West by God

By: Tyler Bell

Narrated by: Tyler Bell

Length: 10 hrs

Publisher's summary

Written and Narrated by Tyler Bell of the award winning podcast, The Westside Fairytales

West by God is the story of a young newspaper journalist named Adelaide sent to report on a high-profile murder in the remote (and fictional) town of Targrady, West Virginia. Once she gets there, she discovers the case in question is anything but open-and-shut, and quickly finds herself neck-deep in a mystery that could sink the entire town.

Complicating Adelaide's efforts to get to the bottom of the story are the machinations of a nightmare creature called the Witchum Woman, a local drug syndicate led by the enigmatic Fetid Queen and populated by white supremacists, and the age-old small town suspicion of outsiders.

"West by God" is an adult horror/thriller fiction novel that delves into themes of race, gender, sexuality and justice. It could be found on a shelf beside authors such as Dan Simmons and Davis Grubb.

©2023 The Henlo Press (P)2024 Tyler Bell

Best YouTuber Book?

Strong first novel (to my understanding this is Bell's first novel). Gets to the point, doesn't overstay its welcome.

The highest points have to be the characterization and dialogue; Bell is excellent at both. He as a wonderful command of voice as a writer, and each character feels distinct and alive.

The supernatural elements are creepy, ethereal, oftentimes disgusting, and the language used is incredibly evocative, though so little is explained that it almost feels like Bell may have gotten more mileage out of a more straightforward mystery story. Perhaps it's Tyler's intention to explore more in sequels.

Bell organically brings up a number of potent themes throughout the story (crime, racism, transphobia, fear of harboring some personal prejudice, media manipulation, what the supposedly righteous and powerful are and aren't willing to overlook, the self-cannibalizing and rotting aspects of smaller towns, and more) in ways that feel authentic and often unexpected. However, many are introduced and touched upon only briefly; only a few are truly followed up on and explored in more depth. This might be Bell's intention (in life, answers are hardly obvious or easy) but I'm curious to see what a fully unleashed Tyler Bell could do.

Bell also does the narration, and aside from a handful of first-timer technical issues and slightly hokey voices, he knocks it out of the park.

Fantastic Debut Novel

Reading like Gillian Flynn's "Sharp Objects," but retold by Neil Gaimen, "West by God " is a brilliant supernatural thriller with some weak points.

What I loved most about the book were the characters and their dialogue. My absolute favorite is Mercury, but the entire cast is strong and each feel like a lived character. Along with that I absolutely loved the supernatural elements and how they're worked into the story. The entire Fetid Queen section is exactly what I love in horror/thriller hybrids. Which flows into talking about the prose which tends to be very boiler plate in reality but when things start veering into horror the writing picks up the pace with some great tension writing and descriptive language.

However, the weakest aspect of the story is the core theme. There are numerous topics that Tyler Bell touches on but it never feels to go beyond touching on them. I finished the novel not very sure what had been said other than a compelling mystery. I think of a Chandler book where by the end it feels like every character and plot beat breathes the same concrete message, but I can't say the same with this story.

But given how strong the plot and characters are I can't say that's too big of an issue. You're still in for a great small town murder mystery with a lot to say, even if its a bit unfocused.