(Reviewed by JD Jung)
A boy watched from the neighboring woods as crosses burned while a white mob gathered and killed his father, a black man who had a reputation of being an excellent marksman. They then proceeded to destroy his home. These were sights that no child should ever have to witness or experience. Right from the start, this tale is marked by terror and injustice that immediately grounds the story in the violent racial realities often erased from traditional Westerns.
Rescued by an unlikely figure—a stagecoach thief turned prospector—the boy is carried westward and into adulthood. Over the next decade, he learns how to survive the wilderness and master a rifle. But survival is only part of his journey. Beneath the training lies a deeper purpose: reckoning and revenge. Along the way, a strange and unexpected ally adds texture to this emotional tale.
At under fifty pages, writer Reno Bachman is able to tell a compelling story and flesh out the personas of multiple characters.
Gritty, emotional, and sharply written, The Boy blends Western legend with uncomfortable historical truths. It is a compelling reimagining of the genre—one that lingers long after the final page—and leaves the reader eager to explore more of Bachman’s work.