The Shotgun Arcana

August 25, 2014
Sheriff Jon Highfather, Malachi Bick, and the ragtag guardians of the tiny town of Golgotha (introduced in The Six-Gun Tarot) reunite to face down Raziel, the power-drunk “god of murder and divine secrets,” and his band of cannibals, murderers, and thieves. Golgotha is the wildest of the Wild West, attracting mystics, minor deities, alchemists, seers, and fanatics in a fantastical romp through science, legends, and the Bible. Its defenders are an unlikely bunch, including members of a secret society of female assassins, a group of cutthroat pirates, the mayor, and a secret federal agent. Malachi Bick may be an angel of God, but he is not widely loved, as he controls the town by giving out loans at usurious rates. When it‘s time to repel the invasion, the townspeople unite in quite surprising ways. But traces of the evil remain behind, giving readers plenty of reason to look forward to the next installment.

October 15, 2014
An 1870s Western town suffers a fresh assault of eldritch threats in this compelling and action-packed sequel to The Six-Gun Tarot (2013). A shattered skull inhabited by the spirit of murder draws its former guardian, the corrupt angel Raziel, and his disciples, a horde of insane cannibals, to the town of Golgotha, Nevada, just in time for Thanksgiving. It's up to the doubting angel Biqa (aka Malachi Bick, the town's saloon/brothel keeper and richest man) and Golgotha's other unusual citizens to defeat the evil crew. Romance also blooms in town between a number of couples, including Clay Turlough and his best friend Auggie's undead former wife, Gerta, whom Clay has resurrected via stitched-together corpse parts and a serum concocted from demonic worms. Belcher attempts to shoehorn 21st-century values concerning women's rights, fair treatment for sex workers, and interracial and gay romance into a late-19th-century milieu. That might not entirely ring true-but on the other hand, most of what happens in Golgotha is plenty (and enjoyably) implausible anyway. What seemed like a too-large cast in the previous installment makes more sense in the context of a longer series; the author has definitely extended and deepened our relationships with these people. Just as Buffy the Vampire Slayer's hometown of Sunnyvale sat on a Hellmouth, so, too, does Golgotha act as a nexus for all things supernatural and sinister. The real question is why anyone would choose to stay there; the sad but generally intriguing truth is that most have nowhere else to go, and incursions of chupacabras, spectral spiders and serial killers seem like a small price to pay. Can Belcher keep things fresh as he continues to chronicle the doings of this doomed desert town? Only time will tell.On to the next apocalypse!

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September 15, 2014

The frontier town of Golgotha, NV (last seen in Belcher's debut title, Six-Gun Tarot), is a hotbed of occult happenings and secretive characters. A skull possessing the power of death--of complete unmaking--has been kept safe in the town for years, but it appears that teeth from this artifact have been scattered over the world, influencing the bearers to commit unspeakable acts of violence and depravity. There are those in Golgotha who will stand against evil when it descends once again on their town. VERDICT A worthy addition to Belcher's highly imaginative series, with a large cast that is both magical and mundane and a well-drawn historical setting. Weird West fans will happily gobble this one up, and it would be great paired with Emma Bull's Territory or the recent anthology Dead Man's Hand.

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