Ghostwalkers by Jonathan Maberry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

For all you folks out there waking up and suddenly getting a craving for an Undead Raptor Jesus, this is your lucky day!

What? What?

Or I should say, the Weird West is out in full colors with this novel, an adaptation of the Deadlands paper-based RPG game that's full of great storytelling elements from a WoDish dark Wild West with screaming rocks, undead soldiers, mad scientists, and Hell beginning to encroach upon the Earth. This is the Weird West, full of high-tech gadgets, magic, and a hell of a lot of wild action as only an over-the-top western can make it.

I could argue that any such setting and possibility deserves five stars, of course, but I won't.

This book hops along wonderfully with some great characters and story. A certain Thomas Looks Away kinda stole the show, but I had no problems at all with the development of the tortured gunslinger Grey or the firecracker gunslinger girl Jenne. There's a lot of stock stuff here, sure, but it's how it's dealt with in the Weird West that makes it awesome.

And then there are the undead raptors. Hell, all the dinosaurs and flying machines and aetheric missiles and the Cthulhu-like mythos running wild, too. It's enough to make me have a nerdgasm. So yeah, while it does have a flavor of steampunk, it's really very American, so don't let that turn you off. I got kinda tired of the whole steampunk thing, too, but this is just plain fun. :)

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