The Centaur Express

Crockett and Crane #1.5

by Kyle Robert Shultz

Some people join the postal service, while others have the postal service thrust upon them. Part-time centaur Todd Crane finds himself in the latter category, the accidental and reluctant guardian of a mailbag which will grow teeth and claws to attack him if he fails to deliver it or slows down along the way. To make matters worse, he and Amy are pursued by undead outlaws as they race to get the mailbag to its destination on time. The mail must go through…no matter how many people it has to devour in the process. Can Todd ever escape his new job in the Centaur Express?

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Humor, Dragons, Clean Romance

ebook

Published October 31, 2018

About the author

Kyle Robert Shultz is the creator of the Aftermythos, an interconnected collection of stories set in an alternate universe where fairy tales and mythology are history. Shultz is a completely ordinary human being with no remarkable qualities whatsoever. Accounts suggesting that he is a dangerous wizard exiled from a parallel reality, a cleverly-disguised magical creature passing off the history of another world as original fiction, a mysterious trickster entity described in the folklore of a circumscribed region of Wales, or a pseudonym adopted by three talking otters stacked up in a trench coat should be dismissed as not entirely accurate.

Note: I'm not active on Goodreads, so I may not see messages or other notifications. I only use this profile for business, so don't be offended if I don't accept your friend request. If you want to get in touch with me, email me at kyle@aftermythos.com.

Reviews

[Christine Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lol! Such a fun romp of a short story! I never get tired of visiting Shultz's characters. And the banter in this one was particularly golden. I'm pretty sure I was grinning through the whole thing.

[Jacqueline Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author possesses some sort of magic pen. There's no other way to explain why his stories are so fun and addicting. GIVE ME MORE.

[E.B. Dawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun little romp with Todd and Amy in Neverica. I loved the allusions to the Pony Express and the angry mailbag was hilarious.

[Grace Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure if I'm just not a "Crockett and Crane" fan, or if I just don't like this is much as I could have if I read the first book in the "Crockett and Crane" series.

I do like how Todd can turn into a centaur with his ring. And how some of the other people he is with can do things like that. This book does have its moments of humor and does have an interesting premise. But I think that a man-eating mailbag is going a little too far (as in I have a hard time believing it). That being said, I did really enjoy certain elements of this book, because, hello, it's written by Kyle Robert Shultz!

Content in Book:

1. A man-eating mailbag.

2. Zombielike creatures.

3. Other types of creatures.

4. Magic.

Who I Would Recommend This Book Too:

Those who like western stories with centaurs, creatures, magic, and humor.

[Annie Lima · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun story set in an interesting world. A little wordy at times (I'm not sure how the centaur could do THAT much talking while being forced to gallop at a speed he could barely keep up), but overall I enjoyed it.

[Amelie · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s priceless banter and an angry mail bag in a Wild West setting. What more can I say?

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Content: mild violence

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never imagined that delivering mail could be so dangerous. Very enjoyable short story full of Shultz's trademark humor and clever twists on familiar concepts (both real and imaginary).

[Noah Litle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick, fun read. I read this and The Haunted Hoard, and Mistaken Divinity: A Beaumont and Beasley Story, all in a little more than an hour.

The only thing I didn't like about this book was the "undead" characters. I hate zombies.

But I still enjoyed it, and even laughed out loud at a couple parts.

Overall, I really enjoyed it, and I hope to read more by Kyle Robert Shultz sometime soon... I guess we'll see.

[Tess · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the funniest (in my opinion) of the Afterween short stories.
Todd accidentally gets saddled (see what I did there?) with becoming a postal centaur. Oh, and if he doesn't deliver the mail, the mail will eat him.
Despite the grim situation, this was a hoot! With Any and Todd bickering all while racing across the desert, I was smiling from the first page to the very last.

[Katelyn Buxton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Todd Crane is brimful of sass during the best of times, but when you strap him under a homicidal mail bag and send him racing across the desert in his draft horse centaur form? Priceless. My only comment is that Amy came across a little too calm at times, but she effectively balanced out Todd, who would have probably imploded without her level-headed guidance. :P A fun little short story!

[C.O. Bonham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny short taking place after the events of Horseman.

Crockett and Crane are on a mission to make sure the mail gets through on time. Well Crockett is. Todd just resents the fact that only centaurs can deliver the mail. That means hard running for him. Better news a gang of magical bandits are after them.

Exclusive story only available by signing up for the author's email list.

[Cayla Huffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short story is a fun glimpse into the Crockett & Crane series. It highlights the main elements of this series: humor, awesome characters, monsters, and the Old West and magic mixed together.
On its own it's a fun little story and a good introduction to the main series.

[Grace T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great short story.

[Michelle Bruhn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a fun romp with the cast of Shultz's Crockett and Crane series! Pacing was great, and the humor made me laugh out loud multiple times.

[Carina Shephard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this is my first adventure with Crockett and Crane, I really enjoyed it! I loved how original it was and the concept of a Centaur Express.

[Bethany Kellam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally sat down and read all the short stories I missed. This was hysterical.

[Joseph Leskey · Rating 5 out of 5]

So incredibly fun, this was. It made a person enjoy themselves excessively. Completely forced to enjoy myself, I was.

[The Jesus Fandom · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can find a full review of all of the Afterverse books here.

This was fun!