The Brotherhood of the Wheel--A Novel

January 18, 2016
Urban legends and ancient folklore come together in Belcher’s unusual series opener featuring long-haul trucker Jimmie Aussapile (first introduced as a character in Nightwise). Jimmie is a member of the Brethren, one of the three groups that form the Brotherhood of the Wheel, tasked with keeping the open road safe from predators supernatural and mundane. When a group of teens go missing, Jimmie teams up with his new squire, a biker named Heck Sinclair, and Lovina Marcou, a Louisiana State Police officer, to investigate. Jimmie and co. battle a number of nemeses, while following a trail that culminates in a place called Four Houses, where an antlered killer dubbed the Pagan prepares to usher in an unimaginable evil. Jimmie is an affable everyman who only wants to help people and provide for his family. With characters impossible not to root for, this fun, nonstop tale (set throughout the eastern half of the U.S.) has genuinely creepy moments, rendered vividly by Belcher’s fertile imagination. Only a few instances of oddly placed humor and dialogue mar an otherwise entertaining horror/urban fantasy mash-up.

January 15, 2016
Because Belcher isn't busy enough writing an occult Western (The Shotgun Arcana, 2014) and a contemporary paranormal noir series (Nightwise, 2015), he begins a new contemporary horror/dark fantasy series with this novel. A favored idea by conspiracy theorists and fantasy novelists sparks this story--that the Templars simply went underground when the church had their organization dissolved. Today, they are a network of truckers, state troopers, and the like known as the Brethren, guarding the American highway system against serial killers, murder cults, and monsters. Trucker Jimmy Aussapile follows a ghost hitchhiker to the soulless teen victims of Emile Chasseur, an immortal biker/serial killer who serves as votary of the Horned Man, the god Cernunnos. Aided by his new squire--a rash and probably not entirely human leader of a motorcycle gang--and a fierce New Orleans cop, he must travel to a Kansas town not found on any map before Chasseur can claim a new set of sacrifices. The historical Templars were a Catholic organization, so it seems odd that it's not explained why the contemporary Brethren don't seem to have much of a connection to religion at all. And modern pagans may not care for Belcher's portrayal of Cernunnos (despite a quick speech about how he isn't really evil, he eagerly accepts human sacrifices). Belcher maintains his sure touch with the truly creepy--a scene in which drunken college students are pursued by brutal shadow creatures is particularly chilling (and gory). It's a fun read, but one can't deny the mythos has considerable thematic overlap with his other two series. Could Belcher be stretching himself too thin? Let's give him the benefit of the doubt, for now.

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February 15, 2016

The medieval order of the Knights Templar was known for protecting travelers on the roads to the Holy Land. Today a small offshoot known as the Brotherhood of the Wheel patrol the highways of America as truckers, bikers, bus drivers, and others. Among these road knights is trucker Jimmy Aussapile, who is sent on a quest by a ghostly teen hitchhiker to rescue scores of missing children. Along the way he crosses paths with Louisiana State Police investigator Lovina Hewitt, who is pursuing the same cases. Together, their investigation leads them to Four Houses, a town not on any map, and the creepy Black-Eyed Kids, who hold a terrible secret. VERDICT The author of The Six-Gun Tarot and The Shotgun Arcana launches a new series that blends religious history and modern alchemy. Urban fantasy enthusiasts will embrace this supernatural tale.--KC

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