Book Review: Blood and Rain – Author Glenn Rolfe

Blood and Rain

By: Glenn Rolfe

Samhain Publishing

196 Pages

The sleepy small town of Gilson Creek is an idealistic spot for raising a family, community and harmonious unity. School is out and summer has merely began. While the residents plan to engage in plenty of rest and relaxation at on the beaches of Emerson Lake a most sinister transformation lurks in the shadows and threatens to obliterate everything the citizens of Gilson Creek value and hold dear.

Sherriff Joe Fischer is in a race against the clock and against seemingly insurmountable odds to keep his town safe. First he must look directly into the eyes of adversity where his past is concerned. Will he manage to stop the carnage and onslaught or will Gilson Creek ultimately succumb to the Blood Rain?

I’ve had the sincere thrill and pleasure of reading two of Glenn Rolfe’s previous endeavors in Boom Town and Abraham’s Bridge. While each edition was immensely compelling and highly entertaining I personally find it must rewarding to witness an author flourish in their style and truly come into their own. Rolfe has managed to hone his craft a little more with each novel broadening his creative talents and therefore diversifying his potential market all in one swoop.

The author’s use of inner monologue is indicative of a well-seasoned wordsmith. One of the persistent badgering’s of any editor is to convince their author to show more and tell less. Quite often this task can be deemed over whelming to state the least. Rolfe manages to reflect the story while depicting a great deal of emotion, thinking and action without swaying away from the integrity of the point of view. We get behind the characters as a result and on an almost subconscious level are drawn deeper and deeper into the plot escalation.

Many of the scenes are virtually poetic in description. It isn’t difficult to envision what’s taking place on the pages before us. The action unfolds much similar to a classic silver screen Lycan soiree. Blood and Rain would translate impeccably on a drive inn screen. The grisly, gruesome death scenes are all inspiring and consuming. We predict not who gets there’s next and the ultimate dread factor is dialed up to epic proportions.

While the story takes place in the ‘90’s those of us in our late thirties and up will get a serious kick out of the cultural references. Rolfe depicts the era with alarming precision and accuracy. At first glance there may have been some concerns that he’s limited his market and many of the younger readers simply wouldn’t get the references. It seems to be a non-issue however as avid horror and heavy metal fans of all ages will appreciate the Halloween, Friday the 13^th and Motley Crue mentions just to state a few.

For a mere 196 pages I felt at times a little overwhelmed with the sheer volume of characters. There’s an argument for the number of people being a little on the over indulgent side. I lost track after around thirty five people and was concerned that an accompanying compendium would be required. Upon further exploration these concerns were just as swiftly laid to rest as each character’s presence simply epitomizes small rural living in any town U.S.A.

Rolfe’s ability to create vast personalities is fascinating and keeps the reader intrigued. They say that one of the carnal rules of writing is write about what you know. It’s evident the author’s dedication to creating interesting, realistic characters. I particularly enjoyed the tabloid reporter Nick from the Crypto Insider.

The dialogue and interaction is realistic and seems to reign true. We’re spared of a lot of nineties slang that once again younger readers simply would not understand. Blood and Rain seems to translate well into virtually any era making this a certifiable future classic for the ages. A Lycan tale with a twist that this author should be very proud of and will keep readers ravenous for more.

For a limited time Blood and Rain can be purchased for a mere 99 cents by following this link: