Hallowed Ground

by Steven Savile, David Niall Wilson

"She died," Chessie said. "She died, rose, and nearly died again. She comes. The crows know her – the crows guide her. She follows the sound of a crying child. She follows the drag of un-kept promises on her heart." – Chessie – Hallowed Ground

"They came in the night with their creak-wheeled wagons and patchwork tents, rolling down through the gulch and up the other side to pitch camp. In Rookwood, they called it 'Dead man's Gulch,' and in Rookwood, names were important. If you walked too far through that God-forsaken, dust-drowned ditch, you were bound to drag your boots through bones. If you felt something sharp dig into your heel, it could be a tooth taking a last bite of something hot and living. The Deacon stood in silent shadows watching their progress, occasionally glancing up into the pale, inadequate light of the waning moon."

When a man known only as The Deacon set up camp outside Rookwood, a murder of crows took to unnatural, moonlit flight. The crows came to Rookwood; trouble soon to follow. Things were already strange in that God-forsaken town, but no one could have predicted the forces and fates about to meet in a dust-bowl clearing in the desert. A Preacher. A Demon. An Angel. A Gunslinger.

A bargain with the darkness was signed in blood, and broken, and as such deals usually do, it went south. Now the fate of lost lovers, faith healers, ancient Gods and the Devil himself collide in a circle of wagons tended by the damaged and deformed, the saved and the shorn. There's a power come to Rookwood, and this one-horse town is about to be transformed. Such deals are only made and broken…on Hallowed Ground.

From Steven Savile, International bestselling author of Silver, The Last Angel, and The Sufferer's Song, and David Niall Wilson, Bram Stoker Award-winner David Niall Wilson, author of Deep Blue, This is My Blood, & Heart of a Dragon, comes a tale of the old west, magic, enlightenment and damnation readers have said is like Stephen King's The Gunslinger meets Daniel Knauf's Carnivale.

Genres: Horror, Westerns, Fantasy, Weird West, Paranormal, Fiction, Historical Fiction

302 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Steven Savile (born October 12, 1969, in Newcastle, England) is a British fantasy, horror and thriller writer, and editor living in Sala, Sweden.

Under the Ronan Frost penname (inspired by the hero of his bestselling novel, Silver) he has also written the action thriller White Peak, and as Matt Langley was a finalist for the People's Book Prize.

Reviews

[ᴥ Irena ᴥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hallowed Ground doesn't have a new theme and it doesn't introduce anything new. What it does manage is to take an old theme of selling one's soul for any number of reasons and make it as great as possible.

It is best to start reading this story not knowing anything about it. Then you will feel as one of the participants. It is told from three sides. We have The Deacon's view, who set up a camp near Rookwood with his flock of deformed misfits, then Creed's, who lives in Rookwood, and Balthazar's, who took a dead woman and reminded her of everything she lost. Every action leads to Rookwood.

If you like western historical fiction with a touch of horror and a lot of creepiness and no clearly defined good side, then this book won't disappoint you. There is even a bit of romance.

"I know how to kill, and I know that - whoever and whatever you are - I have always loved you."

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, I thought it was specifically the addled sleep deprived brain I'm wearing today, but having read some other reviews on GR, I can see I'm not alone in being overwhelmed into underwhelmingness. In other (grammatically correct) words this is what happens when too many ingredients go into one pot. Mind you, this is a good book, original, atmospheric, very well written, but it simply has too much going on, too many characters, too many directions, motivations, personalities...until it starts to affect the cohesiveness of the plot. And I'm not even a fan of westerns, but this one was compared to Carnivale, one of the most tragically underrated prematurely canned shows in semi recent tv history, plus it's tough to say no to a book featuring a freak show. In fact, if one is doing tv comparisons, this is Carnivale meets Deadwood meets Supernatural. Mostly reminiscent of the latter in the way I'm no longer interested in following that tv show, because it got too elaborate for its own good, not to mention dragged on for way too many years now on the same tricks. And so this book is just too busy, too elaborate, too much and possibly should have been streamlined or serialized or prioritized or something. It works as is, just maybe not to its maximum potential. Still, a quick read, just over 4 hours and it does entertain. So there.

