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A review by motherhorror
Dust Devils by Jonathan Janz
4.0
3.5! Rounded up for Goodreads
“Now remember, when things look bad and it looks like you're not gonna make it, then you gotta get mean. I mean plumb, mad-dog mean. 'Cause if you lose your head and you give up then you neither live nor win. That's just the way it is.”
― Forrest Carter, The Outlaw Josey Wales
Just finished DUST DEVILS by Jonathan Janz last night. I was still in my bed staring at the ceiling, searching the files of my brain for that damn, Josey Wales quote! Thank goodness for Google searches because it's just the perfect quote for this story.
The protagonist, our unlikely hero, Cody Wilson isn't full of "grit & spit" like you would expect from a Western. He's a bit craven and probably not the most intimidating fighter.
Even though he's on this revenge mission, the reader gets an early sense that Cody might be biting off more than he can chew pursuing a pack of wild, beefy vampires across the desert.
The book starts off in the eye of the storm with Cody watching the vampires from a safe distance. He encounters a young boy doing the same thing and the two of them make a hasty introduction--the kid showing he has more courage and balls than Cody, actually, and he tells Cody his revenge story.
Through some clever interludes of flashback, we get the basic idea of why Cody is trailing the vampires--from here, Cody develops a fatherly bond with Willet since they're basically on the same quest and neither one of them have any family to speak of. Part one: The story set up is my favorite part of this book. Although, I have to mention: One of my favorite aspects of the Western genre is how the environment/landscape is almost like another protagonist--the authors usually give a lot of page-time to its description and I feel like that element is missing; just a smattering of scenery details here and there.
But the scenes with Cody and Willet were really enjoyable--this is where Janz shines. He writes relationships so well and I've said this in another book review, but Janz is the most successful when he writes a bit of himself into the characters--Cody's fatherly protection of Willet is achingly sweet.
Part Two introduces one of my favorite characters in the story, Marguerite- a strong female protagonist as opposed to some of the other female characters who are just horribly unlikable.
The middle portion of this book is very graphic (both violently and sexually) and gives the reader their first real "look" at the vampires. I have to say--sometimes there truly is a threshold for how much sex and violence I can tolerate in my horror. It's so much more compelling when some evil act is implied, or the narrative cuts away and leaves a bit to the reader's imagination but in DUST DEVILS, everything is explicitly detailed and my brain does get weary of it (I'll even skim on to the next scene).
Kenny Rogers once sang, "You gotta know when to hold 'em. Know when to fold 'em." and the same goes for sex & violence.
(I always feel like I have to defend my sensibilities when I say something like that, but I'm a horror fan, so obviously, I like things dark, disgusting and depraved-just not needlessly "porny")
In the last part of the book, things pick up. I enjoyed the way Janz ended this tale. For a Western/Horror mash-up, I think it left a little to be desired, but I do think it's entertaining, compelling and full of some great characters. I would recommend it to other horror fans.
“Now remember, when things look bad and it looks like you're not gonna make it, then you gotta get mean. I mean plumb, mad-dog mean. 'Cause if you lose your head and you give up then you neither live nor win. That's just the way it is.”
― Forrest Carter, The Outlaw Josey Wales
Just finished DUST DEVILS by Jonathan Janz last night. I was still in my bed staring at the ceiling, searching the files of my brain for that damn, Josey Wales quote! Thank goodness for Google searches because it's just the perfect quote for this story.
The protagonist, our unlikely hero, Cody Wilson isn't full of "grit & spit" like you would expect from a Western. He's a bit craven and probably not the most intimidating fighter.
Even though he's on this revenge mission, the reader gets an early sense that Cody might be biting off more than he can chew pursuing a pack of wild, beefy vampires across the desert.
The book starts off in the eye of the storm with Cody watching the vampires from a safe distance. He encounters a young boy doing the same thing and the two of them make a hasty introduction--the kid showing he has more courage and balls than Cody, actually, and he tells Cody his revenge story.
Through some clever interludes of flashback, we get the basic idea of why Cody is trailing the vampires--from here, Cody develops a fatherly bond with Willet since they're basically on the same quest and neither one of them have any family to speak of. Part one: The story set up is my favorite part of this book. Although, I have to mention: One of my favorite aspects of the Western genre is how the environment/landscape is almost like another protagonist--the authors usually give a lot of page-time to its description and I feel like that element is missing; just a smattering of scenery details here and there.
But the scenes with Cody and Willet were really enjoyable--this is where Janz shines. He writes relationships so well and I've said this in another book review, but Janz is the most successful when he writes a bit of himself into the characters--Cody's fatherly protection of Willet is achingly sweet.
Part Two introduces one of my favorite characters in the story, Marguerite- a strong female protagonist as opposed to some of the other female characters who are just horribly unlikable.
The middle portion of this book is very graphic (both violently and sexually) and gives the reader their first real "look" at the vampires. I have to say--sometimes there truly is a threshold for how much sex and violence I can tolerate in my horror. It's so much more compelling when some evil act is implied, or the narrative cuts away and leaves a bit to the reader's imagination but in DUST DEVILS, everything is explicitly detailed and my brain does get weary of it (I'll even skim on to the next scene).
Kenny Rogers once sang, "You gotta know when to hold 'em. Know when to fold 'em." and the same goes for sex & violence.
(I always feel like I have to defend my sensibilities when I say something like that, but I'm a horror fan, so obviously, I like things dark, disgusting and depraved-just not needlessly "porny")
In the last part of the book, things pick up. I enjoyed the way Janz ended this tale. For a Western/Horror mash-up, I think it left a little to be desired, but I do think it's entertaining, compelling and full of some great characters. I would recommend it to other horror fans.