Things are bad for Clay Miller and George Hitchens.
For starters, they’re on the run from a posse out for blood. Then, as they ride through the Utah desert, the two come across the crumpled body of a young boy on the brink of death. The boy can’t speak, but it’s clear he’s frightened of something nearby. When asked what’s got him so scared, the terrified boy writes three letters in the dirt …
DED
By nightfall, Clay and George are tied up in jail. They can’t move. They can’t speak. They can do nothing but listen to the boy, outside, screaming for his life.
USA Today bestselling and ITW Thriller Award–winning author of The Serial Killer's Wife, The Killing Room, Man of Wax, and several other novels. He created the term "hint fiction" and edited Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer.
WALK THE SKY is a nice little weird western tale that put me in mind of the work of Joe Lansdale. Which is another way of saying this story is a lot of fun!
We start off with George and Clay traveling by horseback and coming across a young boy who is on the verge of death. As events unfold, the reader learns the boy has narrowly escaped something in a nearby town, (DED!), a town in which George and Clay must stop for supplies. Soon after their arrival, all three end up in jail and are introduced to the mad reverend and his posse. Will they get out of jail? What does the crazy reverend want from them? Will anyone survive? You'll have to read this book to find out!
I loved the western aspects of this story as well as the bits of native American folklore which were woven in. It was nice to read something different than the same old, same old. Even though some popular western tropes can be found here, the authors seamlessly pulled them together with some unique and original storytelling, much as Joe Lansdale does in his westerns. The only thing missing was that oddball humor of Lansdale's, but this wasn't meant to be a funny tale.
I listened to this on audio and as always, Matt Godfrey brings it home with a compelling style that only brings honor to the writing.
WALK THE SKY is one of those rare pieces of work that successfully straddles genres and brings to the reader a fine sense of satisfaction at the conclusion. Recommended to any fans of westerns, weird westerns, and to horror fans alike!
*I received the audio of this book free of charge from the narrator, in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it.*
In its opening moments, George and Clay, a pair of men on the run from the law and fleeing through the desert, come across a small boy lying near-death beneath the hot sun. The boy is the sole survivor of a massacre that wiped out a nearby town and when they take it upon themselves to care for the boy and investigate, George and Clay find themselves captured by bandits and tied up in jail. The men are to be sacrifices for the inhuman evils roaming the desert, the nightmarish creatures that wiped out the town and demand blood, creatures that only come out at night.
Co-written by Robert Swartwood and David B. Silva, Walk the Sky is a very well-done work of western horror. It’s also Silva’s final piece of work, having passed away in 2013 mere weeks after the publication of this title as a limited edition hardcover by Thunderstorm Books. As such, Walk the Sky is dedicated to Silva, who, as an editor, author, and Bram Stoker Award winner, has a long, and very rich, legacy within the horror genre. Silva was not just a friend and mentor to Swartwood, but a co-author on one other title they penned together, At the Meade Bed & Breakfast. Listening to Walk the Sky in audio format, it’s hard for me to tell where Swartwood’s style separates from Silva’s, and their prose blends together seamlessly. The end result is a perfectly engaging story filled with terrific characters, some of them quite smarmy, and a rich supernatural spine binding them all together.
On narrating duties is Matt Godfrey, whose soft, natural reading style is one I’m quickly becoming a fan of after listening previously to his smooth delivery of The Happy Man from Valancourt Books. His subdued Southern twang lends a certain richness and authenticity to this particular work, and his use of a rougher, gravelly voice for Clay lends to that character an air of American Western classicism that I quite enjoyed. All in all, this a polished and professional production.
Walk the Sky takes a number of Western genre tropes – outlaws on the run, gun-toting bandits, a town ruled by an iron fist – and twists them in a number of satisfying ways, with particular motives being wrenched in response to an ancient, mysterious force. Of the handful of supernatural historical horrors I’ve read thus far in 2018, Walk the Sky is easily my favorite, sitting tall in the saddle as the best of the bunch.
[Note: Audiobook provided for review by the audiobookreviewer.com]
Setting: Utah Desert, USA; 1875. Best friends George and Clay are on the run through the Utah Desert, being chased by a vengeful posse, when they stumble across the body of a teenage boy who is close to death. Going to his assistance, the pals discover that he appears to be mute and that he is terrified of something. Deciding that they can't leave him in the middle of the desert and thinking that there must be a town nearby, they take the boy with them. The boy is reluctant to go, showing great fear - when George and Clay finally roll into the nearest town, it appears deserted - and their complicated lives are about to get very much more so.... An intriguing horror novel, based around cowboys (and Indians - or should that be Native Americans!) - not over long but with a quite gripping, and ultimately unpredictable, storyline from two of the masters of the horror genre - 8/10.
This was a fun short novel by a great young author in Robert Swartwood and a legend in the horror genre, David Silva. It starts off how I imagine many westerns starting, two men on the run, low on supplies and in search of water and shelter. The two men stumble across a young boy who leads them to a deserted small western town. At that point the story changes from a western to a western themed horror/action adventure.
I finished the book in a couple of days and slapped four stars on it. A satisfying read. It was never slow. I never knew what was going to happen next. It had a solid ending. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick enjoyable escape. While writing this review I changed my rating to five stars. I was docking it a star for being what it was, a novella. It didn't need to be 400 pages because if the story is done at 120, then it's done! I wish more writers had this mentality. Five star novella!! Eat it up.
On a side note, I purchased the deluxe edition which is gorgeous. It also contains a couple of short stories and emails back an forth between the two authors discussing writing Walk The Sky. It's a fascinating look into the thought process of teaming up to write a solid piece of fiction. Very limited numbers of this edition...be jealous. RIP David Silva.
This is a simple story with simple undeveloped characters, many of them throw-away...
This western/horror tale begins with Clay and George fleeing across the desert from a posse chasing them for murder...
They run across a young Indian boy. The frightened boy is also running from something... but in the opposite direction. When the men ask the boy what he is so afraid of, the boy has only one reply: DED...
The novel had a good hook but it was never completely explored and developed. There was very little character development and the end left MANY unanswered questions which is frustrating.
It really wasn't a bad novel... I just prefer my stories to be a tad more in depth with some things explained by the end of the book. While I like a simple straight forward novel, this was a little too simple.
If you're looking for an alternative, out of the ordinary horror story, you should try "Thaddeus" by John Vault. That story is unpredictable, bizarre and different.
Though the idea of this book - Lovecraft goes west - has promise, it is not realised well. The writing is generally poor - at moments of tension, do people really fill in all exposition? The main problem is that the 'demons' are just not scary. Normally I'm not a fan of gore but this tale could have used some to ratchet up what little tension there is. Most of the elements are hackneyed too: there's an old-style biblical prophet type, a wise old injun, an unscrupulous politician. Handled by better writers these could have been crafted into a tense, scary read but instead the reader is presented with two-dimensional characters in a cardboard landscape in a tale lacking any of the qualities needed to make the story compelling. On the plus side it only takes an hour to finish.
This book was very interesting. An unusual twist to the zombie story. Very entertaining. I can't really think of anything negative to say. Worth the read.
I had requested and received audiobook version of this book for free from the narrator, in exchange for an unbiased review.
Western is not my usual genre. But the cover of this book looked dope to me and the synopsis was somewhat intriguing. So, I took a chance with it and it paid off. I guess I liked this book so much because it familiar elements of supernatural / horror in it, which brought it somewhat close to the usual stories I listen to. And its "western" component being unique as it is to me, the book on whole was an altogether different experience for me.
The story unfolds gradually and takes you on a journey. I liked the gritty characters and the story telling style. The path it took was unpredictable and kept me tense. I didn't see that end coming. And it was great.
The narration by Matt Godfrey lends great value to the book. I don't think I would've enjoyed the book as much as I did if I had just read the kindle version of the book.
I will be honest, I didn't expect the way it progressed and ended, but that was not bad and I really enjoyed this book. I felt a lot of emotions about these characters. Everything from pure disdain for the antagonists to curious optimism for the outcome. It was a clean story that took the reader into a sinister hell and brought them back out looking for more. Just another reason not to go into the desert in my opinion. As always, Matt Godfrey did a fantastic job narrating and bringing the story to life.
This book was given to me for free at my request for my voluntary and unbiased review.
This was a novella I picked up as part of a larger work called Midnight Duets. This spooky little tale take place in the Utah desert in the 1870's. Local towns are beseiged by hungry demons, and two men on the run unfortunately stop at one of them. Oops. . This was a quick little read, with some veru empathetic characters; some, not so much. The storyline was rather unique, and the pace of action kept my interest. The tale was a little short, but out was tightly written with little wasted words. All in all, a pleasant interlude between novels. . My Rating: 3.75/5
Here we have a writer who has the discipline to refrain from purple language even while recounting an exciting story. A western tale in a land in which the aliens of Lovecraft are real is pretty likely to be exciting. I’m just so happy that it wasn’t ruined by bad writing. I will read more of this author. You know, as soon as I figure out who really wrote it.
This writer could be truly exceptional. However, the lack of description and literary techniques mean he just doesn't reach his full potential. Such a shame as I have only seen such imagination in King. I am spotting similarities in plot ideas and archetypes in this, the second of his novels I've read so far. Let's hope this doesn't continue to other works or it could become dull, predictable and tedious.
This is one of the best cowboy books I ever read. The only book that is close to it is King's Gunslinger. Such an imaginative take on the Old West, native superstitions, and downright evil all combined for a great read. I highly recommend this book!
Being falsley accused in killing two people may not be the worst thing that could happen to Clay and his friend.I liked this story.Matt Gdofrey was an excellent narrator.I was given this book by the narrator,author or publisher free for an honest review.
This western sets a pace entwining several character's stories. No spoilers but each character's action draws them into an inhospitable environment. I enjoyed the pace of this story along with the humanity of the main characters.
Ain't nothing like western horror! From Ambrose Bierce to Joe Lansdale, western horror is one of the genre mashups next to scifi horror. Silva and Swartwood hit out of the park with this RIP roaring adventure. Highly recommended
Took a while to finish. Finally started speed reading it (skimming) just to get through it. It’s ok. I couldn’t get interested in any of the characters.
This fast-paced novella features two men on the run in the old West (Utah) who come into a strange town to find even stranger things going on. Many writers could take lessons in pacing from this book. A fast, entertaining read.
If you have never had the opportunity to be introduced to Swartwood and Silva working together (or separately) I have to admit I’m almost a little jealous. Because you will be meeting 2 writers that are a definite gift to people that like a good story. Reading their work is rather like walking into a local, familiar bar and seeing the person you hope to spend the rest of your life with. Then, if you are extremely lucky, you are still with them many years later and they can still deliver. Luckily for us, neither Robert nor David have been destroyed by the publishing industry, or burned out so they are just churning out pap for the masses just for the money. This book reads fast at only 151 pages, but manages to leave you with more story than is just carried in the words. There is a wonderfully complete world that is built on our world during the days of the westward expansion. This includes justice, vengeance, shoot outs, corruption, murder and a different twist on the zombie idea. What starts out looking like a typical “dusty trails” western turns into a trip into the darkest parts of the human psyche and what we would do in our pain. Luckily for me, I was able to get one of the beautiful, signed, limited edition copies originally available through Thunderstorm Books (now sold out, but they have some other beautifully bound books available). So, the rest of you will just have to settle for the copies more readily available through Amazon as a print or e-book. Sadly, David B. Silva has “walked the sky” so is no longer available to provide us with even more stories, luckily he left behind many books for us to continue to enjoy. Happily, Robert Swartwood is still with us to feed our desire for more good tales.
*I received a copy of this story via the author's newsletter as an ARC edition*
If you haven't read any of Robert Swartwood's books then you are missing out! It seems that I love every story/book I have read by him. WALK THE SKY is his newest release and it does not disappoint at all!
The story takes place in the late 1800's, the wild west days. 2 men are riding through the desert when they come across a boy that they believe is dead at first glance. The story then takes a very rapid turn into the world of devil minions and sacrifices.
I loved the setting time and place of the story. I have always liked stories that take place in the Wild West days and the horror element in this story just puts the icing on the cake! It is a very unique concept to read a story that has these 2 elements mixed in with some tribal ideology. This is one author to definitely look out for!
I wanted to write a comment, without giving away anything from the story, so this is what you get. The traditional "western" elements were all there and could stand alone, but the "horror" aspect is what did it for me. I read "space-westerns" when I can find them, but this is my first foray into the Weird-West. I enjoyed my journey there. The characters were believable and three dimensional, and I actually cared what happened to them. I recomend this short novel to anyone that might want to travel back to a time when the West was weird, and there was more to worry about in the dark desert night than just outlaws.
This was a good little supernatural western. The two protagonists, Clay and George, are men on the run from the law. From the first you know that they aren't as bad as some would think. They try to do a good deed and get on the bad side of a preacher, who is a few bricks shy of a load. Why I say this you will just have to find out for yourself. I won't say this book had me so intrigued that I read it in one setting, but I did want to finish to see what happened to Clay and George. Like a little supernatural in your stories then pick up a copy and see if you like it. I know I enjoyed.
This was a quick very quick and interesting read for me. The author takes a very popular genre of story, reels you in, and then throws complete and fascinating plot twists to keep you completely invested in the story. The characters are believable, due to it being a western, actions somewhat realistic for the time frame, and once you get past the first couple of chapters, the action and story is fast and furious.