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hallowed ground provender creed niall wilson well written david niall stephen king steven savile old west good against evil weird western wild west savile and david edge of my seat really enjoyed highly recommended great read quit reading typical western steven king deacon and balthazar
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C.T. Top Contributor: Star Trek
5.0 out of 5 stars It's like Needful Things in the Old West
Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2016
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That's the short review of this book by David Niall Wilson and Steven Savile. The book's premise is a mysterious traveler comes to a sleepy little town in the Wild West which is full of secrets, feuds, and hatreds. By the end of the conflict, the town has torn itself apart with the traveler's true supernatural evil having been exposed for the world to see.

There's significant differences in the story, especially as it becomes increasingly clear the traveler is subordinate to a much more malevolent entity, but the Stephen King influences definitely jumped out at me and that's not a bad thing. The book is fairly thick on metaphor, symbolism, and hints of things to come which may bother some readers but I found enjoyable.

Interestingly, the authors seem to be worried about how the book would be received since they felt the need to put a Foreword in the beginning which warns it's not a shoot-em-up bang bang sort of Western. I don't think this was necessary, albeit I never dislike a good shoot em up, since the idea of a supernatural meditation on sin and evil isn't a bad thing.

The world of Hallowed Ground is a spooky and subdued place where all of the sins of the townsfolk are hidden under a respectable, albeit paper thin, veneer. There's the town prostitute who more than anything wishes to be a mother and a nurturer. There's the man who would do anything to raise his dead fiance and thinks he can out-think the Devil in terms of deal-making. There's the mysterious Deacon serving as Randall Flagg and Leland Gaunt figure but perhaps not so happy being the Devil's handyman as he may appear.

Overall, I think I was most impressed with the character of the Deacon who provides the book with most of its energy. I think the book is always at its most enjoyable when he's dancing around, making promises and prayers which aren't necessarily going to the same God everyone else claims as their own. I buy he's a strange and charismatic figure to the people of Rookwood, who would potentially sell their souls to him simply because he's that charming.

The book stumbles a few times with its symbolism and metaphor as I got a little lost toward the end with the five way feud happening between the Devil, Deacon, our heroes, Lilith, and an angel. I think the book might have benefited a bit by scaling back to only be focused on Deacon, the Devil, and our heroes but that's just me. Despite this, I like the book's ending and think it's set up for a sequel or even series.

A warning that the book is a slower and more methodical read where you have to take time to soak in the atmosphere. The book is about fifty percent mood and another thirty-percent metaphor so that it you really are missing something if you try to plow through it. This is a book which should be read at night with your complete concentration. I also think the book uses too many pronouns versus proper names, which is the weirdest complaint I've ever made about a book.

In conclusion, I recommend Hallowed Ground to those who enjoy Weird Westerns and more cerebral horror. The fact I wanted to read a second book starring the surviving heroes immediately after the end of this volume should tell you I enjoyed it.

9/10
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KitKat19
3.0 out of 5 stars Sets up well...Then fails to deliver.
Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2016
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"What in the Hell is going on here?"
Provender Creed asks this in one of the final chapters and I felt right there with him. There are a lot of viewpoints in this book, many who only exist for one very short chapter (it took a minute or less to read). That makes it impossible for any character development to happen. At least 75% of the book is telling instead of showing. We are handed judgments of characters and just told how they are which is almost a necessity considering almost no one gets the opportunity to make any kind of choice in the book. Spoiler alert: Everyone is morally gray.
This book is severely lacking in two important things to be good fiction: a protagonist and conflict. There is only one person with a goal in the whole story, a man named The Deacon. I think they were going for a Dark Tower vibe with that...Anyway, he's got one, even though he never shares what it is with the reader or any other characters. We get hints of what it might be but it's never clear what he wants, not even when it happens because it all seems to go horribly wrong.
The one guy that you could almost root for, Provender Creed, just kind of ambled along, pushed to do things by curiosity and other people with no real goal or ambitions of his own. Most of the characters were like that. They were pawns of other people, other people who SEEM to have goals but they never let us in on it.
The book gets 3 stars instead of 1 for a few reasons, though. Reason 1: The cover is amazing. It's the whole reason I bought the book. Too bad the book didn't live up to the cover's promise (It's not about a female gunslinger at all, as the cover would have you believe.) Reason 2: The writing isn't bad. It's not good...but not bad. It reads like a first draft. There are still some mistakes in there. The publishing company asked for people to send them a list of mistakes but I stopped counting after 20. Editing doesn't normally make or break a book for me, though, so I'm not counting that against it. All of that being said, the book showed promise at some points. It had some good moments and seemed like it was building up to something really awesome. It was at the end when things fell apart and the author failed to deliver on that promise of awesomeness. All I got instead was confused.
What the hell even happened? I still don't know. I probably won't purchase from this author again but I haven't lost faith in the genre yet.
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Barbara Mason
4.0 out of 5 stars She comes
Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2013
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"She died," Chessie said. "She died, rose, and nearly died again. She comes. The crows know her - the crows guide her. She follows the sound of a crying child. She follows the drag of un-kept promises on her heart."

