Genre Fiction
![Robin McLean - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_a_robin_mclean.jpg)
Pity the Beast
A brutalized woman is left for dead. But dead is the one thing she isn't. With a stolen horse and rifle, she escapes into the mountains, and a small posse of her tormentors has to gear up and give chase―whether to beg forgiveness or shut her up for good, nobody knows.
With detours through time, space and myth―not to mention into the minds of a pack of philosophical mules―Pity the Beast is a mind-melting feminist Western that pins a tale of sexual violence and vengeance to a canvas as wide and strange as America itself. It's a novel that turns our assumptions about the West, masculinity, good and evil, and the very nature of storytelling onto their heads, with an eye to the cosmic as well as the comic. It urges us to write our stories anew―if we want to avoid becoming beasts ourselves.
With detours through time, space and myth―not to mention into the minds of a pack of philosophical mules―Pity the Beast is a mind-melting feminist Western that pins a tale of sexual violence and vengeance to a canvas as wide and strange as America itself. It's a novel that turns our assumptions about the West, masculinity, good and evil, and the very nature of storytelling onto their heads, with an eye to the cosmic as well as the comic. It urges us to write our stories anew―if we want to avoid becoming beasts ourselves.
Editorial Reviews
"You should put your hands on me. Like you did him." He wrapped his legs around her legs, his arms around her middle. He sniffed her neck. "For peace again." "Soon," she said. "Give me time." He rocked her on the edge and she let him. "A horse has the largest eye of any land mammal." "You've told me." "People think of lions and elephants. People overflow with mistakes and blunders." "I know, I know," She pried his arms off. But gentle. "Let's get on back."
Readers Top Reviews
Ransen Owensuck u
This is a beautiful and intriguing set of stories that seems timeless. It could be how the west was won. It could be a sci-fi documentary or it could be a natural history documentary. It is relentless and compelling. Whatever it is, read it
Aaron B
Expansive, funny, dark novel. Western? It is definitely a Western but much much more. Hard to describe. Well worth the time and a book that I will read again soon because I suspect there is more to it than a first read reveals. As big as the landscape it beautifully describes. Fantastic!
Dennis R. BeresfordR
Mr. Sinclair said it perfectly in his review. I had to work way too hard to make it all the way through what was otherwise a very thought-provoking book.
Kindle
I love books like this. They take control of my thoughts and take me on a ride. In Pity the Beast, the ride explored so many avenues that I could not put it down. This book is a goldmine of wild characters - cowboys and a couple cowgirls, mules, rivers, mountains, weather all entwined by a traumatic event. I love this stuff! The only way this could be better would be a series so I could binge watch this author.
John B. SinclairRome
This novel is a slog to read, but I limped to the finish. The spasm of violence at the beginning of the book makes no sense. The author makes little attempt to explain how/why the relationship between the characters caused a tense situation to build and unfold so quickly into such ugly violence. Conversations between the characters at times seem stilted and unrealistic. The narrative is frequently weighed down by abstract and elusive prose, leaving the reader puzzled by just what happened. Readers should not have to work so hard to understand what is occurring at times. Way too often, the author steers into irrelevant and confusing tangents and side paths, leaving readers wondering why and asking when the author will return to the main story line. It is eye-rolling to see in the book blurbs, promo materials, and reviews the comparison of the author to Cormac McCarthy. The author’s style is the antithesis of McCarthy’s, whose prose is far more spare and accessible. The author has a significant amount of talent. That talent would be better put to use by toning it down and writing a more readable novel with less clutter and extraneous baggage.
Short Excerpt Teaser
"You should put your hands on me. Like you did him." He wrapped his legs around her legs, his arms around her middle. He sniffed her neck. "For peace again." "Soon," she said. "Give me time." He rocked her on the edge and she let him. "A horse has the largest eye of any land mammal." "You've told me." "People think of lions and elephants. People overflow with mistakes and blunders." "I know, I know," She pried his arms off. But gentle. "Let's get on back."
