There is no peace in death. Some people know that better than others, In Carson’s Point, Colorado the dead do not rest, but rise every night and try to kill whatever crosses their path. Those dead are merely the symptom of something far worse, something ancient and evil that does not care for the Europeans taking the lands, or for those who lived there before.The living do not matter, the dead … are tools, the possible spawn of the pale, white thing lurking in the woods are all that is important to that dreadful force. It will kill anything that gets in its path and make living and the deceased suffer for their transgressions.Carson’s Point is on a course that leads straight to Hell, unless something comes along that can fight back against the unnatural servants of the thing that wants the boomtown destroyed.The wizard, Albert Miles, is in town for reasons all his own, escaping the latest terrors he’s spread across the land. He might well be able to save the town, but if he does he’ll exact a terrible price.The new sheriff has his work cut out for him. There are savages waiting outside the town, dead things crawling from the grave, bad men set on taking what they want and fools aplenty trying to survive the disasters coming their way until they can once again go hunting for the dreams they hope will change their lives.Jonathan Crowley could very well be the salvation that the town needs, but he has no desire to help anyone living there and has settled himself on one mission and one mission only: revenge against the soldiers that left him for dead.The Hunter has quit and no longer wants anything to do with justice for humans or stopping the evil things that feast on humanity’s sorrows. Evil grows throughout the town, mortal evil and things far worse. And when the sun sets, that evil takes root and spreads like wildfire.
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I love James A. Moore’s writing. I’ve been reading him since UNDER THE OVERTREE which was published in 2000. He introduced an enigmatic character in that tale that I have eagerly followed ever since. That character is, of course, Jonathan Crowley. I find Crowley as memorable as King’s Randall Flagg. In some ways, Crowley is more memorable than the Walkin’ Dude; he is equally pervasive in Moore’s writing.
There are times when Moore’s writing is thoughtful and sensitive. This is not one of those times. Let me be clear; I read horror in most of its glorious forms. I hate to say I ‘enjoy’ books of psychological horror because they often delve into cringeworthy areas of crime and brutality. On the other hand, I do enjoy reading supernatural horror. BOOMTOWN is both supernatural and psychological. Right along with some undead (I would hesitate to call them zombies, but they do have those characteristics) beings there is quite a bit of brutality against women and children. This is not a book for the faint of heart. For me, the most compelling reason to read BOOMTOWN was anticipation of learning more about Crowley. For others, the aspect of the old west and the interaction between settlers and the native population, albeit with a supernatural twist, might be the draw.
Despite some specific scenes making my skin crawl, I would eagerly read a sequel to BOOMTOWN because it would, of necessity, add more to Crowley’s story right alongside a glimpse of the darker side of old west history.
Boomtown is a title that has been on my radar for a short while, ever since James A. Moore announced it on Facebook some time back. A weird western, fronted with cover art by Zach McCain? You’re damn right I want to read it! When Moore announced online he had ARCs ready for reviewers, I almost literally leaped at the chance to get an early look at this one.
The small, walled settlement of Carson’s Point has a problem — there’s an ancient skinwalker in the area, drawn to the mining town by old magic that he seeks to claim, in addition to killing the new settlers for taking land that is not theirs to claim. The skinwalker isn’t the only problem though; there are bandits, thieves, and murders leaving a trail of bodies behind. After a trapper brings back ten frozen bodies for burial, one of the deceased has a miraculous recovery and disappears. Jonathan Crowley isn’t like most men. For one thing, he has a serious problem staying dead or even wounded. He also possess arcane knowledge, and is unnaturally fast on the draw, pointing guns some witnesses would claim he didn’t possess seconds earlier. He’s also the only hope Carson’s Point has, even if he doesn’t want to help. Still, Crowley finds himself drawn into the escalating violence as he seeks revenge for his own murder, and then finds himself in even more dire straights as the days progress.
Crowley is a recurring character in Moore’s large body of work, having previously appeared in the currently out-of-print Serenity Falls trilogy and 2017’s One Bad Week (also from Haverhill House), although Boomtown was my first introduction to the man. Thankfully, Boomtown functions well as a stand-alone title, and going back to the wild days of the American west makes this a highly accessible entry-point for newcomers to Crowley’s adventures. In fact, this is a great introduction to Crowley and my only regret is that so much of Moore’s backlist is currently out of print that tracking down the bulk of his past appearances could be a bit of a project. I dug Crowley a lot — the dude’s kind of built on the Wolverine template, with his rapid healing, asocial tendencies, and penchant for swift and wicked violence — and I certainly aim to read more about him, and hope to track down some used copies of the prior books.
On the Weird Western front…well, Moore certainly doesn’t skimp there either. Carson’s Point is positively littered with all kinds of supernatural hijinks, although the primary nuisance here is the skinwalker and his creations. The skinwalker is able to reanimate the dead and he calls forth a band of Native Americans slaughtered by former soldiers now resting easy in the settlement. Although there are zombies aplenty in Boomtown, in the case of the Native American undead Moore puts a nifty little spin on this trope that really helps separate them from your usual pack of shambling brain-eaters, which I appreciated greatly.
Boomtown is a dark and very effective work of wild west horror, and Carson’s Point is densely populated with monsters, both human and otherwise. American expansion and settlement into the west was certainly a perilous and tumultuous period of US history, to put it lightly, and Moore doesn’t shy away from the violent and inhumane aspects of the era. While several women fall victim to rape and children are counted among the murdered, Moore never writes such scenes in a salacious, leering, or gratuitous manner. Even spared the grisly details, one depiction of a helpless child’s murder managed to hit hard. Sensitive readers may still wish to prepare themselves, although, thankfully, such mentions of sexual assault and child death are kept very brief and directly to the point. Boomtown does not offer a romanticized view of the American west, but a gritty horror story of predators and prey, and, in keeping true to the period being written of, the violence that ensues.