|
"The Magpie Coffin"
|
“I had come to burn the fucking world down.”
Salem Covington sets out on a journey for revenge after getting word about the murder of his teacher and mystical mentor, Dead Bear. The Comanche shaman wasn’t the only one with a reputation that preceded him, and now the Black Magpie has a new score to settle. Lying inside “The Magpie Coffin”, Dead Bear’s corpse is brought along for the ride, while Mr. Covington employs the aid of army scout Jake Howe to help him track down the men responsible for his teacher’s death, in this dark and hyperviolent quest for vengeance written by Wile E. Young.
Salem Covington sets out on a journey for revenge after getting word about the murder of his teacher and mystical mentor, Dead Bear. The Comanche shaman wasn’t the only one with a reputation that preceded him, and now the Black Magpie has a new score to settle. Lying inside “The Magpie Coffin”, Dead Bear’s corpse is brought along for the ride, while Mr. Covington employs the aid of army scout Jake Howe to help him track down the men responsible for his teacher’s death, in this dark and hyperviolent quest for vengeance written by Wile E. Young.
Readability
The first thing that stands out about “The Magpie Coffin” is the story’s pacing. There is notable action in just about every chapter, and I wouldn’t expect anything less from the splatterpunk genre. What did surprise me however is that for such a straightforward narrative, it’s clear that Young didn’t want to write a story completely devoid of character (which is not something typically seen from a genre made infamous by authors who embraced mindless exploitation like a badge of honor).
The story is told from the first person perspective of the main protagonist (and I’m using that term loosely), Salem Covington (a.k.a. Black Magpie). The plot holds pretty tight to the story’s premise (search and destroy), but not without its moments of peculiar tension and minor plot holes that get swept under the rug. I will say that there is also a subtle twist that was well executed. Now even though there are some events that were obviously included just to hint at the idea of a sequel, all the main storylines within this book get resolved, and overall, I was satisfied with the novel’s ending.
I think the author had a favorite five-dollar word for this novel, because it’s mentioned on four separate occasions… and quite frankly, I don’t blame him. It really fits the mood:
caterwauling
/ˈkæt̬.ɚ.wɑː.lɪŋ/
gerund or present participle
(1.) the shrieking of a feline animal
(2. derogatory) unpleasant noises that sound like a distressed cat, but made by a person
Creativity
Mr. Covington is a son of a gun, who quite literally has a spiritual attachment to one (technically you could say two, but he only has one in his possession). Throughout the entire novel, the weapon is constantly whispering and screaming at him to make a killing. I can’t help but wonder if this is supposed to be some kind of subliminal message about marriage. The Black Magpie took an oath to satisfy the bloodthirsty weapon at the risk of ending up like his brother (who burns in hell), that is if he falls short of his obligation. Sounds like a toxic relationship if you ask me, but maybe it was cheaper to keep her as far as that goes. So long as the weapon is in his possession, Salem cannot be killed by any other handheld ballistic weapon, except for his brother’s gun (which has the same kind of Faustian pact attached to it). I thought this was a fun plot device for a revenge tale, because it allows the author to kill two birds with one bullet. Once Salem avenges the death of his teacher, he will still have his gun that needs more action (which allows room for sequels without having to set the stage and commit to anything ahead of time).
Speaking of killing - be prepared for some graphic descriptions of sex and murder in “The Magpie Coffin”. Books from the splatterpunk genre are known for pushing the envelope when it comes to cringeworthy imagery (whether it be sexual, violent, or both simultaneously), and this one is no different. There are some death scenes that are so ridiculous that I found them to be more laughable than terrifying, and I’m not ruling out the idea that they could have been intended to be interpreted that way. From a guy being stuffed inside a Bison carcass while he’s still alive and having the hole sewn up so he will bake inside the rotting flesh under a hot desert sun, to sadistic rituals taking place in a hidden rape dungeon and described to an autistic level of detail, I felt like I was reading some edgy teenager’s testimony to a Fatality they executed in a Mortal Kombat video game. I’m just like, “COME ON, MAN! Was it necessary to shove the snake down his throat, too?” Needless to say, the term overkill is an understatement to describe the silly savagery that takes place in this book.
Delivery
“The Magipie Coffin” has a rocky start and takes an odd turn about halfway through. The story begins with Salem shooting up a Saloon full of “Yankee Soldiers” after one of them unwittingly spills the beans about Dead Bear’s murder. The scene ends with Salem getting the names of a group of soldiers known as the Bad Hand (who were directly responsible in the murder), before killing the guy who gave him the information. In the very next chapter, Salem has travelled two days to Fort Sill, in search of the men responsible, but instead ends up killing a random soldier and abducting another. Salem thinks to himself that the soldiers “looked of sufficient rank to know whom I sought”.
