Coyote's Trail by Edward M. Erdelac review

This book is a good old-time western, with cowboys and Indians, Mexicans and white settlers who tend to enforce the laws they created by treating the indigenous population and the poor like subhumans, who have no power and no rights whatsoever.

If there is a driving force in this story I'd say that is hatred. As it is well known, violence breeds violence, so when on two separate occasions the white man's soldiers, or rather mercenaries, commit unspeakable crimes, some of the survivors decide to pay them back with the same coin. But how can the weak beat the strong? And how can the poor beat the rich?

The author talks extensively about the evils of the past, which are not so different from those of today, just by narrating this tale, without even trying to sound didactic. In these pages we meet rich bootleggers and helpless drunks; heartless soldiers and greedy townspeople; whores, desperate souls, and family men who care more about what the others will say than their own flesh and blood.

Na-e-te-nay is an Indian and America a Mexican, and they are the victims of the crimes that I've mentioned above. They live in a land with laws that don't protect them, so how can they get justice? Sooner rather than later they realize that the only way to manage that is by helping each other. As their journey starts, rivers of blood begin to flow. Will they survive this ordeal or not? And if they succeed in their mission, will that give them the peace of mind that they crave?

The reader can feel nothing but sympathy for these two unfortunate people. They may look and sound unlikable quite often, but at a time and at a place like the one they are in, they do seem to stand out as a beacon of light and hope, for those who don't have the power to speak and act for themselves.

I have to admit that when I started reading this book I wasn't so sure that I was going to like it, but in the end it won me over. The background is rich, though bleak, the characters are well crafted, and the action at times is quite breathtaking. Coming to like a book that at the beginning doesn't really excite you is something extraordinary, and I have to give the author his dues for a job well done.

Published in the latest edition of Crime Factory Magazine

Graphic Book Review: Hawken by Benjamin and Timothy Truman

Hawken by Benjamin and Timothy Truman is a graphic novel that tells the story of a killer unlike any other, a man that seems to be a force of nature.

Tim Truman returns to the Weird West! The industry legend teams with his son, writer Ben Truman, for a violent new tale of the supernatural! In the land of the lawless rode the soulless! Scout, hunter, raider, killer-for-hire: Kitchell Hawken has been many things - most of them bad. Scalped, tortured, and left for dead by the mysterious order called the Ring, Hawken returns, seeking vengeance... but surrounded by the ghosts of every person he's ever killed!

This is one of those special graphic novels that keep the reader constantly at the edge of his sit. There’s too much action in it, great characters, some hints of dry humor here and there, and a plot that drives the narrative from peak to peak.

An old man is riding a blind mule, in 1881, on a trail called The Road of Death that goes through the Sonoran Desert. He has done many bad things in his life. And his name is Hawken. And that’s just about how the story begins; a story full of villains, and in which bloodsheds are never too many pages apart.

Hawken is a man with a mission, and he’s determined to accomplish it no matter what. As it’s already established he’s no angel, but there are worst human beings out there; beings that need to die and thus follow him every step of the way as he heads for his final destination.

The journey will prove long but the old man rode because he was not yet finished. His enemies are plenty, and they all belong to the Ring, a gang or an order of sorts, unlike any other.

Hatred seems to be the keyword in this story. The hatred he feels for his enemies; the hatred they feel for him. In fact everybody seems to hate everyone else, yet: It is rare for a man to kindle a hatred that burns so brightly that it has the power to touch the unliving. Well, Hawken does. And that’s what keeps him going; from town to town, from massacre to massacre.

The strange thing is that the most of the humor here is provided by his victims, his ghosts. They argue with him, they have a laugh at his back, and they urge him to move forward until he reaches his goal. So it comes as no surprise that when some philosophy finds its way into the text, it has to do with them:

“All men are haunted, whether by ghosts or by memories.”
Though, “sometimes it is the living who are the ghosts.”

This team of father and son do a great job in delivering to the reader a story that is not only gripping but also hard to forget. Hawken is a character that plants himself into your memory and makes you think of his persona and his mission again and again. I guess in the hands of a capable and imaginable director this could make a beautifully dark and slightly funny movie.

Book Review: Motorcycle High: The Adventures of Rock Pounder by Dave Harrold

Motorcycle High by Dave Harrold is a high-octane and fun-loving adventure that takes the reader on a long and dangerous journey, full of action and betrayals, femme fatales, mobsters and spies.

Rock Pounder, adventure rider extraordinaire, is planning a round-the-world trip on his motorcycle. His goal is Amsterdam and the herbal refreshment that awaits him there. But when you're a legend—among women, adventure riders, and spies—nothing is ever as simple as it seems.

This is one of those books that are simply way too fun not to like. And Rock Pounder is one of those heroes that no matter how hard you try, you simply cannot forget; not only for his character, but also because he’s quite a character. He’s cool, he’s fearless, he loves his bikes and his women and he has a past that still haunts and entertains him. I will let him speak for himself.

Let me tell you about Rock Pounder. I’m mad as hell. People are starting to push me around because they think I’m old. They don’t know who I am. They don’t know that I’ve helped start three revolutions—and I’ve personally been in charge of one. I’ve ordered countless men into battle and I’ve fought many myself, and I’ve supplied money and guns to people across the globe. I’ve made love to pretty women all over the world, including two princesses and a billionaire drug lord, who was also a woman, by the way.
     I look at life, and I feel like I have at least one more big job in me, before I retire to my place in Mexico. The United States pays me $10,000 a year to keep my eyes open as I travel around. But right now nothing’s going on, and I’m looking for action.

And that is exactly what he’s going to get: nonstop action; bike and car chases through the wilderness of the Russian countryside, meetings with spies and mobsters, and secrets agents and much more. And all that despite the fact that:

I’m really a pacifist most of the time. I don’t carry a gun, and I don’t like to hurt people. But there are some things I won’t put up with, and beating up a defenseless priest is one of them.

Whether he likes it or not, Rock, will have to resort to violence more than once during this journey, this adventure; an adventure that will really start, not in the US, but when he and his buddies reach Siberia.

Well, today it started just like it does in every big city in the world. You get lost trying to get out of town. After about 20 minutes of wandering around, we found the right road and headed to Khabarovsk, about 650 due north into Siberia. I was just thinking about why we do this, why we take these long trips. I guess it’s because you like to go where there’s no help, where you’re totally self-sufficient, where it’s just you, the motorcycle, and the elements. There’s no motorcycle shop, maybe no gas stations or motels, just pure adventure. I guess that’s why we go, and we just don’t go around the block on the motorcycle too much.

Going around the block would probably be the best thing that could happen to him in this case, but that’s not meant to be. Instead he’ll travel through Siberia, go to Russia, Ukraine and Poland, sleep in luxury and out in the open, face betrayal and find a true friend, and then think, constantly think about his life.

Rock feels like he’s blessed and cursed at the same time. He really enjoyed his ride through life, but he cannot help but think that maybe it’s time for him to call it a day. What started his wanderlust was a book, Around the World in 80 Days, but if things keep going the way they do now, it’s doubtful that he’ll have, in the end, 80 days to live.

What do they want from him? Why can’t they just let him be? he keeps wondering. Who are they? His boss, “Fat Man” Manfred, and the CIA. They are interested in a package that contains a computer program that could change the world. And so is the Russian government, and so is the Mafia who’s after him. The problem is that he doesn’t have the package. The problem is that, even though he doesn’t know it yet, he’s going to get it.

Oh well, when you think about it it’s all business as usual for Rock. He’ll just do what he has to do, while trying to avoid his silicon-made ex-wife, his pursuers, a woman who lusts after him and… and…

What I liked the most about this novel is not so much the action, but the interactions; the interactions between some of the main characters; the love and hate relationships, the lack of trust between them. I’ve also enjoyed Rock’s sense of humor, his stubbornness and his lust for travel and adventure. To put it simply, Rock is here to entertain, and entertain he does.

Book Review: Wizard’s First Rule by Terry Goodkind

I’ve decided to read Wizard's First Rule after watching a few episodes of the TV series The Legend of the Seeker. I really didn’t know what to expect when I got hold of the book. Would I enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the televised adaptation? (Not as much as Merlin though) Would I like it more? Or would I just be disappointed? I have to say that even now, after reading the first outing of this multi-volume opus, I cannot really say how I feel about it; a bit confused maybe. And that is only because in some parts I prefer the TV version and in others the written. But also, I have to say that every now and then the series ill serves the text, while at points the text becomes kind of boring. However…
     However, I cannot really say that I’ve wasted my time reading it. It took me less than a week to slip through the more than 750 pages of the paperback edition and at the end I left it behind with a wide grin on my face, while at the same time wondering about what is going to happen next. No, I don’t know that since in their effort to adapt the books the TV people decided to move back and forth through the various volumes and thus make things complicated for any future readers. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing.
     Now, let’s take a look at the story. A young man who works as a Forest Guide and goes by the name of Richard sees his entire world falling apart from the one moment to the next as his father falls dead in the hands of some foreign intruders. At the same time a strange yet beautiful woman comes out of nowhere looking for him and his good old friend Zed who has quite a lot of secrets to share. She’s on a mission to lead them across the liquid and terrifying wall that divides the world to the other side where they are to fight the good cause against the legions of a new tyrant in the land of D’ Hara. The latter, Darken Rahl, intends to unite the three parts of the world and rule them as one. Richard, according to the legend, is the Seeker, the only one who can oppose his plans, despite the fact that he’s still ignorant of his special fate. So we follow his steps as he’s struggling to find his way in a yet unknown land; a land much tougher that he could ever comprehend. His journey will be a journey of blood-baths and hard-earned experiences, which will lead to his self-fulfillment and a new sense of knowledge that will hang heavy on his mind and soul. During the best part of this ordeal he’ll have Kahlan, the mysterious woman, by his side; a woman unlike any other: strong and fragile, logical and at parts quite out of her mind, brave but weak in the face of love.
     The Wizard’s First Rule is a fantasy adventure, with tones of mystery, which takes place in a strange land where the metaphysical is the rule not the exception. Its author may not be Tolkien but he sure knows how to create an imaginary world and help the reader travel through it. But, and this is an important But, I think that the book would be much better if it was, let’s say, a hundred pages shorter. I’d point out to the part of the story during which Richard travels with the Mord’Sith; that could really benefit from some editing. Who knows, though; maybe the author is yet another victim of the publishing world’s demands of… writing bricks of volumes.
    Anyway, despite the above, I’m sure that the friends of fantasy writing will enjoy this book just as much, or even more than I did, since it more than serves its purpose.