by
Bowie V. Ibarra
'High Midnight' by Rob Mosca is an outrageously wild 'grindhouse pulp'-style weird western. The story was amazingly eloquent in spite of its violent and spooky supernatural setting. When I saw a luchador sheriff on the cover at a horror convention, I had to grab it!
The story is about a group of homicidal clowns who lay siege to the town bar of the haunted south Texas town of Unity. Unity is a seedy western-style town in a modern world, which brings in the tourists, but is still lost to the progress of the state because of infestation with killer cryptids, ghosts, and the living dead. But the town has a charm and allure that houses the world's vagrants and vagabonds looking for solitude in its creepy streets.
Laredo Beaumont is the sheriff of the town. And as you might imagine, he's the right man for the job in the bizarre city. He's a drunk and former money fighter who found, among other things, who found some peace in the city for him to drink his pain away. He's in love with the ghost of a dead prostitute in the local brothel and managed by the mayor and her husband. And when he's ready to lay down the law, he puts on his old money-fight luchador mask.
His only deputy and help is a bonabo chimpanzee named Cicero, whose habits are even worse than Laredo. But they're the defenders the strange city needs.
His only deputy and help is a bonabo chimpanzee named Cicero, whose habits are even worse than Laredo. But they're the defenders the strange city needs.
The clowns who lay siege to the city are just as outrageous. They range from the traditional buffoon to the modern juggalo. When they hold a local bar hostage, its up to Laredo to figure out what their problem is and save its citizens in danger.
The reason for their assault on the city and the final battle is amazing.
The book is easily one of the most enjoyable I've ever read. I was immensely pleased with the ease of eloquence that Mosca sculpted the tale. Mosca is one of the most poetic writers I've ever read. His prose is beautiful, even as he describes the violence and bloodshed, its a book that follows in the eloquent tradition of the classics. There's even a human/ghost love scene that is a testament to Mosca's imagination.
The story is linear, but places flashbacks throughout to fit in the missing puzzle pieces to the story and build to a very enjoyable climax. The finish to the story was surprisingly touching, filling a 'love story' element to the book that readers will appreciate.
'High Midnight' by Rob Mosca is a weird western/'grindhouse pulp' masterpiece. The book is completely ZombieBloodFights.com approved. I encourage everyone who reads this review who hasn't picked up this book yet to get it today in kindle or paperback here today.
For more weird western reading, check out 'The Cruel Fate of Dr. Brewster McGill' from ZombieBloodFights.com. It's the story of a snake-oil salesman who grows envious when he discovers a rival has discovered an ancient Aztec relic that creates an elixir that not only cures all, but raises the dead. It's available in Kindle and Paperback here.
BOWIE V. IBARRA earned a BFA in Acting and an MA in Theatre History from Texas State University. Network with Bowie and explore the ZombieBloodFights library at ZombieBloodFights.com.
