The magical realism aspect of this historical neo-western is very unique and adds a lot of depth to the themes of this novel. Ruiz delves into themes of colonization, the patriarchy and racism present in law enforcement, and the ways that grief and fear can motivate us in surprising ways.

I found this story a bit confusing and slow until Chapter 10 but then you really start sucked into the mystery. Ruiz is straight up not afraid to kill characters and as much as that hurts, it’s something I respect. You feel the stakes as Solitario races the clock to find out who is killing men and taking girls from his town.

I really enjoyed following Solitario’s story and reflections but found the overall plot a little hard to follow in audiobook format. There is a lot to unpack and about 4 or 5 genres woven together.

I feel like this book might have been more cohesive and effective if it was doing a little less, but I really appreciated the story regardless! The twists were surprising and I feel like the overall message was still delivered even if some portions were a bit messy.

What a gripping story! And the narrator, Gary Tiedemann, does such a great job of getting the story across. A gripping story that is so timely especially in today's climate.

Slow burn tales really are the best for featuring on Sundays, for especially on Sundays, you can find me sipping on hot coffee and cozying up with a fluffy blanket and my dog. *BONUS POINTS IF THE WEATHER RESEMBLES A DREERY FALL DAY.

Perfect for a dreary, Autumn Day is Rudy Ruiz’s Valley of Shadows, which takes the reader back in time to an 1880s Western front, where the veil between what is real and supernatural is very thin. We get introduced to a young man, Solitario Cisneros, who desperately longs to be a sheriff, but is presented with a workload that is so far from normal it shocks him. Joined by an Indigenous woman by the name of Onawa, they combine their local wit and knowledge to solve a string of murders that are plaguing the Texas desert.

Valley of Shadows is a paranormal western/mystery/horror in a historical reality that made the events all the more horrific; they were real. Hailing like-minded themes from Siliva-Moreno Garcia’s Mexican Gothic and Matt Query’s Old Country, this horror read is likely to keep you shocked and unable to sleep through the night, reveal after reveal.

Thank you again to book to both @BooksForwardPR @RudyRuiz and @BlackstonePublishing for sending me this advanced readers’ copy of the book prior to its publishing date of THIS UPCOMING TUESDAY, September 20, 2022! Be sure to get pre-order your copy today!

This was amazing! Thank you so much for the ARC!
Why did I love this? The setting was perfect. The time period is one of my favorites. We need more Western type novels with magic that come from the Mexican perspective,
It helps that I like the author and I like getting my heart broken, I loved the friendship and the romance too.

Oh and the horse was the best horse.

The narrator was fantastic as well.
I just listened to this straight through because I was enjoying it all so much.