I stopped reading Amazon and Goodreads reviews about a year ago. Since the black-listing, my sales have been minimal. The only difference is conferences; obviously I’m charismatic enough to peddle my wares face-to-face successfully.

Statistically, most people we know don’t review things. We do as authors because it helps out our colleagues. Also, since we throw our own feelings out into the universe, we know how good it feels to get a pat on the back. Unfortunately, some reviewers have become roaming cyber-gangs of literary bullies, demolishing careers because they don’t agree with something the author said on social media. The book could be absolute fire, but there’s a smear campaign against the author because a single, loud Horror-Karen got her wittle feelin’s hurt. That said, I stopped reading my own reviews. I already know it sucks; I wrote it.

In the independent literary world, it’s conform or be invisible. Every genre and subgenre has their own social media militia, protecting the “yes-authors”, and fluffing one another for the sake of sales. All I care about anymore is which one of my kids will get me rediscovered after I die, and how I’ll be remembered as “not of the literary poony persuasion”.

I travel alone now. It’s quiet here. I scream at clouds, but they’re my clouds.

For some reason, the spirit trees whispered that I should run through my Amazon inventory for old time’s sake, just to see if anyone had left anymore one-star Starving Zoe, aka One-Star-Zoe – masterpiece, reviews. Instead, what I found was mesmerizing. Someone actually read Jim Walker.

Sure, I know people read it – they sell – but no one has gone as far as to really break it down. This is yet another example why I will always listen to Spirit Trees over Lit Cliques.

Gritty & Unforgiving

Reading Jim Walker’s story has been a long time coming, an experience I have been eager for though it unfortunately was cast to the wayside in light of life’s many important annoyances. After reading his popular novel ‘Starving Zoe,’ I knew I had likely come upon a favorite author. I am delighted to report that ‘Jim Walker and the Redemption Hymn,’ which serves as a sort of sequel to ‘Starving Zoe,’ upholds the same gritty, unforgiving story-telling I loved.

A brief period following the first book, Zoe remains on the rampage in the wild west. Called to the rescue is one Jim Walker, a mysterious man with mysterious abilities. At first, it is unclear whether the skeletons hiding in the old man’s closet quite match Robert Jack from ‘Starving Zoe,’ but gradually as his past is revealed, we see he is ever the evil or at least morally questionable devil. His bottom line is his own hide, his soul more or less held for ransom by the same witchy Navajo woman who holds the reigns of Zoe the skinwalker.

You would think the plot pretty straightforward: find the beast, kill the beast, story over. However, Rev. Cloud continuously pulls the unsuspecting reader into horror after horror, twist after turn. It’s one of those books where you think you know what’s going to happen, only for something different to smack you in the face.

I adore Rev. Cloud’s unapologetic and brutal writing style. He writes about villains and anti-heroes in their purest, truest forms, never attempting to water down their behavior or thoughts. And it is this dedication to the honesty of their characters that makes them so alluring. The unpredictability of their actions draws the reader in like a cowboy to a saloon. Savage. Undeniable. Inevitable.

Interesting to me is how despite Jim Walker’s clearly questionable morale, he holds to certain truths that could mistakenly come across as righteous, such as his opinions on the strength of a woman and giving them proper respect. Nevertheless, this is not a matter of ethics for Jim. Rather it is simply a matter of fact that he has learned over his grueling years. His accursed life of unknown duration, even to himself.

While this book does definitely hold up to the first, it is *slightly* less graphic. Not in the way of individual scenes because trust me, the violence is duly detailed, but more in the sense that there seems to be a bit less of these scenes than there were in the other. That isn’t a complaint, just an observation.

Overall, an awesome adventure filled with action, mystery, and otherworldly obstacles that I will recommend even to those who are not too keen on westerns. Because despite the genre, it remains so, so much more.

I’ll be honest, folks. Every day of my life since the Starving Zoe attacks and the Tik Tok firing – over two years now – is another day I’ve had to convince myself not to stop writing. I don’t think I’ll ever get over how brutally I was treated, mislead, and turned against by the community. The difference with my situation and anyone else’s is that I met them halfway, burning my end of the bridge just so I didn’t have to hear about it anymore.

I wanted to start fresh, and so I did. With that goes the horrors of rebooting. Your name now means squat. I’ve accepted that.

This review was strong enough to keep me going until tomorrow. That’s why it’s important to review independant art; books and films. Without a studio or publisher, we have no one to tell us how we are doing or how we should focus. Reviews spark emotions and give directions.

And that is why I no longer read them. Emotions get you in trouble, and my direction was set a long time ago; the opposite direction of noise. I needed this noise, though. It’s appreciated.

Preach truths, toke jokes, and shoplift Amazon. Have a wonderful weekend.

---

The Dime Western Returns!

“Reading Jim Walker and the Redemption Hymn is equal parts quirky fun and riveting action. Cloud’s confident, entertaining voice draws the reader in like an old radio western: the perfect bite-sized story with a main character you’re ready to follow through every adventure he finds himself on. So, tune in next time…”

– Megan Stockton, author of Lovely, Dark & Deep

The history books would read that Jim Walker was brutally executed after the Battle of Goliad, but a few promises in the right ear blurred the contrast between blood and ink. Now an aging bounty hunter on the verge of retirement, his services are requested in the Northern Arizona Territory to solve the terrifying mystery of the Verde River Massacre. With guns from a local Deputy, courage from a saloon proprietor, and a deathbed confession from an all-too-familiar Medicine Woman, Jim sets off on what could be his final adventure. Will he lay the ghosts of his past to rest once and for all, or is he simply whistling his Redemption Hymn?

---