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Gideon Thorn #2
Leviathan Rising: A Weird Western
Gideon Thorn, still seeking answers to the slaughter of his family when he was two years old, pursues reports of an unearthly flying monster liberated from a southwest Texas silver mine. While hunting the man-eating terror, Thorn becomes mired in a small town's dilemma, caught between a ruthless robber baron and his Pinkertons on one side, and an attractive, idealistic widow on the other. Will he solve the mystery before a living nightmare's massive wings envelop one and all?
236 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 20, 2015
22 people are currently reading
11 people want to read
About the author
Michael Newton
468 books104 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
From Wikipedia:
"Michael Newton (born 1951) is an American author best known for his work on Don Pendleton's Mack Bolan series. Newton first began work on the Executioner series by co-writing "The Executioner's War Book" with Don Pendleton in 1977. Since then he has been a steady writer for the series with almost 90 entries to his credit, which triples the amount written by creator Don Pendleton. His skills and knowledge of the series have allowed him to be picked by the publishers to write the milestone novels such as #100, #200, and #300.
Writing under the pseudonym Lyle Brandt, Michael Newton has also become a popular writer of Western novels. He has written a number of successful non-fiction titles as well, including a book on genre writing (How to Write Action Adventure Novels). His book Invisible Empire: The Ku Klux Klan in Florida won the Florida Historical Society's 2002 Rembert Patrick Award for Best Book in Florida History. Newton's "Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology" won the American Library Association's award for Outstanding Reference Work in 2006."
Pen names: Lyle Brandt, Don Pendleton, Jack Buchanan
Bibiliography available here.
From Wikipedia:
"Michael Newton (born 1951) is an American author best known for his work on Don Pendleton's Mack Bolan series. Newton first began work on the Executioner series by co-writing "The Executioner's War Book" with Don Pendleton in 1977. Since then he has been a steady writer for the series with almost 90 entries to his credit, which triples the amount written by creator Don Pendleton. His skills and knowledge of the series have allowed him to be picked by the publishers to write the milestone novels such as #100, #200, and #300.
Writing under the pseudonym Lyle Brandt, Michael Newton has also become a popular writer of Western novels. He has written a number of successful non-fiction titles as well, including a book on genre writing (How to Write Action Adventure Novels). His book Invisible Empire: The Ku Klux Klan in Florida won the Florida Historical Society's 2002 Rembert Patrick Award for Best Book in Florida History. Newton's "Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology" won the American Library Association's award for Outstanding Reference Work in 2006."
Pen names: Lyle Brandt, Don Pendleton, Jack Buchanan
Bibiliography available here.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 2, 2022
The first book in this series, Skinwalker, A Western Horror Novel, built suspense and interest as the reader attempted to predict whether or not the killer was a supernatural entity. In this second novel of the series, the reader is introduced to the creature at the very begining. There is a little mystery as to the nature of the creature - a left over from a prehistoric age or a possibly supernatural dragon. However the main interest is the reaction of various people to the realization that a creature completely outside their experience and knowledge exists and poses a serious threat. The main villain is the same mining king, George Hearst, who was a featured villain in the tv miniseries, Deadwood. He is just as unlikable in this novel as he was in the miniseries. Hearst was an actual mining magnate in the old west, a senator from California and the father of William Randolph Hearst of the newspaper empire.
Michael Newton puts believable small details in his novels which helps make the whole believable. He also develops interesting, believable characters. This novel is a well written combination mystery, adventure, creature feature and western.
Michael Newton puts believable small details in his novels which helps make the whole believable. He also develops interesting, believable characters. This novel is a well written combination mystery, adventure, creature feature and western.
December 11, 2025
Segunda parte de esta saga Weird Western protagonizada por Gideon Thorn, un hábil pistolero que recorre el Viejo Oeste en busca del asesino sobrenatural de sus padres, crimen ocurrido cuando apenas era un niño.
En esta entrega, actualmente sin tradiccion al español, Thorn llega a Nuevo Egipto, donde en una mina supuestamente han comenzado a producirse ataques atribuidos a una criatura que muchos asocian con un dragón. Al llegar, pronto descubre que existe una trama más compleja que incluye disputas por el control de la mina y, por supuesto, una criatura voladora que acecha a sus trabajadores.
Sin embargo, la novela resulta bastante convencional y no ofrece nada especialmente destacable. Pese al elemento sobrenatural de fondo, el tono se acerca más a un Scooby-Doo que a un western oscuro o de terror. Aunque el inicio parece prometedor, la parte central se vuelve plana, con constantes idas y venidas por el pueblo en lugar de una verdadera investigación sobre la criatura. Todo converge en el final, como era de esperar, pero sin llegar a explotar del todo ni ofrecer un clímax realmente impactante.
Como lectura ligera para pasar el rato funciona, pero está lejos de ser una gran novela. Habiendo leído la primera parte, que me pareció bastante mejor, lo más probable es que deje la saga aquí, sobre todo considerando que cuenta con alrededor de 10 libros.
No la recomiendo.
En esta entrega, actualmente sin tradiccion al español, Thorn llega a Nuevo Egipto, donde en una mina supuestamente han comenzado a producirse ataques atribuidos a una criatura que muchos asocian con un dragón. Al llegar, pronto descubre que existe una trama más compleja que incluye disputas por el control de la mina y, por supuesto, una criatura voladora que acecha a sus trabajadores.
Sin embargo, la novela resulta bastante convencional y no ofrece nada especialmente destacable. Pese al elemento sobrenatural de fondo, el tono se acerca más a un Scooby-Doo que a un western oscuro o de terror. Aunque el inicio parece prometedor, la parte central se vuelve plana, con constantes idas y venidas por el pueblo en lugar de una verdadera investigación sobre la criatura. Todo converge en el final, como era de esperar, pero sin llegar a explotar del todo ni ofrecer un clímax realmente impactante.
Como lectura ligera para pasar el rato funciona, pero está lejos de ser una gran novela. Habiendo leído la primera parte, que me pareció bastante mejor, lo más probable es que deje la saga aquí, sobre todo considerando que cuenta con alrededor de 10 libros.
No la recomiendo.
October 5, 2020
The second novel of the omnibus help maintain my opinion of the adventures of Gideon Thorn; straightforward writing, interesting characters and stories (so far), good world building and solid pacing. This time we get a genuine dinosaure and the mining tycoon Georges Hearst as the villains. The vibe of this story was different than the first one, but it still kept all the qualities that made me enjoy the first one. If you are looking for a weird west western that is not of the over-the-top kind, than Gideon Thorn is your man.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews