Skin Medicine-Tim Curran

Skin Medicine
Tim Curran
Severed Press, Aug 2009, $14.95
ISBN: 9780980606515

In 1882, former confederate soldier turned bounty hunter, Tyler Cabe, has come to Whisper Lake in the Utah Territory in search of a gruesome serial killer, the Sin City Strangler who brutally murders prostitutes. The bounty hunter is unhappy to learn the town’s sheriff is former Union soldier Captain Jackson Dirker who committed atrocities against POWs including Cabe.

Also coming to town by wagon is James Lee Cobb, who rides inside a coffin. He and his minion brutally massacre the townsfolk of the nearby mining town Sunrise. Cobb has the Skin Magic power of the Indians enhanced by the curse of the Wendigo. In Whisper Lake he begins his murder spree as the two Civil War enemies who do not trust one another must unite if they want Deliverance stopping the invincible killer from hell before a second town is eradicated.

SKIN MEDICINE is a fast-paced and entertaining western horror thriller that hooks the audience with the opening coach scene that has some nods towards Stoker. The graphic gory story line is fast-paced yet contains a strong fully developed cast, especially the good (Cabe), the bad (Dirker), and the ugly (Cobb); which leads to the reader anticipating a paranormal High Noon in Whisper Lake.

Harriet Klausner