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Ballad of the Werevixens
Years after battling the dreaded outlaws known as the Koyotes, Delia Van Vracken travels mountains and valleys, hunting demons that managed to escape Hell. But also traveling across the plains is Balthazar Rott, a subhuman who's been alive for centuries. He's searching for something Delia hoped was forever buried, bringing with him a band of bloodthirsty brides. Meanwhile, young prostitute Josie is discovering new changes about herself, particularly when the moon is full. And when sisters Emma and Pearl find a strange sphere in the hands of a dead preacher, they must band together with crusaders to bring the relic to The Reckoning, before the Werevixens come.
Ballad of the Werevixens is the thunderous sequel to The Thirteenth Koyote , part of a trilogy of horror-western epics by Splatterpunk Award-winner Kristopher Triana, author of Gone to See the River Man and Shepherd of the Black Sheep . It celebrates the strength of the women of the American West, weaving a stunning tale of horror, hardship, and hope.
Ballad of the Werevixens is the thunderous sequel to The Thirteenth Koyote , part of a trilogy of horror-western epics by Splatterpunk Award-winner Kristopher Triana, author of Gone to See the River Man and Shepherd of the Black Sheep . It celebrates the strength of the women of the American West, weaving a stunning tale of horror, hardship, and hope.
436 pages, Paperback
Published July 8, 2023
9 people are currently reading
317 people want to read
About the author
Kristopher Triana
67 books2,107 followersKristopher Triana is the author of Gone to See the River Man, Full Brutal, They All Died Screaming, Shepherd of the Black Sheep, Toxic Love, and more.
His fiction has appeared in countless magazines and anthologies and has been translated into multiple languages, drawing praise from Publisher's Weekly, Cemetery Dance, Rue Morgue, Scream, The Ginger Nuts of Horror and others.
Full Brutal won the Splatterpunk Award for Best Horror Novel of 2019, and Triana won the award again in 2022 for The Night Stockers, which he cowrote with Ryan Harding.
He lives in Connecticut.
His fiction has appeared in countless magazines and anthologies and has been translated into multiple languages, drawing praise from Publisher's Weekly, Cemetery Dance, Rue Morgue, Scream, The Ginger Nuts of Horror and others.
Full Brutal won the Splatterpunk Award for Best Horror Novel of 2019, and Triana won the award again in 2022 for The Night Stockers, which he cowrote with Ryan Harding.
He lives in Connecticut.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
May 8, 2025
Triana's second splatter western Ballad of the Werevixens may even be better than the first, The Thirteenth Koyote, and that is really saying something! Back to the wild west, circa 1880 or so, about a decade after The Thirteenth Koyote. Only a handful of the characters from this first installment return here, such as Delia, our protagonist. For the last decade, Delia has wandered the West, killing demons and such that emerged when Glenn the Dreadful, the leader of the Thirteen Koyotes, used the Menhir (a chuck of ancient evil) to open up a portal to Hell, or something close enough for rock and roll. Although that Menhir was destroyed, one day Delia gets a sniff of yet another one, and uses her were abilities to seek it out.
Meanwhile, Triana introduces our antagonist, one Balthazar Rott, a vampyre who 'turned' sometime before the Revolutionary war (he even fought for the Brits!). Balthazar has been hunting the Menhir for decades, and came close to obtaining it in Chicago; alas for him, some priests managed to take it and escape. Rott started the Chicago fire just because he was pissed about that! Balthazar usually travels with his 'wives', although he lost most of them in Chicago. When the novel starts, he just has Flora, a vampyre who turned after murdering her kids and committing suicide, and Inez, a human, but something of a cannibal. The trio work their way west, leaving a bloody trail. One day they find Josie, a 'natural' werewolf in a brothel; after killing everyone there, they take Josie and Balthazar makes her a vampire too.
Of course, we have our band of heroes as well, although they constitute a motely bunch. Emma and Pearl, sisters, and former slaves, find a dead priest with the Menhir encased in a protective orb. Emma knows what it is; her former husband took part in the banishing of the last Menhir and then helped clean up the remaining demons and such, building a rep as a slayer. After he passed, Emma and Pearl find work for a white family, but when the Menhir turns up, they agree to ride with a few priest to try to get the Menhir to a safe place somewhere deep in Nevada.
So, just like the last installment, we have two opposing groups, with one wanting to banish the Menhir and the other to utilize it for evil. What makes this stand out, however, concerns the characters. Triana gives this a feminist spin for sure! Without getting too spoilery, Josie and the rest of Balthazar's wives decide to rid themselves of the guy and take up his quest for themselves. The trio are all werewolves and vampyres combined and they take the moniker (or 'brand') the Werevixens. Of course, lots of other nasties and evil things populate the pages and like the last installment, the denouement drips in blood.
While not particularly scary, I found Werevixens immensely enjoyable. Yeah, lots of recycled horror tropes on display, with little reinvention; the werewolves and vampyres, for example, are true to the genre (although the author does give us desert and water vampyres!). What makes this stand out involves the playful combining of these tropes, wrapped in a feminist mantel. Gals had it rough in the Old West, and these gals are out for some pay back! While the second in a trilogy, although you can read it as a standalone, but I recommend the Koyotes first. 4.5 bloody stars!!
Meanwhile, Triana introduces our antagonist, one Balthazar Rott, a vampyre who 'turned' sometime before the Revolutionary war (he even fought for the Brits!). Balthazar has been hunting the Menhir for decades, and came close to obtaining it in Chicago; alas for him, some priests managed to take it and escape. Rott started the Chicago fire just because he was pissed about that! Balthazar usually travels with his 'wives', although he lost most of them in Chicago. When the novel starts, he just has Flora, a vampyre who turned after murdering her kids and committing suicide, and Inez, a human, but something of a cannibal. The trio work their way west, leaving a bloody trail. One day they find Josie, a 'natural' werewolf in a brothel; after killing everyone there, they take Josie and Balthazar makes her a vampire too.
Of course, we have our band of heroes as well, although they constitute a motely bunch. Emma and Pearl, sisters, and former slaves, find a dead priest with the Menhir encased in a protective orb. Emma knows what it is; her former husband took part in the banishing of the last Menhir and then helped clean up the remaining demons and such, building a rep as a slayer. After he passed, Emma and Pearl find work for a white family, but when the Menhir turns up, they agree to ride with a few priest to try to get the Menhir to a safe place somewhere deep in Nevada.
So, just like the last installment, we have two opposing groups, with one wanting to banish the Menhir and the other to utilize it for evil. What makes this stand out, however, concerns the characters. Triana gives this a feminist spin for sure! Without getting too spoilery, Josie and the rest of Balthazar's wives decide to rid themselves of the guy and take up his quest for themselves. The trio are all werewolves and vampyres combined and they take the moniker (or 'brand') the Werevixens. Of course, lots of other nasties and evil things populate the pages and like the last installment, the denouement drips in blood.
While not particularly scary, I found Werevixens immensely enjoyable. Yeah, lots of recycled horror tropes on display, with little reinvention; the werewolves and vampyres, for example, are true to the genre (although the author does give us desert and water vampyres!). What makes this stand out involves the playful combining of these tropes, wrapped in a feminist mantel. Gals had it rough in the Old West, and these gals are out for some pay back! While the second in a trilogy, although you can read it as a standalone, but I recommend the Koyotes first. 4.5 bloody stars!!
July 9, 2022
As the thirteenth koyote is my favorite book of all time, this sequel was everything I expected and wanted it to be. I never wanted it to end. Triana’s writing is some of the best in my opinion and I can’t wait for book 3 in this trilogy. I’m sad I finished this book so quick because I know nothing can compare to the great time I had while reading this.
July 8, 2022
Triana's epic horror western series is nothing short of mind-blowing. Well developed characters, beautiful writing, explosive bloody horror, and a cosmic werewolf/vampire saga that never lets up. There were characters I really loved and characters I totally despised. Seeing Delia from The Thirteenth Koyote play an even larger role here made me so happy!! Triana writes women very well and this book showcases that above all his others.
I don't want to spoil anything by telling you the plot. Just know that this is a world that will totaly consume you. I wanted to be reading it at all times. I love knowing there is still a third book in the series on the way. I could read a hundred more.
I don't want to spoil anything by telling you the plot. Just know that this is a world that will totaly consume you. I wanted to be reading it at all times. I love knowing there is still a third book in the series on the way. I could read a hundred more.
August 30, 2023
Another good read by Triana. I didn't enjoy this one as much as book 1 but if you have read the 1st book, it's still worth a read.
July 11, 2022
"It was funny how the kindest thing anyone had ever done for Lena was commit murder."
So... It's been a few days since I finished Ballad of the Werevixens, and honestly I still haven't recovered from it. But I think I'm finally ready to talk about it.
For a long time now, I've been itching for another book set in the Koyote universe. As soon as I heard we were getting a sequel, I was hyped. For most of this year, all I've been able to think about is that one day, this book will finally be in my hands. Now that it's here, I'm pleased to report that it's every bit as amazing and violent as the first book.
It's so hard to put into words what an epic journey this book took me on. By the end of it, my heart had been ripped from my body, and stomped into a disgusting, bloody paste before my eyes. This one is part western, part cosmic horror, part werewolf novel, part vampire flick, and all violent, graphic, obscene death. Honestly, it might even be more fucked up than the first novel. Triana really has shown himself to be the master of writing intense, vivid descriptions of death and destruction.
I cannot tell you how aggressively I want more novels set in the Koyote universe. This may be an overused phrase, but I literally cannot stop thinking about this book. It, at one point, stopped me from picking up another book, because I knew it just wouldn't be as good. Please, do yourself a favor, and read this right away.
"Evil put chains on me once, but it won't never no more. I'll fight it to my dying breath, and my soul will keep on shining even then, for aint nothin' out there that can stop it."
So... It's been a few days since I finished Ballad of the Werevixens, and honestly I still haven't recovered from it. But I think I'm finally ready to talk about it.
For a long time now, I've been itching for another book set in the Koyote universe. As soon as I heard we were getting a sequel, I was hyped. For most of this year, all I've been able to think about is that one day, this book will finally be in my hands. Now that it's here, I'm pleased to report that it's every bit as amazing and violent as the first book.
It's so hard to put into words what an epic journey this book took me on. By the end of it, my heart had been ripped from my body, and stomped into a disgusting, bloody paste before my eyes. This one is part western, part cosmic horror, part werewolf novel, part vampire flick, and all violent, graphic, obscene death. Honestly, it might even be more fucked up than the first novel. Triana really has shown himself to be the master of writing intense, vivid descriptions of death and destruction.
"She was too numb to feel her flesh begin to burn. Inez's body withered with blisters and Josie held her tighter, their melting tissue connected them, and as the sunlight grew abundant the Werevixens were awash in fire, but Josie felt the sun could never blaze the way their love had."
I cannot tell you how aggressively I want more novels set in the Koyote universe. This may be an overused phrase, but I literally cannot stop thinking about this book. It, at one point, stopped me from picking up another book, because I knew it just wouldn't be as good. Please, do yourself a favor, and read this right away.
"Evil put chains on me once, but it won't never no more. I'll fight it to my dying breath, and my soul will keep on shining even then, for aint nothin' out there that can stop it."
July 15, 2022
Book 2 of a Trilogy. This book was just as good as its predecessor if not better. The violence the gore the blood thirsty vampires and werewolves or even in this book it has combinations of both which make it even better.
August 2, 2022
In extreme horror, women are most often relegated to the role of victim, a target for butchery that far too often crosses the line into serial killer pornography. Triana takes a big step away rom misogynstic tropes with his Ballad of the Werevixens, a no holds barred western/vampire/werewolf adventure story. Here, women get to play both heroes and villains, with some excellent blurring of the lines between them. The "immortal sexy vampire, superior to humans in every way" gets a most satisfying treatment, and the vengeful desperado Lena, embittered by racism and marginalisation, actually makes for a quite compelling ethical question of what can be forgiven from a person driven to extremes.
Of course, there's also endless gallons of blood, guts, demons and magic in here. Very entertaining, and well worth a read if you're looking for a gory action tale with both brains and heart (figuratively as well as smeared all over the walls).
Of course, there's also endless gallons of blood, guts, demons and magic in here. Very entertaining, and well worth a read if you're looking for a gory action tale with both brains and heart (figuratively as well as smeared all over the walls).
December 17, 2024
At first I was concerned that this was just going to be a rehash of the first book, and it kind of was, but I quickly realized that it didn't really matter, because it was even more carnally satisfying and fun to read.
The same kind of eldritch extraplanar MacGuffin as last time again attracts the attention of some profoundly evil folks (different ones this time), and in Lord of the Rings fashion, some nobodies that have the bad luck of stumbling across it have to take it into the Weird West equivalent of Mordor so that it can be unmade.
But the first book felt somewhat grounded as a western for much of the story. That is not remotely the case here. Are you human? Are you alive? If you exist in the world of this book and both of these apply, at least one of those things will change for you real quick. Characters acquire new curses like the flu, becoming all kinds of batshit combinations of witch, vampire, werewolf, and sorceress. Heroes and villains both eat people regularly, the only difference between the two being that the heroes feel a little bit bad about it afterwards.
The villain was a highlight of the first book and that's even more the case here. Glenn was a card-carrying bad guy who would gleefully answer in the affirmative if you asked him whether or not he was evil. The titular Werevixens are different- they're deeply broken, misanthropic women whose first ambition after escaping the boot that's been held to their neck their entire lives is to become the boot themselves. They're pitiable, but that makes them no less loathsome.
It has been so long since I last read an unfinished series and was this excited for the last entry. If the author is reading this, please do not pull a Patrick Rothfuss or George R.R. Martin! Make it good, make it polished, but please finish this series before one of us dies!
The same kind of eldritch extraplanar MacGuffin as last time again attracts the attention of some profoundly evil folks (different ones this time), and in Lord of the Rings fashion, some nobodies that have the bad luck of stumbling across it have to take it into the Weird West equivalent of Mordor so that it can be unmade.
But the first book felt somewhat grounded as a western for much of the story. That is not remotely the case here. Are you human? Are you alive? If you exist in the world of this book and both of these apply, at least one of those things will change for you real quick. Characters acquire new curses like the flu, becoming all kinds of batshit combinations of witch, vampire, werewolf, and sorceress. Heroes and villains both eat people regularly, the only difference between the two being that the heroes feel a little bit bad about it afterwards.
The villain was a highlight of the first book and that's even more the case here. Glenn was a card-carrying bad guy who would gleefully answer in the affirmative if you asked him whether or not he was evil. The titular Werevixens are different- they're deeply broken, misanthropic women whose first ambition after escaping the boot that's been held to their neck their entire lives is to become the boot themselves. They're pitiable, but that makes them no less loathsome.
It has been so long since I last read an unfinished series and was this excited for the last entry. If the author is reading this, please do not pull a Patrick Rothfuss or George R.R. Martin! Make it good, make it polished, but please finish this series before one of us dies!
September 3, 2022
The sequel in the planned trilogy by Kristopher Triana follows Delia on a new mission forged from the experiences of her experiences in the first novel of the trilogy. This was highly enjoyable, with much blood and guts and violence that I’ve come to associate with the Splatter Western series. Not a lot more can be said without spoiling the plot, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable read.
August 26, 2022
Another EPIC journey. Vampyres, Werewolves, and ghouls of all kinds. Gross and gory but tugged at your heartstrings. Thirteenth Koyote is one of my fav books of all time, this was a perfect sequel. Can't wait for the 3rd book to complete the Wolfpack trilogy.
December 31, 2024
I love this book it was such a fun read and such an amazing sequel. I am always skeptical when it comes to sequels, but this book is almost better then the first. I did not expect the direction it went, but loved how it ended up going, you will not regret reading this book, if you loved the thirteenth coyote you will love this book.
July 3, 2025
There are parts of this one that are good and there are parts that drag on. Oscar is the best character in the book. Hopefully if the trilogy is completed we will get a lot more of him and less of crappy characters that ain’t even gonna make it.
November 7, 2023
A great and epic splatter western!
August 19, 2024
Excellent vampire/werewolf western!
November 14, 2024
It's a bit long, but overall, it was a good romp through the haunted wilds of the American Midwest.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews