MELINDA WEST AND THE GREMLIN QUEEN
by KC Grifant
Gunslinging monster hunters vow to take out a nasty batch of gremlins in Grifant’s fantasy sequel.
It’s been a year since Melinda West and Lance Putnam retired from hunting and exterminating monsters. They’re content with a quieter ranch life in their small town of Five Peaks.So, it’s with reluctance that they agree to help another town, Fallows, where humans have been dying from an inexplicable illness that causes their veins to glow, post-mortem. Melinda and Lance quickly find the culprits: gremlins. They start their hunt by going after a single “grem” that they spotted in Fallows, which ultimately leads them to crowds of the creatures. The gunslingers, armed with pistols, dynamite, and a crossbow, garner new allies, including the recently widowed and noticeably pregnant Brigitta; alchemist witch Nox, and several others. The grems are able to multiply at an alarming rate, so it seems that the only way to take them down for good is to somehow ensure that they stop laying eggs. Grifant’s taut follow-up to Melinda West: Monster Gunslinger (2023) wisely devotes more time to establishing its unforgettable setting. It’s not a monster story set in the Old West, but rather a Western that happens to contain monsters, as evidenced by Melinda and Lance’s attire (each wears a wide-brimmed hat and a duster), weapons (six-shooters with holsters), and means of transportation (ever-dependable horses Pepper and Mud). The heroes face a variety of engaging challenges, including vicious creatures that hail from the Edge (including “fire cattle” with “too-wide mouths like sharks”), a fissure between the human world and the monster world; untrustworthy outlaws and refugees at an outpost; and frequently rough terrain. Numerous characters receive the spotlight at various times, including those who appear in only a few chapters. Lance is little more than Melinda’s sidekick, but the duo’s mutual loyalty and respect is unmistakable and a driving narrative force.
A dazzling, delightfully entertaining fusion of a horror tale and a Western.