Smorgasbord Book Reviews -#Western #Horror #Thriller – Guns of Perdition – The Armageddon Showdown Book 1 by Jessica Bakkers

This week I have been reading the debut novel by Jessica Bakkers – Guns of Perdition – The Armageddon Showdown Book 1

About the book

IT TAKES GRACE TO HUNT WHEN IT’S DARKSOME

Jessie expects he’ll be forever cleaning up after the cowpokes of the Bad Hoss Saloon. That’s until the day a drifter strides through the doors, and blows away a blood-sucking demon, along with Jessie’s belief in an everyday world. Jessie is captivated by the enigmatic Grace, with her pearl-handled revolvers, and wolf companion. He throws in his normal life and follows her across the Wild West, as she hunts down and slays the evil creatures that roam the frontier.

Along the way, they seek the aid of a Native American warrior, cross paths with a Cajun Queen, and encounter a small-town tycoon with a deadly hunger for gold. Animosity and distrust plague Grace and Jessie, and their strange group of allies, but they must put their differences behind them if they’re to have any hope of finding and defeating the frontier’s true evil, the Darksome Gunman.

The Armageddon Showdown is a dark-fantasy, weird western series of epic proportions, focusing on the age-old battle between good and evil, though in the Wild West, it’s not always clear just who is good and who is evil.

Join Grace Dyer and her band of miscreants as they battle demons and demi-gods, in the frontier’s deadliest conflict…the Armageddon Showdown.

My review for the book October 8th 2020

This is not a ‘cosy’ mystery that you can relax in front of a fire with your slippers on and a cup of hot cocoa just before bed. It is more saddle up, get your boots on and prepare for the ride of your life.

This multi-genre debut novel of Jessica Bakkers has all the elements of a classic western, including the lingo, intersected with demonic apparitions, shapeshifters, and an evil overlord, with displaced Indian tribes and innocent townspeople caught in the crossfire.

Horror is a tough genre to carry off well and the author certainly achieves that in style. The  characters are multi-dimensional and complex with both the dark and light shades to their personalities giving them depth. The pivotal relationship of Grace and Jessie evolves throughout the book as he grows from aimless teenager to a man with purpose and performs his role of narrator, conscience and scribe. She is hardened by childhood trauma and the ongoing quest for revenge, but this tough exterior hides a softness shown to only to her horse and loyal wolf until now.

At the heart of the story is an evil driving force that will stop a nothing to bring Grace and her posse to the final destination. The climax that awaits them is both horrific and unexpected as it is for the reader.

This book is excellently written, compelling and also violent and blood-curdling. There are also some lusty encounters which was not uncommon in the wild west of the time. Not many respectable occupations for women who ventured into the gold and cattle towns of the day, especially when they were a little devilish!

Expect the unexpected in this book and  I am sure it will delight lovers of horror and action stories. A great start to the trilogy and I am looking forward to book two.

Read the reviews and buy the book: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK – More Reviews: Goodreads

About Jessica Bakkers

I am a creative writer with over twenty years of writing experience. I am a speculative fiction writer, and have written in the genres of fantasy-romance and paranormal-romance, however my genre of choice when it comes to writing for myself is dark fantasy where I can allow myself to fully explore the anti-hero characters that pepper my stories. I dabble at poetry and have written professionally for clients locally and internationally.

My debut novel, Guns of Perdition, The Armageddon Showdown Book 1, is a dark fantasy stroll through a weird wild west setting, pitting bad heroes against worse villains.

My major love affair is with the written word; specifically creative writing. I allow myself to indulge and rendezvous with this secret lover whenever time allows… and then we make beautiful poetry together!

Connect to Jessica Bakkers

Author pages: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK – Website – JessicaBakkers.com – Facebook – The Written Word – Twitter – @JessicaBakkers

 

Thank you for dropping in today and I hope you have enjoyed the review for Jessica’s book and will head over to buy.. thanks Sally.