The beginning was rough going for me. The chapters jumped back and forth between many characters, combined with graphic brutality. I didn't mind the violence in itself (and was horrific and cringeworthy), but I wasn't connecting with any of the characters. I wasn't connecting with the writing.

Just as I was about to quit, things started to turn around. The story became a less focused on tortuous violence and I became invested in the characters. By the final chapters of the book, all the threads and storylines weaves together into a cool final battle of sorts.

Then came the last chapter -- scratch that -- then came the last two paragraphs. I'm reading the passages leading up to the conclusion and I audibly told the author, "Don't you effing dare." (Much to the confusion of my roommate, sitting on the couch across from me.)

This was followed by my throwing the book down and beginning to curse. (Also to my roommate's confusion.)

I'm sorry, but, no. No. No. No. I refuse to accept that ending, or that kind of ending. It's bullsh!t and really killed the whole experience in a slew of rage. ( )

Kudos to Wes Ochse!!!

I found Scarecrow Gods to be an incredible and overwhelming literary ride! I could not put the novel down...I was drawn to the frenetic pace (and characters) set within the story. The characters were both brilliant and sympathetic; hurtling towards a climatic intersection in the high desert...all seeking a bit of redemption.

Wes Ochse is the future of Dark Fiction. ( )

I suppose at its heart, Scarecrow Gods is a tale of various quests. Maxom Phinxs is on a quest for redemption, because he feels guilty for surviving some very horrible tortures by the VC while he was a soldier in Vietnam. He was left terribly disfigured--he was burned over most of his body and lost both legs and one arm. Because of all this he has become a friendless outcast, until he meets young Danny.

Danny is going through some hard times too. His sister has run away and the diary she left behind reveals that she was molested, and though it doesn't say by who, most people think it was at the hands of her father. The tension is destroying Danny's family. Maxom teaches the boy some magical secrets he learned from a Vietnamese mountain priest, and the pair leave on a quest to rescue Danny's sister who is in the hands of a cult leader called John the New Baptist.

They're joined by Simon--an Alexian Brother on a quest for faith--and Billy Bones--a possessed homeless man on a quest to free himself from his demons.

The villain of the story, John the New Baptist, is also a man on a quest. His parents were Satan worshipers, who abused him, and as a result he is possessed by evil ghosts. He has gained magical power and wants to free himself of his demons, by attaching them to vulnerable minds. He also seeks to reshape the world in his image.

I found the story itself to be fast paced and engaging. I really enjoyed the characterizations, except for John the New Baptist, who seemed a bit two dimensional.The substantial mystical overtones to the story even more interesting. ( )