Coyote Rage - Shape-Shifters, Talking Animals, Brutal Death Scenes OH MY
Shape-shifters. An alternate dimension. Talking animals. Brutal death scenes. Talking corpses. You’re going to get all that and one hell of a story in The Bram Stoker nominated novel Coyote Rage by Owl Goingback.
If I’m being completely honest this type of book is not something I would usually pick up as it’s more dark fantasy and less horror, but I’d heard good things and Independent Legions Publishing continually puts out quality work so I was willing to give it a shot and I’m incredibly glad I did.
What makes this story so good and so different from anything I’ve ever read before is the way in which Goingback makes all of the crazy stuff he has going on in the book seem like it fits and makes perfect sense within the world he has created.
It’s hard to describe with our explaining the plot however. The story follows a few main characters as they move through our world and a parallel dimension that is full of shape-shifters. This parallel dimension is full of strange creatures like a giant rolling head, talking skeletons and animals that can also talk. There is a council between our dimension and the other one that keeps the peace between the two places. However, a death of one of the members on the council opens up an opportunity for Coyote, one of the council members to declare war on our dimension. The characters, especially the ones from the other dimension, have the ability to move from one dimension to another through portals that they know about on each side. When the animal characters are here, they can take the shape of an animal or a human and they can also stop their transformation halfway though and become a hybrid of both human and animal. This is Coyote’s preferred form and he uses it to instill fear in the humans he comes across.
Although that plot description is lengthy, it doesn’t do the story justice, as there is a hell of a lot more going on, but it gives you an idea of the strangeness of it all. But as I said earlier, the realism that Goingback creates is what makes this book. You’ve got all the shape shifting and inter-dimensional movement and still a very much real-life, believable story about a shape-shifting coyote trying to go to war with humans.
This was my first Owl Goingback book and I’m so happy that I got the chance to read it. He’s published a good number of books over the years and enjoying this one as much as I did makes me want to go back through and read some of his other books because I know that I’m going to enjoy pretty much everything he’s written. The pacing is perfect and you never get to a point in the book where you’re waiting for the next thing to happen. Goingback takes you from one event to the next in rapid fire succession. Coyote Rage is a fun gripping dark fantasy novel that makes you want to turn the page. You’ll be reading through this one in just a few sittings because once you start it, you won’t be able to put it down. .
Don’t want to miss anything on the site? Sign up for our newsletter HERE
Want more spooky reads? Just search below:
