Starving Review: South of Rising Sun by J. D. McCall

South of Rising Sun by J. D. McCall (Goodreads)

STARVING REVIEWER’S NOTE: Mr. McCall had the misfortune of his previous publisher imprint closing up shop.  However, he has already been picked up by another, so South should be available through Amazon and other outlets again shortly.  I will update the links when that happens.

If you’ve been hanging around the Starving Review kitchens, then you know by now that I love a good Western.  Of course, the emphasis needs to be on the ‘good’ part.  As a fan of the genre, I am obviously most sensitive to amateur chefs who burn the bottom, sour the filling, and generally botch up the recipe.  From first bite, South of Rising Sun seems to be as pure of a Western genre recipe as possible, but does it live up to standards or do we have another cake dropped on the kitchen floor?

Before we find out, let us review the code of the Starving Reviewer:

1. I attempt to rate every book from the perspective of a fan of the genre
2. I attempt to make every review as spoiler-free as possible

Starving Interview: J. D. McCall, author of South of Rising Sun

Good morning from the Starving family homestead in Georgia!  Despite my relative vacation, the Starving Author kitchens never entirely close.  Today, we bring in J. D. McCall, the chef behind today’s literary treat, South of Rising Sun, to find out what makes him and his writing tick.  Enjoy!

Starving Review: Dust and Sand (The Dust Series Book 1) by Sean P. Wallace

Dust and Sand (The Dust Series Book 1) by Sean P. Wallace (Amazon, Smashwords)

Literary genre fusion is much like culinary cuisine fusion.  It can combine to make fantastic new delights, taking in the best concepts of two or more different sources, or it can ruin an otherwise tasty treat, mixing conflicting flavors until the whole thing is a muddled mess.  Both of those possibilities wavered in my mind as I cracked open Dust and Sand, a book with fusion concepts from Westerns, horror, and fantasy, and sunk my teeth in.  Did Dust and Sand deliver a wonderful new taste sensation or did it go down like its namesake?

Before I answer that question, let us remind ourselves of the Starving Review creed:

1. I attempt to rate every book from the perspective of a fan of the genre.
2. I attempt to make every review as spoiler-free as possible.