MELINDA WEST: MONSTER GUNSLINGER

By K.C. Grifant

Reviewed by Pennell Paugh

March 2, 2023 (San Diego) -- Sharpshooter Melinda and her easygoing partner and sweetheart, Lance, are expert monster exterminators in local author K.C. Grifant’s creative novel, Melinda West: Monster Gunslinger. They plan to retire after this last job; however, they accidentally release a demon who steals their best friend’s soul, leaving their friend in a coma. If they don’t hurry, their friend will die.

While fighting one of the demon’s possessed, Lance’s soul is partially stolen. On her own, Melinda is determined to fight to the last to save both her friend and lover. While fighting, she learns she will have to stop hell from taking over Earth. 

Melinda and Lance are delightful heroes in this weird version of the wild west. The author’s descriptions are beautiful and her ability to create tension is masterful:

“Melinda never missed, not in her twenty-eight years of gunslinging. But then again, she never dealt with giant, flying scorpions before. 

She aimed at the two shapes above a cactus several hundred feet away, fired, and watched as one of the bodies dropped. 

Aside from being bigger than any insect on this earth ought to be, the scorpions’ six back legs were webbed, giving them the ohso-handy ability to become airborne. A calf-sized one flew through the air with its green-tipped tail poised directly toward her head. 

She slid behind a toppled boulder, dust whipping up and stinging her eyes, as the scorpion soared past, pincers outstretched. Its back legs brushed the tip of her wide-brimmed hat, caught a draft, and swept back toward her like a giant leaf in the wind.”

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K.C. Grifant is a Southern California author who writes internationally published horror, fantasy, science fiction and weird west stories for podcasts, anthologies and magazines. To learn more, visit www.KCGrifant.com or @kcgrifant. She is a member of the San Diego Writers and Editors Guild.