Review by Booklist Review
This fantasy novel presents a world in which the Brethren, a group of truckers and bikers descended from the Knights Templar, combat evil wherever they find it on the world's roads. The bulk of the novel follows the combined efforts of a few members of the group and their allies as they fight to stop a primordial evil and its various agents, including sinister, possessed teens. The strongest aspects of the story are good action sequences and occasional moments of charm often embodied in secondary ideas, such as a secret lodge of serial killers named Zodiac being responsible for various unsolved murders. What often gets in the way of the potentially engaging story is a constant insertion of pop-culture names, whether songs on the radio, movies on a poster, or just at random. This, coupled with some slightly awkward dialogue, can often distract from the novel's strengths and may annoy some readers for whom the references fall flat, making this an uneven but engaging read.--Keep, Alan Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
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. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
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 © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
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 storythat 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 squirea rash and probably not entirely human leader of a motorcycle gangand 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 creepya 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. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
