This is a novel set in a realistic wild west setting which features magick, resurrection, and has an emotional reach which impacts the reader as it progresses.

A woman uses a spell to bring her husband back to life. He's been massacred along with others and she must replace some of his body parts with those of others for the spell to take effect. That's a particularly gruesome yet detailed scene.

But of course that comes with consequences. When she last saw her husband, he was a rampaging monster, causing her to flee in fear and guilt.

Years later and she's hired two killers to accompany her because she now wants to end her husband's life again. He's a performer in a wild west revue show and he is the Unkillable Frank Lightning. But he's a changed man. He's sweet and has friends, nothing like the monster he was.

We'll follow all of these wonderfully written characters as moral choices must be made which are hard to follow. The choices which could, and do, lead to bloodshed in the blink of an eye and the resulting fallout leads us on a horrific trail and nobody involved will be the same again.

I loved Josh's novel Charlie Fish and I was thrilled to see a certain character from that world have a huge impact in this novel. If you've read Charlie Fish you'll know.

This is a great story that takes a Frankenstein like tale and gives it a fresh makeover while delivering the terror, action, and heartfelt moments we all love. I highly recommend this one.

Merely calling this gothic horror western a “Frankenstein retelling” is a bit of a disservice because it’s so much more than that. It’s a devastating epic about lost love, how far someone might go to keep it, and the consequences of that obsession. Rountree’s words are thoughtfully indulgent without being bloated. He writes grief like nobody else and is a master at dialog. I fell in love with these characters almost immediately. I also really appreciate the fact that the main character is a middle aged woman, a lead we so rarely get to read from. Once again, this author has blown me away with his beautiful storytelling.