[Tarl · Rating 2 out of 5]

The saying: "Can't see the forest for the trees." fits this novel extremely well.

Savile composes a wonderfully creepy weird western, with an interesting cast of characters who each have their own paths in the story and come together at the very end. And by very end, I mean the very last pages of the book.

A lot of reviewers stated that when they read this book they were distracted and thus couldn't give the plot a fair evaluation. While this may be very true, Savile doesn't do them any favors. Even though he brings such an interesting cast together, they don't really DO anything. Sure, we see Lilith, but her appearance only really matters near the end of the book, and even then it's minute despite apparently having a large role in what was going on. The same is said for the Devil and the woman he trains in the use of firearms and throwing daggers. (which, fyi, plays a part for only ONE PAGE worth of text in the entire novel. And she's on the cover of the novel!) There is a lot of jumping around in this novel, and all for the point of telling the reader what is going on rather than showing them and engaging them.

This means that the grand plot that Savile has planned out gets lost in the characters and their individual stories. (which, as I said, some play next to no roll in the entire story) Hence, when the final events come together, it creates a sense of confusion and where Savile seems to think the reader should be able to piece it together through his huge exposition dumps, he's concentrated so much on the trees that the entire picture of the forest is lost.

Savile is a good writer, the entire novel containing very little errors when it comes to the strength of his writing. He does an excellent job creating interesting characters and settings, creating a sense of wonder and dread often throughout the novel. However because of his concentration on exposition, this gets dulled down, and instead of watching his characters experience his rich environments, we often have to sit through dreary explanation of what is going on. (the Devil and reborn woman who he trains are a good example. Their entire thread throughout the novel focuses on him telling her what is going on while training her, which means the reader is forced to sit through pages of exposition)

All in all, this could have been a really, really good book, and it looks like many enjoyed Savile's writing style. Unfortunately, the flaws of this book took away a lot of my enjoyment. I would recommend this to anyone looking to craft a good weird west environment, but other than that, I think this book could have been streamlined a fair bit.

[Wayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

My overall thoughts on this supernatural western is that it is a dense, well thought out, and rich exploration of mythology, biblical themes, and solid western lore. The mood was definitely dark, but interestingly it was not horrific or overly gory, as it may have been in the hands of less adept authors. Despite this, there was no sense that the authors had pulled punches and thereby made a less powerful or hard hitting narrative. All the grit was there, believe me! However, I feel the story needed to go further with one character in particular, while trimming some of the buildup to the final confrontation, which unfortunately did bog down the momentum at points. Both an attenuation and a continuation of the narrative, if you will. The character depicted on the cover did not really come into full fruition until very late in the novel, and that is who captured my full interest. Perhaps the authors intend further stories with this individual, because the potential is definitely there. Should such stories arise, I will definitely be there to read them. Regardless, I heartily recommend the novel. If you love the supernatural, occult, mythology, or western themes, then this is your full ticket to ride.

[Ubiquitousbastard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, this was an okay book. I'm not huge into Western themes, but I think was rather decent considering. I would have liked to have been able to guess at what would happen, but the authors really kept to themselves several key points, so I kind of felt like I was being dragged along in the plot. I figured out the sisters, but only because I played Columns enough as a kid that Lachesis, Atropos and Clothos were extremely familiar to me. Also, not a whole lot happened, which is kind of difficult for me as an ADD reader.

So, although I was sort of "meh" on the whole thing, I liked the ending, so I thought that a three star rating would accurately represent my judgment.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great characters, well developed in a fast moving western tale of love lost, bargains made, conjured angels and demons, otherworldly talismans and revivals. What more could you ask for? Solid 4+ Stars. Highly Recommended.

[E.A. Copen · Rating 2 out of 5]

"What in the Hell is going on here?"
Provender Creed asks this in one of the final chapters and I felt right there with him. There are a lot of viewpoints in this book, many who only exist for one very short chapter (it took a minute or less to read). That makes it impossible for any character development to happen. At least 75% of the book is telling instead of showing. We are handed judgments of characters and just told how they are which is almost a necessity considering almost no one gets the opportunity to make any kind of choice in the book. Spoiler alert: Everyone is morally gray.
This book is severely lacking in two important things to be good fiction: a protagonist and conflict. There is only one person with a goal in the whole story, a man named The Deacon. I think they were going for a Dark Tower vibe with that...Anyway, he's got one, even though he never shares what it is with the reader or any other characters. We get hints of what it might be but it's never clear what he wants, not even when it happens because it all seems to go horribly wrong.
The one guy that you could almost root for, Provender Creed, just kind of ambled along, pushed to do things by curiosity and other people with no real goal or ambitions of his own. Most of the characters were like that. They were pawns of other people, other people who SEEM to have goals but they never let us in on it.
The book gets 2 stars instead of 1 for a few reasons, though. Reason 1: The cover is amazing. It's the whole reason I bought the book. Too bad the book didn't live up to the cover's promise (It's not about a female gunslinger at all, as the cover would have you believe.) Reason 2: The writing isn't bad. It's not good...but not bad. It reads like a first draft. There are still some mistakes in there. The publishing company asked for people to send them a list of mistakes but I stopped counting after 20. Editing doesn't normally make or break a book for me, though, so I'm not counting that against it. All of that being said, the book showed promise at some points. It had some good moments and seemed like it was building up to something really awesome. It was at the end when things fell apart and the author failed to deliver on that promise of awesomeness. All I got instead was confused.
What the hell even happened? I still don't know.

[C.T. Phipps · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's basically Needful Things in the Wild West. That's the short review of this book by David Niall Wilson and Steven Savile. The book's premise is a mysterious traveler comes to a sleepy little town in the Wild West which is full of secrets, feuds, and hatreds. By the end of the conflict, the town has torn itself apart with the traveler's true supernatural evil having been exposed for the world to see.

There's significant differences in the story, especially as it becomes increasingly clear the traveler is subordinate to a much more malevolent entity, but the Stephen King influences definitely jumped out at me and that's not a bad thing. The book is fairly thick on metaphor, symbolism, and hints of things to come which may bother some readers but I found enjoyable.

Interestingly, the authors seem to be worried about how the book would be received since they felt the need to put a Foreword in the beginning which warns it's not a shoot-em-up bang bang sort of Western. I don't think this was necessary, albeit I never dislike a good shoot em up, since the idea of a supernatural meditation on sin and evil isn't a bad thing.

The world of Hallowed Ground is a spooky and subdued place where all of the sins of the townsfolk are hidden under a respectable, albeit paper thin, veneer. There's the town prostitute who more than anything wishes to be a mother and a nurturer. There's the man who would do anything to raise his dead fiance and thinks he can out-think the Devil in terms of deal-making. There's the mysterious Deacon serving as Randall Flagg and Leland Gaunt figure but perhaps not so happy being the Devil's handyman as he may appear.

Overall, I think I was most impressed with the character of the Deacon who provides the book with most of its energy. I think the book is always at its most enjoyable when he's dancing around, making promises and prayers which aren't necessarily going to the same God everyone else claims as their own. I buy he's a strange and charismatic figure to the people of Rookwood, who would potentially sell their souls to him simply because he's that charming.

The book stumbles a few times with its symbolism and metaphor as I got a little lost toward the end with the five way feud happening between the Devil, Deacon, our heroes, Lilith, and an angel. I think the book might have benefited a bit by scaling back to only be focused on Deacon, the Devil, and our heroes but that's just me. Despite this, I like the book's ending and think it's set up for a sequel or even series.

