First thing’s first. You’re in my town, stranger. You gotta know this here weird western review ain’t an ARC, I haven’t been given a copy by the author, and the book is already out. I’m jus’ here to tell you to take a break from your TBR and git.
Synopsis
Sheriff Errol Thorpe keeps the peace in Santiago. Most folks know not to piss him off, but when one bandit runs his mouth it sets off a violent chain of events that sweeps Thorpe along for the ride. He’s soon waist deep in bandits, corruption, flesh-eating Dust storms, revenge and human-like creatures who bleed gold.
We’re about to find out why this Sheriff is called The Judge.
Review
I’m not new to an AC Cross book. I’ve read his epistolary, The Boddicker Letters, so I was expecting there to be some splatterful horror elements to Where Blood Runs Gold. Disclaimer – I’ve also made it no secret that I love a weird western. Look, here’s me raving about weird westerns:
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But I haven’t yet raved about this weird western. Let’s fix that.
Thorpe
Cross kicks us off with a no-good varmint kickin’ up trouble in Sheriff Errol Thorpe’s small town of Santiago. We quickly learn that’s a mistake. Thorpe’s immediate introduction is a snapshot of the man’s brutality. Saddle up, because you’re moments away from that scene early doors. Cross doesn’t hold back. There’s blood on the sand and it gets real graphic, real fast. Those of a squeamish disposition better put the book down.
On the subject of that scene, it set a pretty high bar for the remaining descriptive writing of the rest of the book. I saw an author channeling Murakami’s Wind up Bird Chronicle which was unexpected but very well-done. Cross’ frontier is a harsh place make no mistake.
Let me tell you a story …
My greatest enjoyment came from Thorpe’s stories that crop up at various sections throughout the book. It speeds up a long journey while injecting worldbuilding elements. These are often like those creepy side characters that crop up in a Red Dead Redemption game. Not necessarily integral to the story but damn near addictive. That these stories sometimes serve a dual purpose is another credit to an author giving me all the weird western vibes I could ask for.
On the worldbuilding, the flesh-eating Dust storms and golden blood leads the plot along. Where did they come from? What are they for? The monsters in the shroud vary in shape and size but there was always something that nudged me toward reading just one more chapter. Like Cross’ Lovecraftian take with Boddicker Letters, there’s not always a clear explanation which adds to the disturbing element.
This is also, of course, a particularly sweary novel. What else would you expect? Thorpe is a satisfyingly blunt sumbitch after all. The characters all feel like an authentic take on the genre, meaning that I was fully immersed in the world.
Whether it was a Thorpe story, someone’s ass getting beat, or all manner of weird western fuckery going on, beyond his cycle of violence protagonist Thorpe is a human who is deeply vulnerable. He’s a real bastard, sure, but there’s no shortage of those close to him that call him out on it and bring out a different side. Because of this, by the end of the novel we’re saddlin’ up and riding out with Thorpe ain’t no mistake.
This is How You Do A Weird Western
This book serves as a reminder to not neglect your TBR. As reviewers, we love the shiny and the new future releases so much that it’s easy to forget that we’re sitting on a real gold mine of indie talent already. So, as for this being my TBR reminder, Where Blood Runs Gold was a dropkick in the teeth.
Getting to know The Judge, Errol Thorpe, who’s not far removed from Frank Castle blasting through the Wild West, was a bone-splinteringly wild read. His story gave me a burning two fingers of neat bourbon for breakfast, it gave me Red Dead, it gave me Bone Tomahawk. Simply put, this, if ye beg my pardon ma’am, is how you do a weird western.
You gotta read this, pardner.
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