How the West was fun

You have to love a good genre-blending story. A story that surprises and defies expectations while remaining true to conventions that keep you coming back to your favorite genres. “Red Rabbit” by Alex Grecian is one of these books. 

The book is set in a familiar post-Civil War America on the western plains and involves a bounty the characters in the book are trying to collect. So, it’s a “Western,” right?

However, there are certain features at the outset of the story that are counter to that setting and the Wild West genre. One of which is the bounty happens to be on the head of Sadie Grace, “the notorious witch of Burden County, Kansas,” which is perhaps a hint this is not going to be your straight forward Western. 

As the story progresses we learn that this Western becomes a quest story that includes ghosts, shapeshifters, demonic possessions and a town straight out of your worst “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” nightmares. You know, Louis L’amour meets Stephen King with a sprinkling of Homer.

“Red Rabbit” centers around a motley crew of characters trying to track down Sadie Grace and collect on the bounty. Along the way, we learn about the characters of this ragtag posse and their hidden motivations for going on the hunt. The title character, Rabbit, a mysterious and silent young girl or boy (the other characters can’t decide which) has an uncanny knack for sensing danger and escaping it. There is also Ned Hemingway and Moses Burke, a pair of drifters who served together in the Civil War and are now making their way across the West seeking adventure and maybe a buck or two. And there’s Old Tom Goggins, a witch hunter, who is the “leader” of the crew, but perhaps not as skilled as he might think in his profession.

Each quirky character of the group hunting Sadie, the witch, has a fascinating backstory the reader learns about as the story unfolds (including Sadie herself, who definitely surprises). As the motley posse gets closer to finding Sadie, more supernatural obstacles are put in their way, some of which are fatal. The group, who essentially start out as strangers, get to know each other along the way, and form bonds through their deadly encounters. As the characters form connections to each other, so does the reader, and you grow to care what happens to each of them.

“Red Rabbit,” on the whole, is expertly paced. The chapters are short and flow well, even as the perspectives seamlessly change from one chapter to the next. The writing style is straight forward and matter of fact, while also being very cinematic. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if this book was adapted to the screen. The wide open vistas of the western plains, the creepy small towns and the ultimate shoot’em out of the book’s climax all lend themselves to a movie treatment. So, if you are looking for a bit of genre-bending fun to start out the new year, look no further than Alex Greican’s “Red Rabbit.” 

Josh Benjamin is a bookseller at Books on the Bosque, located at 6261 Riverside Plaza Lane, Suite A-2, or at booksonthebosque.com.