A Bloody Good Read

THE DEAD MAN #5: THE BLOOD MESA by James Reasoner was released today and is already garnering rave reviews throughout the blogosphere. Permission to Kill says:

This month’s instalment in The Dead Man series is The Blood Mesa by James Reasoner and a bloody good read it is too – with the emphasis on the word ‘blood’ – but you knew that from the title, didn’t you? [...]The joy comes from, not only a story that delivers what it promises, but told at such pace that it will leave most readers breathless. This story is the literary equivalent to a drag strip race, with the title page being the starting line, and the first paragraph being the green light. From its opening, the story keeps accelerating until its brutal climax. That truly is its strength – it’s rapid fire pace and its unflinching brutality (which you’ve got to expect from a series featuring an axe wielding hero).

Post-Modern Pulps also enjoyed the exhilarating pace and non-stop action.

The story riffs off of some creepy western themes, with a hefty dose of cannibalism, whacko/zombie-movie mania, and did I mention there's a few sticks of dynamite thrown in for good measure? The Blood Mesa [is] another excellent yarn from the Texan author - it is highly recommended.

And our friends at Wag the Fox are onboard for the fun, too.

 If you ever read Scott Smith's The Ruins, or watched the film adaptation as I did, then you might be familiar with the idea of a supernatural force inflicting itself on a group of isolated students on an ancient archeological site. There was a lot of drawn out suspense with that film, as I recall, gradually building the tension until they finally decided to make a break for it. Reasoner doesn't mince around with any of that and goes straight for the jugular, ramping up the danger almost immediately, plunging Matt, the professors, and students, in a blood-soaked rampage that echoes the kind of tragedy that may have befallen the Anasazi. While you aren't too worried about Matt making it out alive, he's got several freaked out college types about to be plunged into his world--and not all of them are making it out alive. [...] I really got a kick out of this one and I think it holds up very well with the rest of the series.

If you haven't read the DEAD MAN series yet, this is the perfect time to start!