Review: Old West Duel
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 4, 2013
I admit I like free stuff. I also admit I'm not entirely rational in my thought process. For example, I happily hand over my Bouchercon and Left Coast Crime Conference fees and feel like I've won the lottery when I receive a bag filled with books. Seriously, this ends up being one of the major highlights of these conferences. So in my continued pursuit of this high, minus the conference fees, I have decided to scour Amazon for the best free short stories and books available. With that being said, let's get to the review.This is one action-packed short story. Corpses and zombies and stuffed werewolves riddled with bullets plaster every page. Spider web props dangle from the rafters and drop at the most inopportune moments, creating one tangled mess. And without giving too much away, I'll probably never look at prop men the same way again.Let me just say Heather Graham knows romance. Greg and Ali have a complicated, passion filled relationship, and both end up being strong-willed, as well as strong-headed, in the end. It reminded me of an Old West duel where neither wanted to blink first.I did find the overzealous use of exclamation points a bit exhausting. Elmore Leonard would probably shake his head at the undead. GRAVE DANGER did, however, provide plenty of free entertainment in just over 24 pages, so I'd say it was time and money well spent.Robert DownsAuthor of Falling Immortality: Casey Holden, Private Investigator