First off, if he was going to take a glorified hostage to help him point out the men he was searching for, then why didn’t Salem just take the soldier from the Saloon who knew the whole Bad Hand Outfit by name? Second, Salem needlessly kills the old soldier from Fort Sill and took the younger soldier (Jake) as his reluctant companion. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to believe the older soldier had the intel Salem needed (not to mention experience)? What’s worse is that after kidnapping Jake, Salem high tails it out of Fort Sill without knowing whether or not the men he wanted were there, but worse still the army never ends up searching for their missing scouts.
The biggest plot hole in the novel gets glossed over without so much as a second thought. I’m talking about when Salem’s character shows off Jake’s fallen comrade and says:
“The scouts will find the tracks, but they’ll declare both of you AWOL. Joined up with an outfit eager to find their fortune, I’ve seen them do it plenty. If they find you, they’ll hang you, simple as that.”
At first I thought this was just clearly a bluff on Salem’s part (since the story is narrated from his p.o.v.), but apparently Jake was convinced by this malarkey. I think this was just lazy writing on the author’s part, because the fact that Jake was kidnapped from an army outpost never gets addressed throughout the rest of the novel. I think if scouts from Jake’s outpost found him later in the novel, that could have made for some interesting conflict of interest and trap him in a moral conundrum of sorts (depending on the situation). Plus there’s no fucking way the army is just turning a blind eye to missing assets without any formal investigation taking place whatsoever.
I think that could have served for some great midway tension, instead of having Sergeant Craft’s twisted mother double-cross the men who saved her. From what I could tell, the woman sells out Salem and Jake to Sergeant Craft for no other reason but because the author felt like shoehorning some shock value into the story just for shits and giggles. Either that, or the woman had absolutely no sense of self-preservation. The whole incest thing really didn’t track, either. I don’t understand how that was supposed to justify Mrs. Craft’s act of betrayal, given the context in which Salem found her.
Now the Ruby Holloway twist, however, that was well done. Her backstabbing behavior didn’t come as a surprise as much as it was just a good setup, because her character was a known whore from the get go, which means her loyalty could be bought or traded for, and lasts for a limited time only. Her character seems grateful at first (given the fact that her neck was literally on the line when she was discovered), but when left to her own devices, she nails a dipsy doodle and decides to pull the old “what have you done for me lately?” routine. Now ain’t that a bitch? In the end, she gets her just deserts.
Speaking of happy endings, I don’t have much to say on this one, except that I thought it was a solid conclusion to a simple narrative and it provided adequate closure in that regard (despite the gaping plot hole).
The first thing that stands out about “The Magpie Coffin” is the story’s pacing. There is notable action in just about every chapter, and I wouldn’t expect anything less from the splatterpunk genre. What did surprise me however is that for such a straightforward narrative, it’s clear that Young didn’t want to write a story completely devoid of character (which is not something typically seen from a genre made infamous by authors who embraced mindless exploitation like a badge of honor).
The story is told from the first person perspective of the main protagonist (and I’m using that term loosely), Salem Covington (a.k.a. Black Magpie). The plot holds pretty tight to the story’s premise (search and destroy), but not without its moments of peculiar tension and minor plot holes that get swept under the rug. I will say that there is also a subtle twist that was well executed. Now even though there are some events that were obviously included just to hint at the idea of a sequel, all the main storylines within this book get resolved, and overall, I was satisfied with the novel’s ending.
I think the author had a favorite five-dollar word for this novel, because it’s mentioned on four separate occasions… and quite frankly, I don’t blame him. It really fits the mood:
caterwauling
/ˈkæt̬.ɚ.wɑː.lɪŋ/
gerund or present participle
(1.) the shrieking of a feline animal
(2. derogatory) unpleasant noises that sound like a distressed cat, but made by a person
Creativity
Mr. Covington is a son of a gun, who quite literally has a spiritual attachment to one (technically you could say two, but he only has one in his possession). Throughout the entire novel, the weapon is constantly whispering and screaming at him to make a killing. I can’t help but wonder if this is supposed to be some kind of subliminal message about marriage. The Black Magpie took an oath to satisfy the bloodthirsty weapon at the risk of ending up like his brother (who burns in hell), that is if he falls short of his obligation. Sounds like a toxic relationship if you ask me, but maybe it was cheaper to keep her as far as that goes. So long as the weapon is in his possession, Salem cannot be killed by any other handheld ballistic weapon, except for his brother’s gun (which has the same kind of Faustian pact attached to it). I thought this was a fun plot device for a revenge tale, because it allows the author to kill two birds with one bullet. Once Salem avenges the death of his teacher, he will still have his gun that needs more action (which allows room for sequels without having to set the stage and commit to anything ahead of time).
