Marlena Frank, $2.99, ISBN 978-1465800466
Horror, 2012

Justice in Clarkville, if one can call it that, is swift and permanent. Sheriff Ritters shoots whomever he considers guilty, and most of them are then thrown into a dark pit for the hissing Night Feeders to enjoy. 

One of the ladies of the night has had her sister thrown down the pit, so she discreetly contacted outsiders for help.

That’s how Colton Fen comes into the picture. The detective needs to be thrown into the pit to locate the woman, so he antagonizes the sheriff in order to do so.

Okay, I will get straight to the point. You know what the problem of this story is? 

Colton is a werewolf. Sure, that wouldn’t be an issue under any other circumstances, except that in this story, being a werewolf means he has regenerative powers up the wazoo as long as he’s not shot with a silver bullet. 

So, he basically takes a walk in the park here. Sure, he can be smug, because Ritters, as a mere human, can never expect to beat him as he has no clue what Colton is until too late, but this also means that there is no sense of suspense or danger in this story. The author makes it too obvious from the moment Colton show up that he has everything wrapped up at his own pace and time.

The story is readable, and the premise of a Western woo-woo is intriguing, but in the end, the author’s decision to have the protagonist and his allies being overpowered to the wazoo in comparison to the antagonists only ensures that the story will never be gripping or engaging in any way.