The authors have managed to blend traditional cowboy clichés with a truly gothic, yet modern, vampire atmosphere. The have added unusual twists to the vampire mythology, such as the references to a vampire Bible. The authors are extremely gifted writers; the dialogue is brilliant: all the characters have their own speech patterns, accents, their very own voice; they all sound as unique as they are.
THE COWBOY AND THE VAMPIRE is wonderfully colourful, very funny sometimes, suspenseful, and wildly entertaining. The world-building is meticulously crafted and detailed, the characters live on the page, the action never stops and there is a sweet love story. There is a bit of a cliff- hanger at the end, and a most delightful ending it is, but I did not mind one bit, quite the opposite. THE COWBOY AND THE VAMPIRE is the first book of a series and a total delight. A bloody good read. Read the entire review over at Fresh Fiction >>раскрутка сайта
The Kirkus Review: A thoroughly entertaining novel
In the third installment of their horror series, Hays and McFall (The Cowboy and the Vampire: Blood and Whiskey, 2014, etc.) return to LonePine, Wyoming, as human Tucker and vampire Lizzie discover that they have a whole new type of bloodsucker to worry about.
The world of vampires is dying out, as they’re unable to turn humans to replenish their ranks. But in LonePine, the nine vampire tribes have at last found a prophesied savior. Is it Lizzie, their new queen, who wields the power to save their kind, or is it her unborn child? Time will tell; for now, Tucker and Lizzie are just trying to enjoy a respite—and maybe even get married—now that a semblance of peace has been reached. But before they can say “I do,” a well-trained mercenary group kidnaps Lizzie. There’s no ransom and no demands; the man that hired them, fat-cat businessman Auscor Kingman, has other plans. With the help of Dr. Louisa Burkett, a scientist who will do anything to have one last shot at vindicating her theories, he intends to use Lizzie’s blood to synthesize a cure for human aging—and make a fortune selling it. As research begins, Burkett uncovers the existence of the Meta, the otherworldly plane where all vampires’ consciousnesses go during daylight hours—and where humans’ souls go when they die. While this discovery opens up new business opportunities, it also lets Elita, Lizzie’s friend and bodyguard, and Rurik, a Russian rival for the queen’s affections, know that Lizzie is still alive. Now it’s a race for the mixed-species rescuers (human, vampire and Tucker’s dog, Rex) to save Lizzie and her unborn child. This series is intended for audiences who like blood and bullets along with their romance, and the prose here is sharp and to the point, much like the majority of the characters.
Although the plot this time around is fairly straightforward, its events result in dire consequences for the star-crossed lovers. With pulse-pounding action, ongoing intrigue over the fate of vampire-kind, and the tumultuous struggles of Tucker and Lizzie’s love story, Hays and McFall once again deliver a thoroughly entertaining novel for readers to sink their teeth into. Another worthy entry in this love-and-fangs series.сайта
Media Release: Rough Trails and Shallow Graves Stakes Out New Western Gothic Territory on the Oregon Coast
Husband and wife writing team defy the odds — stay married and release the third book in The Cowboy and the Vampire Collection.
May 5, 2014 (Portland, Ore.) – Writing is a traditionally a solo sport, like long-distance running or competitive eating, but authors Clark Hays and Kathleen McFall have turned it into a two-person, creative bare-knuckle literary cage match by successfully writing together for more than a decade. They are releasing their third book together, The Cowboy and the Vampire: Rough Trails and Shallow Graves (ISBN: 978-0-9838200-4-8) and the process, not surprisingly, has been fraught with emotional danger.
“Stick two creative, opinionated and chronically insecure writers on the same project for an extended period, and there’s bound to be fireworks,” said McFall. “Add a romantic relationship to the mix and sometimes it borders on the thermonuclear. But all of that angst and passion is channeled right into our books, and adds depth and grit to the challenges our two lovers — Tucker and Lizzie — face.”
“Writing together is ridiculous and insane, and we wouldn’t have it any other way,” Hays said. “But we really pushed the boundaries of common sense this time. Writing the third book just wasn’t enough for us, so we decided to re-release both book one — after a significant edit to trim it down to the author’s cut — and book two with new covers designed by an Oregon artist. It made for some long days, and longer nights … and not in the good way.”
On at least some of those nights, the pillow talk involved not only the plot twists of cowboys and vampires, but also astral projection and near death experiences. In Rough Trails and Shallow Graves, the authors doubled down on the metaphysical elements called out by national reviewers as a unique aspect of their genre fiction.
“In a way, it’s a shame more time isn’t spent exploring the existence of this meta world where consciousnesses wait out the daylight hours and immortality has all sorts of ramifications for human spirituality,” noted Kirkus Reviews about book two of the series. Read the rest of this entry »
In good company: Zany Grey (take 2), Gaiman, Tarantino!
The reviews are coming in! Here are links to two that just popped in. (Hmm, we sense a trend, this is the second time the specter of Zane Grey has appeared).
From Writastic Thoughts from the Thinking Realm: Zany Grey! “As a vampire novel,The Cowboy and the Vampire is sure to satisfy Dracula fans’ expectations. However, this book has a little something extra to offer readers. A little something that harkens back to the days when man fought against the wild in the name of civilization. Hays and McFall have succeeded in mixing the Western genre tropes with the Gothic conventions to create a zany grey romance.” Read more of this review
From The Avid Reader: “This is one of the weirdest stories I have ever read. It’s right up there with Neil Gaiman’s man-swallowing woman parts and talking tents. Instead, here we have rocket-launching, womb-sucking, Bible-bending, non-pointy-toothed vampires. And love. And cowboys. Depending on what you are looking for, that might be a good thing. If I had to liken this book to a movie, it would either be to Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, or maybe more appropriately, Quentin Tarantino’s From Dusk to Dawn.” Read more of this reviewdeeo.ru
Zane Grey (take 1)? We’ll take it!
A smattering of recent reviews:
“This isn’t most romances. Louis L’Amour and Zane Grey would be aghast to see this new wrinkle in the Western romance…and then 
they’d sneak off in a corner and read it real quick.”
“I love vampires and cowboys both. These writers did a fantastic job of blending both worlds into one! A book that I will hold on to and re-read for years to come! Tucker and Lizzie fast became endeared to my heart. Looking forward to reading the second book in the series. This book is a must have for any reader and collector.”
“I never imagined the melding of a contemporary western and a paranormal romance could ever be so seamless or so much fun. The Cowboy and the Vampire: A Very Unusual Romance is one of the funniest and most engaging books I have read in a long time.”topod.in