Not your typical western. Not your typical creepy story either. The author captures your imagination and holds on to it to the very end. There were only a few moments of confusion, but in general, a very understandable and good read. The words flowed, the plot thickened, things in the night were made known. Loved the Cover.

This read will not scare the be-geebies out of you, but it will make you squirm a-bit. The editing was wonderful (had a few recently that were just down right awful) and a pleasure all the more to read.

The main characters shone in all their flaws. We have an unlikely hero who prefers to be left alone. We have a vengeful twice dead woman who wants revenge. We have a few demons and a few circus folk who make you wonder what is on their minds.

I would certianly read another by this Author and hopefully, this story continues, for though the ending wrapped it up nicely, there must be more, there has to be more.

Recommended for 17plus as it could cause nightmares in the young. Great Read. Barbara  Hallowed Ground
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Di-W
5.0 out of 5 stars Splendidly different!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 26, 2016
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I have read Steven Savile before but this is certainly different. I read so many books, constantly, that I sometimes bore myself with familiarity of choice so I deliberately went for something different and what a lovely surprise it was.

I enjoyed the premise of good and evil, though wasn't 100% sure who was which for parts of the book, and what the author was asking me to believe I believed. That is a skill.

I happily went along with the characters at a swift pace and though there was a lot of detail in the different individual stories, it wasn't difficult to take in.

I'm not sure if there's a follow-up book but if there is I'll gladly read it.

Give it a go, it's an age old story but refreshingly told with well crafted characters and a feel-good ending. Enjoy!
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Daz Pulsford
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Dark Western
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 9, 2011
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Hallowed Ground is a clever Dark Fiction take on a Western that simply crackles with supernatural energy and bristles with Frontier spirit. This is a time when Faith was strong, Whiskey was plentiful, morals kept communities together and wrongdoers found themselves face down in the nearest gulch with snakes for company.

When The Deacon - a mysterious preacher with malevolent intent - sets up camp near Rookwood with his motley crew of rescued, deformed souls, trouble visits the small town. He hurtles towards his dark destiny that seeks to devour the whole Town for his own ends.

For Provender Creed, a simple but thoughtful man, things will never be the same. He alone can see through the spell cast upon his fellow townspeople, and it leads him to his own destiny.
For Mariah - reborn from the ashes of a deal with the Devil - the journey to discover who she is, was and will be begins.

Set against this are a colourful array of characters - a gifted dwarf artist, the very first scorned woman and her demonic henchmen, a trio of cackling witches, a lonely women bereft of the gift of child, a fast-shooting Sheriff who smells trouble, an eight-fingered piano player, and the powerful and relentless Balthazar.

With snappy action, plenty of preaching, several astounding miracles, and more than a splash of the battles of the divine - Hallowed Ground brings the varied talents of these two writers together to create a masterful tale that will keep you gripped right to its impressively epic conclusion
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Kindle Ray
4.0 out of 5 stars Unusual, strange but addictive
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 7, 2016
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A book that grows in strength and grabs you. Enjoyable read if a bit stark at times, give it a go folks
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Graham Howells
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 14, 2015
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