Gunsmoke & Grit: 'There's Something Wrong in Hugo Creek' by Lumen Reese

Disclosure: I received a free advance review copy of this book from the publisher. This post also contains Amazon affiliate links [*]. If you purchase through these links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

I delved into Lumen Reese's There's Something Wrong in Hugo Creek a few months back, after snagging an ARC from BookSirens. I had intended to review it on my now-defunct second blog, which focused on all things Western. I've since migrated that passion over to my new weekly post series, Gunsmoke & Grit.

The story unravels in a dusty corner of Texas, stretching out from Abilene, where the Hugo family has held dominion over Hugo Creek for three long decades. And let me tell you, the titular boy—Rollie Hugo—is as rotten as a forgotten tumbleweed in July. At a lonely farm sprawling across the Texas plains, that very Rollie leads a posse to inflict an utterly shocking act of violence on the unassuming Haney family. Enter Alice Haney, the matriarch, left to pick up the pieces, a first-generation Chinese immigrant in her fifties. With every ounce of strength and resolve, Alice realizes that the road to justice is littered with thorns. Anguish morphs into a fierce determination as she embarks on a bloody quest for vengeance.

Hugo Creek reveals itself as a twisted fiefdom, locked away from the world beyond—a place where deserters’ hearts are literally torn from their chests, their disappearances attributed to a ghostly specter that roams the mining camp at night. Alice discovers that to avenge her murdered husband, she must first unravel the sinister spell—or perhaps shatter the clever illusion—that grips the town. The key to her quest? The chilling mystery of the Bleeding Woman…

Now, let’s talk cover art. They say a book’s cover sells it, even for indie titles, but I have to be honest: I’m not a fan of this one. It feels overly polished, a touch too AI-generated for my taste—maybe I’m just a relic of a bygone era where grit and dust were the norm. Who knows? I might be too long in the tooth for this sleek nonsense.

In the world of Westerns, the hero is often a rugged male archetype, but here, we’re graced with the fiery spirit of Alice Haney (or Zhao Leizu), a Chinese American woman who takes center stage at fifty-plus. That in itself made me smile; as someone with Haney ancestry, it was a delight to see that name pop up in between pages. I approached this knowing it was a horror story set against a Western backdrop and was pleasantly surprised by how Reese wove that delicate balance—far from the cliché '80s paperback Westerns, it exuded a fresh, authentic vibe.

The narrative is dripping with revenge and dark themes, starting off with a bang and maintaining an intense pace throughout. Alice is not merely a character in this tale; she’s an embodiment of resilience and fury, deftly brought to life in a character-driven story that I savored deeply. And that ambiguous ending? It might leave some scratching their heads, but it resonated with me. Not that it matters, right? I’ve come to accept my own brand of weird. Just kidding—sort of...

There's Something Wrong in Hugo Creek is out there now, available on Kindle ^[*] and in paperback ^[*]. Grab a copy and descend into this haunting, bloody adventure. You won’t regret it!  ╌★★★★✰

〜B.J. Burgess