This review will be kicking off an ongoing series of reviews here at Forbes Brothers. We plan on reading and reviewing works from our genres and adjacent genres. This includes post-apocalyptic, detective thriller, and certain brands of science fiction. We will mostly focus on independent, self-published works. But the occasional mainstream title might be worth talking about.
Apocalypse Cowboy is a series by W.S. Wentworth about a 'bounty hunter' named Samuel operating in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Misplaced Faith introduces us to his titular character and the world he inhabits. The story makes use of gangs, fuel-type resources, modern-day weaponry, and also some monstrous creatures sprinkled about.
Over the course of this story, we see Cowboy picking up jobs and searching around for safe havens (of which there are very few). He trades in resources like fuel, booze, water, and ammunition; as money is no longer an item of value. He picks up one particular job centering around a woman and a child, and this job presents something of a moral dilemma. Cowboy himself is also a target of several bounties, with other figures in the wasteland out to get him along the way.
Now that the objective stuff is out of the way, let's get to the subjective.
The good: I enjoyed that this was a quick and easy read. It was a good launching point for the adventures in this world as it wasn't a huge commitment. I notice that structure (shorter chapters, shorter reads) becoming more and more popular these days, and I can see why. This story also makes it clear there's more to come, almost like a running comic series. I can get behind that.
I also liked the general vibes of the world. It feels very Fallout, but the world's end didn't come from nuclear war. There's a creative twist on how things went to Hell that I enjoyed, as it adds an element of existentialism. Finding morality in a brutal, uncaring world is always an interesting discussion.
The characters and their bounty system felt like something out of John Wick. Cowboy and Klayton specifically felt almost cartoonishly matched with each other, and Cowboy tends to make quick work of the other rowdy inhabitants in this world. I liked this, personally, as it makes it clear the bounty hunters are more capable than the average thug or guard. Cowboy's advantage seems to be his pain tolerance. If this were Fallout, he would be an endurance build for sure.
Overall, I think the characters and setting are quite creative, and the feeling of the world is entertaining, at the very least.
The bad: I think this story could've used a tad more editing. I give liberty to technical issues, since I know most readers won't pay as much attention as another author would, but there are some inconsistencies in dialogue punctuation. There's also an abrupt change in tense towards the beginning. It's not a problem if it's in the character's head, but if a paragraph is suddenly present-tense, when most of the story is past-tense, it can be a bit jarring.
There isn't any head-hopping, however, and I did feel pretty in-tune with the character's thoughts. Cowboy's perspective is in first-person, while any other perspectives (mostly Klayton) were in third-person. I could see how some might dislike this arrangement, but I didn't personally have a problem with it. The shifts are clearly defined so all-in-all I think the author knows what he's doing with perspectives.
The good outweighs the bad, in my opinion, and every author is growing over the course of their career. I look forward to more adventures with Cowboy, and exploring more corners of this post-apocalyptic world.
4 out of 5 possible stars for me. A good read with more to come.
Article by Zachary Forbes. Published November 6, 2023.
Comments