What do you think?
Rate this book
Deathlands #18
Shockscape
HORROR AND HOPE IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Emerging from a gateway into the snowy barrens of the Colorado Rockies, Ryan Cawdor and his warrior group are forced to strike a deal for survival. This part of white hell is controlled by Baron Nelson, a grief-ridden widower burning for vengeance against the hired killers who murdered his boy.
Not far from Nelson's barony lies Yuma, a nasty hellhole every badman in the Rockies calls home. Ryan, Doc and J.B. Dix begin a perilous journey across desolate mountains to Yuma to capture and deliver the boy's killers back to the baron. The odds are not good: if the mutant grizzlies and roving marauders don't get them, the sadistic guntoughs in Yuma will.
In the Deathlands, survival is a gamble. Death is the only sure bet.
Emerging from a gateway into the snowy barrens of the Colorado Rockies, Ryan Cawdor and his warrior group are forced to strike a deal for survival. This part of white hell is controlled by Baron Nelson, a grief-ridden widower burning for vengeance against the hired killers who murdered his boy.
Not far from Nelson's barony lies Yuma, a nasty hellhole every badman in the Rockies calls home. Ryan, Doc and J.B. Dix begin a perilous journey across desolate mountains to Yuma to capture and deliver the boy's killers back to the baron. The odds are not good: if the mutant grizzlies and roving marauders don't get them, the sadistic guntoughs in Yuma will.
In the Deathlands, survival is a gamble. Death is the only sure bet.
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 1, 1993
4 people are currently reading
145 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 23, 2026
This Deathlands has a sort of quasi-western vibe as the heroes teleport into a redoubt in Colorado, and run into a Baron who holds Dean, Krysty and Mildred hostage so the boys can go the town of Yuma and bring 5 killers back to justice for the murder of the Barons son.
There’s a great early sequence where the huge mutie bear on the cover attacks the group, which actually leads them to be captured by the local sec men and brought before the baron.
Baron Alferd Nelson is your typical psychopathic, deranged Baron, more so since his only sin was murdered by outlaws from Yuma. Ryan, JB, Doc and Michael Brother are sent to bring the killers back to the Baron, with the lives of the women and Dean hanging in the balance.
They fall in with a troupe of actors to get into Yuma, and with a plan to kidnap the Baron and the killers in place, they make their move.
Of course, this is the Deathlands, where little ever goes right, and they are soon fighting for their lives, against the killers; while Baron Nelson betrays the others and the women and Dean are battling for their lives as well.
Lots of good action sequences here, with one of the baddies being JB’s long lost half brother, but the team prevails, yet the book ends on a cliffhanger, which made me wish I had #19!
There’s a great early sequence where the huge mutie bear on the cover attacks the group, which actually leads them to be captured by the local sec men and brought before the baron.
Baron Alferd Nelson is your typical psychopathic, deranged Baron, more so since his only sin was murdered by outlaws from Yuma. Ryan, JB, Doc and Michael Brother are sent to bring the killers back to the Baron, with the lives of the women and Dean hanging in the balance.
They fall in with a troupe of actors to get into Yuma, and with a plan to kidnap the Baron and the killers in place, they make their move.
Of course, this is the Deathlands, where little ever goes right, and they are soon fighting for their lives, against the killers; while Baron Nelson betrays the others and the women and Dean are battling for their lives as well.
Lots of good action sequences here, with one of the baddies being JB’s long lost half brother, but the team prevails, yet the book ends on a cliffhanger, which made me wish I had #19!
October 16, 2017
If you've read the rest to the series, you've read this too as it follows the same cut and paste plot of the others.
Group arrives somewhere, they venture out, enter a ville, gunfight ensues, they return to redoubt.
There is an interesting side plot with a whole separate character in a different location but it barely gets a mention.
One pet peeve of mine for the series is how everything is the "biggest" or "most" that Ryan/Chrisy/Doc had ever seen or experienced. Every damn book something is the foulest smelling thing someone has ever smelled or the tallest man someone has ever seen. Saying it every book kinda devalues it.
Aside from this there is nothing of note to differentiate this book from 15 or so other mediocre entries in the franchise thus far. If you liked them well enough you'll like this well enough.
Group arrives somewhere, they venture out, enter a ville, gunfight ensues, they return to redoubt.
There is an interesting side plot with a whole separate character in a different location but it barely gets a mention.
One pet peeve of mine for the series is how everything is the "biggest" or "most" that Ryan/Chrisy/Doc had ever seen or experienced. Every damn book something is the foulest smelling thing someone has ever smelled or the tallest man someone has ever seen. Saying it every book kinda devalues it.
Aside from this there is nothing of note to differentiate this book from 15 or so other mediocre entries in the franchise thus far. If you liked them well enough you'll like this well enough.
September 2, 2019
In this story, Ryan Cawdor and his companions come across Baron Nelson in what used to be Colorado. Nelson wants revenge on a rival Baron who killed his son. Ryan has no choice but to go along with the Baron's will who says that if he and J.B. Dix do no return with the killers within 10 days he will keep Ryans' son as well as Mildred and Krysti as his "wives". What ensues is a story that resembles a western more than anything else. The new characters introduced are entertaining and I would be nice if the author were willing to keep them around for more than a single book. Also unlike other books in the series so far, this one ends in a cliffhanger. This is an entertaining book in the series and fans will find all of the action that they are used to.
January 4, 2022
Classic standard Deathlands, how I enjoy these trashy pulp audiobooks. Apparently, according to one of the ads within the book, these are produced monthly. I'm not sure if that's the same series or one of the other multiple series that Graphic Audio produces, but that explains why they are so formulaic (and there are like 180+ of them). Doesn't matter, they are still very entertaining for an easy listening fast moving action audiobook.
December 11, 2019
Excellent shoot-shoot tale. Into my collection it goes. =)
January 26, 2016
An average apocalyptic adventure story. This one takes a century after the last war and now there are mutants running around the earth. Recommended
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews