Alan's Reviews > Red Range

The reader is warned in the forward that this is a very violent tale. And, I agree some creators in various media sometimes go too far in their portrayal of violence and the portrayal serves the story poorly. In Red Range what some might call ultra violence does serve the story well, because I think you should dislike, if not hate, the KKK members who attack the African-American on the novella's very first page.

The opening pages are brutal and disgusting. I think most readers would have the reaction I did to this, and the scene in Death Wish where Charles Bronson's wife and daughter are assaulted. You want these KKK to receive a righteous punishment.

Thankfully they do. That's not really a spoiler, or much as one as you might think. If you've seen Inglorious Basterds or Django Unchained you know it's coming. The question is going to be how revenge is dealt out. I know I'm using movies to try and convey and emotional and visual reaction I think readers would have, but more so than any written page I have read these movies I think as examples of the type of violence you will find here.

Which, if you don't know it at the start might surprise you. A masked rider riding in to deal out vengeance and save a young boy? Sounds like the Lone Ranger except the Red Mask is African-American and wants to kill the KKK who killed his wife and child.

This is a very quick read, and the forward and afterward are worthwhile. Some like me might be turned off by, I'd call it the last quarter of the tale, which veers 90 degrees away from everything before it.