy in solving this case. The story progresses much the same as you would expect a mystery to progress, things move slowly yet deliberately, you get clues, you get red herrings, and in the process the detective uncovers information to suggest that this kidnapping is just a small part of some much larger mysteries. Well, that at least holds true until we run into the Zombies, at which point things truly become wild as the name suggests and the story becomes more of an action/adventure.
The pace here accelerates rapidly, the action is an absolute blast and there is plenty of it as the story motors along to its conclusion. There is a lot going on during the last half of this book, and to Crisler’s credit he manages the transition from scene to scene very effectively, ensuring that I am able to keep up with the electric pace despite the constant viewpoint shifting. Unfortunately the conclusion misses the mark by a short distance, the story having been so overcome by the action that it loses a lot of the detail and does very little if anything to resolve a number of those mysteries set up at the start of the story. If you are a stickler for detail and love to have all your plots and subplots tied up in a nice little bow then this story may annoy you, but I didn’t mind too much as I get the impression that this is either an introduction to what will be a much larger story, or it is part of a world that has already been established by Crisler in his previous collections of short stories.
In a story that is driven by plot and action, you don’t get to see too much character development and that is the case here. What we do get though is very good, and I think Matthias Jacoby has the makings of a fantastic character. Deputy Kearney, the outlaw Black Tom and the doctor Juan Vargas are all very solid support characters who are original, relatable and fun to read about. The problem with the characters for me is that I didn’t get to see much of their motivations. There is evidently a lot of backstory that drives these characters to do the things they do, but we rarely get an insight into these motivations before the action takes over. This is a small gripe given the size and structure of the story, however, character motivation is very important and for this short story to progress into something bigger I would need this issue to be addressed for it not to become a big issue.
I really like the idea of zombies in the Wild West, and I think Crisler has done an admirable job of weaving this idea together with the missing persons mystery story. While the fast pace of the plot causes a lot of the detail to be left behind, the well written high intensity action scenes do a lot to make up for this. If you are strapped for time and don’t feeling like picking up another 400,000 word epic fantasy, I recommend you pick up Wild as something quick and fun to read with bucket loads of entertainment along the way.
January 27, 2012
In 1886 El Paso, Matthias Jacoby--a mystery man with a reputation for solving impossible cases--is called upon to find a missing colonel and his son. The trail leads into the New Mexico desert, and Jacoby is accompanied on it by the deputy sheriff who recruited him, a doctor, and an outlaw with essential knowledge and ideas of his own. What they find is much more than they bargained for--black magic and the risen dead.
Lincoln Crisler's novella is a smooth hybrid of western detective and zombie horror fiction, moving at a fast clip without sacrificing detail or atmosphere. Matthias Jacoby is an engaging character, though we learn very little of his backstory, and the supporting characters hold their own. Short enough to complete in a single sitting, with an accelerating plot that all but demanded I do so, I found Wild to be a lot of fun.
Lincoln Crisler's novella is a smooth hybrid of western detective and zombie horror fiction, moving at a fast clip without sacrificing detail or atmosphere. Matthias Jacoby is an engaging character, though we learn very little of his backstory, and the supporting characters hold their own. Short enough to complete in a single sitting, with an accelerating plot that all but demanded I do so, I found Wild to be a lot of fun.
April 26, 2012
First, let me say that while I am a fan of zombie fiction and movies, I am becoming largely burned out on the topic.
Lincoln Crisler has managed to bring a fresh perspective to what has become a very stale field. Set in the Old West, Wild has a lot to keep the reader entertained-- Rather than being a straight-up horror story, it is instead comprised of horrific elements embedded in a great detective story, that leaves the reader wanting more.
The characters are entertaining and the POV changes keep the story moving along at a good pace, from one great action scene to the next. I would highly recommend this novella to anyone who is a fan of westerns, zombies, or detective stories.
Lincoln Crisler has managed to bring a fresh perspective to what has become a very stale field. Set in the Old West, Wild has a lot to keep the reader entertained-- Rather than being a straight-up horror story, it is instead comprised of horrific elements embedded in a great detective story, that leaves the reader wanting more.
The characters are entertaining and the POV changes keep the story moving along at a good pace, from one great action scene to the next. I would highly recommend this novella to anyone who is a fan of westerns, zombies, or detective stories.
December 6, 2013
I enjoyed the book by Lincoln. The western genre added a different element and the characters were tough, gritty and real.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews