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Mad Sky
Rada Dunn is used to the solitary life of the arid valley north of the little town of Peace. Nothing much happens there, and her bean and wheat crops provide her with just enough to keep her away from the rest of her kind...which is how she's come to like it.
But when she comes upon human remains that have recently been burned so intensely that they are merely sticky black bones, her serenity is shattered. And when a desperate stranger in city clothes ends up pounding on the front door of her farmhouse the next evening, telling her that she must leave the valley or face the same fate as that fire-blasted stranger she found on the north rise past her crops - only to suffer the same fate himself right before her eyes - she knows that her solitude is about to end.
She has to make it down to Peace, and if she somehow survives, inform the hardly friendly, in fact decidedly hostile sheriff and his hired guns that the weather itself has turned on humanity. Inspired by "natural horror mysteries" like Alfred Hitchcock's movie The Birds, Mad Sky is an account of nature gone not just hostile, but deadly.
Can Rada and the collection of local misfits and wannabe heroes who believe her wild tale rescue the rest of the valley's residents...and can they figure out the seemingly inexplicable declaration of war by Mother Nature herself before the town and all its residents succumb to devastating bolts of lightning...from a clear blue sky?
Kevin Candela's second "weird western", the follow-up to Blood Ridge, features memorable characters dealing with a deadly menace that even science doesn't seem capable of explaining. Expect thrills, suspense, and a mystery that takes the listener into realms far beyond the Old West.
But when she comes upon human remains that have recently been burned so intensely that they are merely sticky black bones, her serenity is shattered. And when a desperate stranger in city clothes ends up pounding on the front door of her farmhouse the next evening, telling her that she must leave the valley or face the same fate as that fire-blasted stranger she found on the north rise past her crops - only to suffer the same fate himself right before her eyes - she knows that her solitude is about to end.
She has to make it down to Peace, and if she somehow survives, inform the hardly friendly, in fact decidedly hostile sheriff and his hired guns that the weather itself has turned on humanity. Inspired by "natural horror mysteries" like Alfred Hitchcock's movie The Birds, Mad Sky is an account of nature gone not just hostile, but deadly.
Can Rada and the collection of local misfits and wannabe heroes who believe her wild tale rescue the rest of the valley's residents...and can they figure out the seemingly inexplicable declaration of war by Mother Nature herself before the town and all its residents succumb to devastating bolts of lightning...from a clear blue sky?
Kevin Candela's second "weird western", the follow-up to Blood Ridge, features memorable characters dealing with a deadly menace that even science doesn't seem capable of explaining. Expect thrills, suspense, and a mystery that takes the listener into realms far beyond the Old West.
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First published December 12, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 29, 2020
I never thought I would love a weird western so much but I lived inside this one as I read it. Mad Sky surprised me repeatedly then blew the air out of my lungs, and I yelped, “What? No!”
From the beginning this story follows solitary farmer Rada Dunn as she encounters the deadly lightning bolts that attack from the sky and kill. And yes, they are very like the birds in Hitchcock’s thriller – a seemingly hostile nature attacking man for no discernable reason. Terrifying because they depict a force you can’t reason with.
In a story worthy of being compared to The Stand an unlikely bunch of memorable characters shelter in the safety of a steampunk vehicle, The Stormbringer, as they travel up and down the North Valley rescuing the few survivors from the scattered farms and delivering them to the town of Peace, their safe haven. Villains are fought and there are debates regarding this phenomenon. Some think it’s based in science; some think religion holds the key. So, as you’re reading, you’re wondering, is this science fiction, or is the book paranormal? Like me, you may think you have it all figured out early on.
Then the bottom falls out of everything and I do mean everything, in a finale that I did not see coming. I know you’ve heard this before but I couldn’t stop reading. Then I was crushed.
I recommend this book – check it out.
#weirdwestern #steampunk #kevincandela #madsky #mystery #suspense #thriller #paranormal #alfredhitchcock #thebirds #naturalhorrormysteries #OldWest #hostilenature #sciencefiction
From the beginning this story follows solitary farmer Rada Dunn as she encounters the deadly lightning bolts that attack from the sky and kill. And yes, they are very like the birds in Hitchcock’s thriller – a seemingly hostile nature attacking man for no discernable reason. Terrifying because they depict a force you can’t reason with.
In a story worthy of being compared to The Stand an unlikely bunch of memorable characters shelter in the safety of a steampunk vehicle, The Stormbringer, as they travel up and down the North Valley rescuing the few survivors from the scattered farms and delivering them to the town of Peace, their safe haven. Villains are fought and there are debates regarding this phenomenon. Some think it’s based in science; some think religion holds the key. So, as you’re reading, you’re wondering, is this science fiction, or is the book paranormal? Like me, you may think you have it all figured out early on.
Then the bottom falls out of everything and I do mean everything, in a finale that I did not see coming. I know you’ve heard this before but I couldn’t stop reading. Then I was crushed.
I recommend this book – check it out.
#weirdwestern #steampunk #kevincandela #madsky #mystery #suspense #thriller #paranormal #alfredhitchcock #thebirds #naturalhorrormysteries #OldWest #hostilenature #sciencefiction
April 26, 2021
Kevin Candela has a wonderful way of pulling you into the story and engaging you with his characters. A very fun read!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews