The Starving

A group of bounty hunters escorting their prisoner come across the town of Barclay which is under attack by something or someone that leaves its victims torn to shreds...

This one is extremely well written, and the journey through the forest to find the attacker, whatever it may be, a war party of angry Indians or some unknown creature, sets a beautiful scene. Naturally, what happens in it is anything but beautiful...

Several bodies, or the remains that can barely be called that, are found in town. They have been torn apart so viciously they can't even tell who they were before. This book is filled with so much violence and gore, but it never felt excessive to me, and just added to the horror.

The town of Barclay is described well and brought to life by the author as well. From the lumberjacks, it's aged but capable Sherriff, and gold rush mining town history, it was fully realized. It made for a great setting.

All the characters in here are great, and once I got all their names down, that took me a bit, I started to enjoy them. They all have their own backstories and POV sections, which fills the book with a lot of personality. Led by Weston, a cowboy type who wanders after the death of his family, you also get Dutch and Phillips in his group, who you will slowly learn everything about.

They are accompanied, quite reluctantly by Baker, the deputy of Barclay, who is a racist loudmouth and immediately doesn't get along with any of them, least of all their Native American prisoner, Farway Sue who they brought along for his tracking skills in desperation.

The group's trek through the snowy forest and the battle with what they find are excellently done and the story has so many bloody action-packed scenes. But paced perfectly with this is the backstory of every character and the town, and there are just so many good sentences that stuck in my mind while reading.

Added to the physical horrors, the group undergoes psychological torment as well as they come to grips with what is real and isn't, and its effects on them. Weston especially deals with this later on in the story and no spoilers of course, but what he sees is pretty gruesome!

Wonderfully written, great characters, action, and gore and horror all done so well, this is a great ___ (Not telling!) tale. And lastly, while I don't normally comment on book covers, this one is effective and cool looking and is actually what drew me in while browsing for a new book to read, so there you go.