A warning that the book is a slower and more methodical read where you have to take time to soak in the atmosphere. The book is about fifty percent mood and another thirty-percent metaphor so that it you really are missing something if you try to plow through it. This is a book which should be read at night with your complete concentration. I also think the book uses too many pronouns versus proper names, which is the weirdest complaint I've ever made about a book.

In conclusion, I recommend Hallowed Ground to those who enjoy Weird Westerns and more cerebral horror. The fact I wanted to read a second book starring the surviving heroes immediately after the end of this volume should tell you I enjoyed it.

9/10

[Kat Lebo · Rating 2 out of 5]

First, let me say that I read this book in drips and dribbles. This is a very busy time of the year for me, and I had a lot of incidental things to handle. So, I couldn't give this book the longer stretches of reading time that I think a book like this deserves in order to be properly understood and enjoyed. So, many of you might give it a much higher rating than I did.

Okay.

Kudos to the author for there being very very very few, if any, grammatical or spelling errors.
Also, kudos for putting together a very complicated storyline that involved individual stories all coming together into one at the end. I liked those two components very much.

However, because there were several story lines to follow, and because at least three of the main characters (The Deacon, Balthazar and Provender Creed) all seemed to be described about the same way, I found it very hard to follow the individual lines at first. The two main female humans (Elizabeth/Mariah and Colleen) similarly were confusing to me for quite a while in the book. In fact, none of it made a whole lot of sense to me until about 40% through the book -- which means I more than once considered not finishing this book and filing in on my "threw it at the wall" bookcase here on Goodreads. It wasn't that the character descriptions weren't interesting, they were. It just seemed like everyone in this book was painted with sepia. Hard to distinguish one from another. Perhaps that was intentional. If so, the author succeeded famously!

Maybe one of the more confusing things that happened as I was reading happened during the climatic final scene (unfortunate to have the reader distracted at that time!). Creed calls Moonshine Brady, the Rookwood sheriff, "Stick." I couldn't remember him referring to this character as "Stick" previously. I decided it wasn't worth hunting through the book for other references (would've been easy on my Kindle, which should demonstrate how disconnected from the story I was feeling as the book ended); but that doesn't change the fact that my involvement in the story was interrupted during the climax over minutia.

So, whether it was the way the novel was written, or the way that I read it, this book just didn't really hold my interest. I found it confusing, disjointed, and was left feeling like there were a lot of loose ends left untied. The introduction of an evidently pivotal character, literally at the end of the climatic scene, also felt unfair to me -- and an easy "fix" to the why behind events.

So, as my busy schedule continues for a few more week, I'll switch to something a bit easier and light for my next book.

I also thought the overall story idea was interesting. I can't say there weren't parts of it that I didn't enjoy -- some immensely.

[Jeff Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

The West is the edge. Life in Rookwood means hanging onto the brink in this one horse town. Before the crows came, nothing happened here. But like a storm, change is coming, whether in the guise of the Deacon, the owl woman, the snake oil doctor or the wife reborn. There is a tale half completed, bargains unfulfilled and the time of reckoning has come.
Hallowed Ground takes the backdrop of the Seven Faces of Dr. Lao (with out the excess of humor), the cautionary tale feel of a Gaiman story, as well as the reader, into its clutches and doesn't let go.

[Roberta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually started this at night a few days ago, and had to put it off, to read it in daylight. It creeped me out, and got my imaginer going full force. Some books affect me like that, skitching around the edges of my subconscious; waiting to climb into my dreams.
Starkly arid desert settings, shadowed by a creeping sense of evil erode a reader's comfort, creating a sense of things better left in the shadows.
A quiet town, filled with people living unremarkable lives is brought to life when the Deacon and his band of odd, misshapen followers promise the excitement of a revival; a chance to find forgiveness, cleanse their souls, and find a new path through life.
Under the surface however, is a darker purpose tainted with an undescribable evil that threatens to overcome the town's citizens.
This was a quiet, slow-building horror story that built its tension with subtle clues and reveals. I was enthralled by the characters' struggles with a darkness that threatened to destroy them all.

[Ralph Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the basic idea of the storyline. and though it started kind of slow for me, I did stick with it. Around the middle, I started skipping pages though, as I felt the story was stalling out, and though I may have missed something parts, I didn't feel it was overly important once I reached the end of the story. The ending was a bit different than I expected - may have been info I skipped in the middle.

[Alan Standsalone Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read. Weird West is a new genre for me and am glad to have chosen this book. Steven Savile is a fantastic descriptive writer and the characters in this book is colorfully dark. I so would love to see a series with Mariah and Provender Creed.

[Ken Hubbard]

Only got 20% through, not because it wasn't interesting but because it was an audio book. I don't drive anywhere during the pandemic, so I just can't finish it right now. Might try text version in the future.

[Wemdu · Rating 4 out of 5]

[received free for review- audio book/ narrator 3.5 -4 stars)
--------------
Perfect for Halloween... or any time you wish to (read) listen to a creepy heaven and (mostly) hell struggle, with a happily ever after?? - well of a sort; waiting to see what comes next.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spooky

This story caught me on the first page. I just knew something crazy was going to happen. Sure enough. Crazy happened.

Loved ir

[Gef · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't read a lot of what you could classify as weird westerns, but on the occasions I have (i.e., Stephen King's The Gunslinger and Gemma Files' Book of Tongues) it's been a thoroughly entertaining experience. And the collaboration of Steve Savile and David Niall Wilson is no exception.

Right from the striking cover art by Robert Sammelin, Hallowed Ground promises a blood-soaked, bullet-ridden fable. Usually when there's a pretty gal holding a gun on a book cover, it's urban fantasy, but this is a shade grittier than what I've read from the UF crowd.

The book starts with a band of wayward freaks setting up camp outside the dustbowl town of Rockwood, led by an eerily charismatic man known as the Preacher. In their wake, the crows come, harbingers of something bad on the horizon. As the Preacher sets his pawns in motion on the board, more players enter the impending fray. Provender Creed, one of the few in Rockwood not cowed or culled by the dark forces at work, strives to find out what looms for the small desert town; Sheriff Brady who fights to save a dying town; Dr. Samuel Balthazar and his Traveling Show; Lilith; and Mariah, the resurrected love of Bejamin Jamieson who sold his soul to bring her back.

There is a huge, robust cast of characters, and many of them all have their own personal stakes in what's happening in and around Rockwood. If I'm criticize this book for anything, it's that there were times where I got lost in the narrative and had to double back more than once just to remind myself why one character was behaving a certain way or reacting to something in a surprising fashion. The ending is wholly satisfying though, and while it feels like a complete story, I got this sense that there wasn't just room for a follow-up novel down the road, but the follow-up could be even leaner and meaner than this one.

This was my first chance to read a novel by David, and my first chance to read anything at all by Steve, so I'll be seeking out more by each author in the future thanks to their collaboration. And if they come out with more collaborations, I'm all for it.

[Eero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Kindle freebie. This is described as a supernatural Western. I was initially attracted by the cover depicting a female gunslinger, with what might be angel wings behind her back. It is actually quite accurate to the contents, although that character is not introduced early on, and fits the picture only towards the end.

The story is set in a geographically vague Land of Western Tropes, in and around the town of Rookwood populated by stock characters and apparently having no viable economy. It does have a saloon, a sheriff, a few whores (heart of gold or no), and a maverick cowboy who doesn't seem to have any cows to herd.

Events are set in motion when a mysterious preacher with an entourage of freaks sets up camp near the town, causing an ominous murder of crows to take up flight and settle on the roofs of Rookwood, foreshadowing bad things to come. The plot concerns a deal with the devil gone wrong, but the key players are revealed only gradually. The whole thing feels like an origin story for a couple of supernatural demon-hunters with six-shooters; I don't know if the authors have written more of these.

I was somewhat reminded of Clive Barker by the feel of the supernatural elements, except that Barker writes better characters. The people in this book were not really fleshed out very well, and ultimately most of them turned out to be pawns to be sacrificed (or "redshirts"). The explicit, possibly irreverent references to Christian mythology reminded me of "Supernatural". For a free book, this was a pleasant read, but not very substantial.

[Barbara Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

"She died," Chessie said. "She died, rose, and nearly died again. She comes. The crows know her – the crows guide her. She follows the sound of a crying child. She follows the drag of un-kept promises on her heart."

Not your typical western. Not your typical creepy story either. The author captures your imagination and holds on to it to the very end. There were only a few moments of confusion, but in general, a very understandable and good read. The words flowed, the plot thickened, things in the night were made known. Loved the Cover.

This read will not scare the be-geebies out of you, but it will make you squirm a-bit. The editing was wonderful (had a few recently that were just down right awful) and a pleasure all the more to read.

The main characters shone in all their flaws. We have an unlikely hero who prefers to be left alone. We have a vengeful twice dead woman who wants revenge. We have a few demons and a few circus folk who make you wonder what is on their minds.

I would certianly read another by this Author and hopefully, this story continues, for though the ending wrapped it up nicely, there must be more, there has to be more.

Recommended for 17plus as it could cause nightmares in the young. Great Read. Barbara [[ASIN:B00534804Q Hallowed Ground]]

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hallowed Ground is a slow walk on a Sunday afternoon. This is not to say it lacks excitement, action, suspense, and a little horror, because it has all that. Hallowed Ground has the slow western pace of the American Cowboy era, and the authors do an excellent job at infusing that feel. There are page turning sections begging to be turned and other sections that make you go, hmmm, but the overall feel is unhurried, simple, and to be honest, sinister.

From the cowboy who makes the initial discovery of unwelcomed visitors, to the law man with his no-nonsense tone, the whore who wants the one thing she can never have, and the preacher man who knows evil comes.

When a traveling evangelical troop makes camp in the Gulch outside of town, a flock of crows make perch on the rooftops of Rookwood.
Many believe the crows arrival is an omen of evil, a dark presence. They could be right. Days later, bad things begin to happen and no one knows for sure why.

I listened to Hallowed Ground as produced by Crossroads Press and narrated by Joe Geoffrey. Joe's voice was perfect for the feel of the book.

Hallowed Ground was a great listen and the suspense will keep you on edge. The book combined a touch of horror with some paranormal feel and the over whelming sense of the old west.

[Mike Kazmierczak · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel that I should have liked this book more than I actually did. It has all the elements in a novel that should make it good: "normal" humans being controlled by powerful mysterious strangers, supernatural elements and creatures, characters that are more gray than black and white. However, for whatever reason, I wasn't pulled into it as much as I could have been.

The story starts with a young couple who are in love but being kept apart by some of those powerful strangers. The action then moves to The Deacon, a preacher who brings his group of misfits to the town of Rookwood. While the Deacon does have nefarious plans for the fate of Rookwood, we don't see the true crux of his intent until late in the novel.

At times the book reminded me of the HBO series Carnivàle, except not as complex; however, the background for all the characters in the book was very rich and probably just as complex. HALLOWED GROUND is based in the Wild West so maybe that was why I didn't like it a bunch. When it comes down to it, the book is entertaining and enjoyable. All my doubts and hesitations are vague and not rooted in anything that I can identify as solidly wrong. The best thing to do would be to read it yourself and see if you agree with me or not.

[Caleb Blake · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't mind this story. It seemed somewhat like a Western version of American Gods or similar.

It had a good mood to it and several interesting characters, but the way the loose ends tied together didn't necessarily impress me. Motivations were a bit unclear and an additional party was added to the storyline at the last minute in a way that couldn't have been anticipated. Instead of adding clarity to the existing storyline, it just created a totally new element with no time for any development.

It was a bit like a graphic novel though and so perhaps the logic wasn't as important as the characters it created for future stories (if that's intended).

In the end, I didn't dislike the experience - it was interesting and suitably atmospheric. I just wouldn't necessarily recommend it enthusiastically to others.

[Mrs D Whitehead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Splendidly different!

I have read Steven Savile before but this is certainly different. I read so many books, constantly, that I sometimes bore myself with familiarity of choice so I deliberately went for something different and what a lovely surprise it was.

I enjoyed the premise of good and evil, though wasn't 100% sure who was which for parts of the book, and what the author was asking me to believe I believed. That is a skill.

I happily went along with the characters at a swift pace and though there was a lot of detail in the different individual stories, it wasn't difficult to take in.

I'm not sure if there's a follow-up book but if there is I'll gladly read it.

Give it a go, it's an age old story but refreshingly told with well crafted characters and a feel-good ending. Enjoy!

[Charles Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Provender Creed is something of a renegade and outlaw. He lives in the town of Rookwood, a place that doesn’t cotton much to strangers, but he keeps pretty much to himself. Then, a strange group, led by The Deacon, sets up a tent city near town at the mouth of Dead Man’s Gulch, and life changes for everyone—but most importantly, life changes for Creed.
Rookwood was strange before the strangers came, but with them came death and the Devil. Hallowed Ground by Steven Savile and David Niall Wilson is not your typical western. In fact, it’s not your typical story of any genre, containing as it does a bit of everything.
Tight, eerie writing, characters you’d expect to encounter in nightmares, and goings-on that will chill you to your marrow. The Old West was never like this—or was it?

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had no idea what I was getting when I picked this book up. I bought it sight unseen as it is the book of the month next month for Watch The Skies.

I struggled with this book. I wanted it to be more than it was. There were some interesting characters, but I just wasn't moved by the story. I wanted to be - but the place in my mind for dark and terrifying carnivals has already been occupied. I will say this has given me the desire to revisit "Something Wicked This Way Comes", just in time for October.

[Sandra Jackson - Alawine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bizarre and kinda hard to follow in the beginning. When Elizabeth dies her fiancee Benjamin makes a deal with Balthazar to bring her back from the dead. He fails to realize that Balthazar intends for him to take Elizabeth's place, Lilith tries to protect him. Years later the Deacon arrives in Rookwood with his companions of misfits to hold a revival, but the Deacon has a dark purpose. Provender Creed (Benjamin/Remliel) sets out to stop him and Balthazar arrives with Mariah (Elizabeth). The lovers are reunited and Mariah leaves her child with Colleen.

[Sunshine✰✰✰ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started out eager to read but by time I got a third if the way through, I just had my kindle read it to me so I could multi task as the story couldn't keep my full attention. As it got to the end the pace
picked up and it got a little more interesting but in the end there were questions that just weren't answered. Where did this last fallen Angel come from? Who really is this owl woman? If there was a sequel, I wouldn't read it

[Rechan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prose like a bitter acid and a mythology most intriguing. Hallowed Ground is fairly good, although it felt a little short, too. I would give it 3.5 - it's worth four stars, there were elements in the ending that didn't quite come together, didn't quite make sense. I attribute this to a little bit of explanation that was missing. That nagging sense of "wait, then what was that?" drops it down in my book, but otherwise I felt it strong enough.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

The western meets the supernatural world. A C&W fantasy that is riveting as it is fantastic. Steve and David have combined to create a world that has the black and white essence of the Western genre with a supernatural spin that combines love, hate, death and existence. Written in a nice easy style, dont be fooled. This book packs a punch!!!

[Brandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, but was unable to concentrate while reading. That had nothing to do with the book & everything to do with a health issue. I wish I could do a better review for it, but I honestly don't remember large parts of it.