The wild west and wilder werewolves

The Wolves of El Diablo

Eric Red

 

Short, Scary Tales Publications

August 1, 2017

4 stars

Tucker, Fix and Bodie are three 19th century American outlaws in the desert and mountains of Mexico. They have already fought a gang of werewolves to save a small village for little profit. So they are about to rob a train to make up for that loss of profit margin. It looks like an easy job but they are unaware that there is a troop of Mexican Federales abroad guarding a shitload of silver. On top of that, the sister of the leader of the werewolves they killed is hunting them down for revenge. Outlaws, soldiers, werewolves and silver is not the kind of mix that will ends in any way but terror and violence.

Eric Red's The Wolves of El Diablo is a sequel to The Guns of Santa Sangre where the outlaws meet The Men Who Walk Like Wolves for the first time. I have not read the first book and there may be some back story in it that might help in this one. However not reading it didn't lessen my enjoyment of the second book. The author gives enough background so you can understand what took place previously and whiz through this enjoying every minute. If your idea of a novel is action packed and full throttle adventure then that is exactly what you will do. There is a very cinematic feel throughout the book which makes sense considering the author's day job as screenwriter. The action scenes are as descriptive and tight as one would want. But what I like is how, mixed in with the endless action, we get some actual character development. The three outlaws are about as three-way bromance buddies as you can get. There is a tough but honorable captain who is out of his element when confronted with the supernatural. There is even a bit of a romance with Tucker and a girl from the village, However that girl is definitely not the weeping willow type and holds her own through all the shooting and attacking. But the real star of the novel is Azul, the she-wolf. We get an lot of back story for her that explains her obsession and viciousness. This is all top notch pulp adventure. The author keeps you interested in what will happen and makes you care about what will happen later to the main characters. For while the novel does have a satisfactory ending, there will definitely be a third one. I'm looking forward to it.

Eric Red writes tight horror and tight suspense. The Wolves of El Diablo has both. It is basically a western in wolves' clothing. Red writes visually. He envisions each scene and communicates it so well that you can see it too. For this type of novel it is what makes it works. But when a writer writes like this you don't need to ask if they can write and ask for their credentials. You just enjoy it. . He don't need any stinkin' badges.