Six feet of Oregon mud would have kept its secret had the old Marshal not gone digging for what he could not remember. He thought it was a man, but the name had slipped his mind. Joseph Wylde was not surprised the Marshal had lost a step. He was a good man, a Hero of the West according to those who knew such things, but he'd let old fears get the better of him. He would be happier in Portland, amongst those who loved him. He wouldn't have to be afraid of the past. None of them would...not anymore. That was why his son-in-law had come to take him back to Portland to live with Katie and the curious grand twins. Henry Macke was not afraid. He remembered what the Marshal could not and now the book was his. He would keep it, study it, would never let it go...he would do these things and more just as soon as he took care of the other thing buried on the hill. The dead man had waited more than a decade, but his legend was not so easily forgotten. He needed only for the young fool to do what came naturally in the presence of so many beautiful words: read.
Thus begins "Portlandtown", a tale of an extraordinary family forced to do battle with the "Hanged Man" and his undead horde to save the West.
About the Author :
ROB DEBORDE's first book, Fish on a First-Name Basis (2006, St. Martin's Press), reads suspiciously like an indispensible guide to everything wet and edible with nary a zombie in sight. His award-winning online show, Deep Fried, Live! with Tako the Octopus, does, however, feature undead clams and mutant prawns, and his forays into film, television, and videogames have been chock full of supernatural beasties (particularly Good Eats). Portlandtown is his first novel. DeBorde lives downriver from Portland, Oregon, with his wife, Sue, and a pug named Chloe.
Review :
"Deborde crafts an exhilarating hybrid of grit, guts, dusty cowpokes, and rotting flesh, honoring genre conventions without succumbing to cliche and anchoring black magic in realistic contexts of politics and family dynamics." --"Publishers Weekly"
"DeBorde's extraordinary first novel, a dark fantasy set in the Old West, tells a compelling tale of the battle between evil personified and a remarkable family with special abilities. Fans of Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series will enjoy discovering this accomplished writer." --"Library Journal "(starred)
"A fantastic read, a dark supernatural Western full of curses, magical powers, hoodoo men, and resurrected outlaws. Better yet, it's thrilling, compulsive reading packed with a menagerie of very cool characters. Bring on more of the Oregon Wyldes!" --Christopher Golden, "New York Times" bestselling author of "Father Gaetano's Puppet Catechism"
"Move over, Spaghetti. Rob DeBorde serves up his fantastical horror Western with a pioneering apple pie--spirit that is all-American genre-bending fiction at its finest." --Bryan Fuller, writer, creator, and executive producer of "Hannibal", and writer, creator, and producer of "Mockingbird Lane"
"A unique and fascinating horror novel. Cowboys, the supernatural, steampunk, "and" zombies . . . Portlandtown has enough to keep even the most demanding genre fan satisfied." --David Moody, author of "Autumn"