Speaking of killing - be prepared for some graphic descriptions of sex and murder in “The Magpie Coffin”. Books from the splatterpunk genre are known for pushing the envelope when it comes to cringeworthy imagery (whether it be sexual, violent, or both simultaneously), and this one is no different. There are some death scenes that are so ridiculous that I found them to be more laughable than terrifying, and I’m not ruling out the idea that they could have been intended to be interpreted that way. From a guy being stuffed inside a Bison carcass while he’s still alive and having the hole sewn up so he will bake inside the rotting flesh under a hot desert sun, to sadistic rituals taking place in a hidden rape dungeon and described to an autistic level of detail, I felt like I was reading some edgy teenager’s testimony to a Fatality they executed in a Mortal Kombat video game. I’m just like, “COME ON, MAN! Was it necessary to shove the snake down his throat, too?” Needless to say, the term overkill is an understatement to describe the silly savagery that takes place in this book.
Delivery
“The Magipie Coffin” has a rocky start and takes an odd turn about halfway through. The story begins with Salem shooting up a Saloon full of “Yankee Soldiers” after one of them unwittingly spills the beans about Dead Bear’s murder. The scene ends with Salem getting the names of a group of soldiers known as the Bad Hand (who were directly responsible in the murder), before killing the guy who gave him the information. In the very next chapter, Salem has travelled two days to Fort Sill, in search of the men responsible, but instead ends up killing a random soldier and abducting another. Salem thinks to himself that the soldiers “looked of sufficient rank to know whom I sought”.
First off, if he was going to take a glorified hostage to help him point out the men he was searching for, then why didn’t Salem just take the soldier from the Saloon who knew the whole Bad Hand Outfit by name? Second, Salem needlessly kills the old soldier from Fort Sill and took the younger soldier (Jake) as his reluctant companion. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to believe the older soldier had the intel Salem needed (not to mention experience)? What’s worse is that after kidnapping Jake, Salem high tails it out of Fort Sill without knowing whether or not the men he wanted were there, but worse still the army never ends up searching for their missing scouts.
The biggest plot hole in the novel gets glossed over without so much as a second thought. I’m talking about when Salem’s character shows off Jake’s fallen comrade and says:
“The scouts will find the tracks, but they’ll declare both of you AWOL. Joined up with an outfit eager to find their fortune, I’ve seen them do it plenty. If they find you, they’ll hang you, simple as that.”
At first I thought this was just clearly a bluff on Salem’s part (since the story is narrated from his p.o.v.), but apparently Jake was convinced by this malarkey. I think this was just lazy writing on the author’s part, because the fact that Jake was kidnapped from an army outpost never gets addressed throughout the rest of the novel. I think if scouts from Jake’s outpost found him later in the novel, that could have made for some interesting conflict of interest and trap him in a moral conundrum of sorts (depending on the situation). Plus there’s no fucking way the army is just turning a blind eye to missing assets without any formal investigation taking place whatsoever.
I think that could have served for some great midway tension, instead of having Sergeant Craft’s twisted mother double-cross the men who saved her. From what I could tell, the woman sells out Salem and Jake to Sergeant Craft for no other reason but because the author felt like shoehorning some shock value into the story just for shits and giggles. Either that, or the woman had absolutely no sense of self-preservation. The whole incest thing really didn’t track, either. I don’t understand how that was supposed to justify Mrs. Craft’s act of betrayal, given the context in which Salem found her.
Now the Ruby Holloway twist, however, that was well done. Her backstabbing behavior didn’t come as a surprise as much as it was just a good setup, because her character was a known whore from the get go, which means her loyalty could be bought or traded for, and lasts for a limited time only. Her character seems grateful at first (given the fact that her neck was literally on the line when she was discovered), but when left to her own devices, she nails a dipsy doodle and decides to pull the old “what have you done for me lately?” routine. Now ain’t that a bitch? In the end, she gets her just deserts.
Speaking of happy endings, I don’t have much to say on this one, except that I thought it was a solid conclusion to a simple narrative and it provided adequate closure in that regard (despite the gaping plot hole).
#LFLR Indie Rating: 6.5/10
“The Magpie Coffin” is good enough for some easy sleazy entertainment, and I think readers of either dark westerns or splatterpunk horror would enjoy the story. Personally, I would be interested in checking out the sequel “A Few Souls More” sometime down the road. I’d like to see how Wile E. Young decided to develop the narrative, because I noticed several directions he could take the story based on the hints scattered throughout this novel.
“The Magpie Coffin” is good enough for some easy sleazy entertainment, and I think readers of either dark westerns or splatterpunk horror would enjoy the story. Personally, I would be interested in checking out the sequel “A Few Souls More” sometime down the road. I’d like to see how Wile E. Young decided to develop the narrative, because I noticed several directions he could take the story based on the hints scattered throughout this novel.
THIS BREAKDOWN IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE #LFLR NETWORK.
