This trippy ghost story takes place on unexpectedly fertile soil: a casino. Something evil is stalking Hidden Atlantis and the surrounding towns, keeping people trapped, killing those who get too close to the secrets or too loose from its grasp. Cousins Cherie and Alana know that something is haunting their workplace, especially with Alana's Seven-Fire Sight. When distant cousin Marion LaFournier shows up, a man with a unique connection to the spirit world, they set out to exorcise the darkness from this place, especially when the stakes raise even higher.
I loved how absolutely trippy, as I called it, this story was. It's mind-bending in places, easy to get as lost and trapped as the characters are in this terrible casino. I liked learning more about Ojibwe customs and beliefs. I also liked how many perspectives were glued together to tell this story. Sure, Marion and Alana are the main characters ostensibly, but the viewpoint is in no way limited to either of them. Finally, as I said, the casino was such a rich setting for a time-bending and entrapping spirit. Definitely a good read.

Update: March 25, posted review to TikTok (third link) and GoodReads. Please excuse the delay. I usually post on or before release, At this time, this was the soonest I could complete and post the review, so I posted it twice on TikTok, to reccommend it at release followed by the full review.

In 2017, young Ojibwe man Marion Lafournier grapples with life in his small hometown and his recently discovered ability to see and communicate with revenants. He’s drawn into helping cousins who work at the casino deal with the Sandman, a disturbing presence haunting the place.

The narrator does a good job making the voices distinct from each other and the sound quality is flawless.

I enjoyed the vivid descriptions of the small-town Minnesota Ojibwe reservation, casino, and land. Staples writes realistic dialogue, atmospheric settings, and intriguing, dimensional characters. For me, this is largely a quiet book. After a chilling, brutal opening, many chapters felt slow.

As the central threat intensifies in the middle, it becomes more engaging. Marion’s journey interested me the most, in both his gay identity and protectiveness of his people.

Dennis E. Staples creates an intimate, vivid, and multilayered experience of a small town and a casino. The strands of extended family, Ojibwe traditions, personal dreams and longings interweave with compulsive gambling, drug use, drinking, tragedies, secrets, hidden desires, and strained relationships.

The realistic gay hookups highlight the lack of privacy and the high stakes–potential ostracization and family disapproval–and the need for connection and fulfillment of multiple kinds.

The setting feels alive, a hungry character itself.

Although the many shifts in character focus frustrated me at times, the method of telling seems to be part of the point in this novel. These many stories show different interrelated lives and the dangers facing the people on the reservation--staff and gamblers--as the casino keeps pulling them back through its door.

If you go into it as a literary novel with  supernatural elements and some horror the slow pace fits better than if you expect a standard horror novel.

The difficulties of gay life felt completely real. I appreciated the details of Ojibwe traditional beliefs and lore and the different relationships the characters had to their heritage.

The writing feels so honest, generous, and courageous, that I remained interested throughout the book. There are stunning moments that slice deep and others that soar. I gave it 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

Dennis E. Staples is an important voice. I’ll watch for his next book.

Thanks to Highbridge Audio | RBmedia for the ALC for consideration, these are solely my own opinions.

Release day TikTok post, 'Currently Listening':
I'm excited to discover Dennis E. Staples. As soon as I saw the book description, I had to request it.
Staples has a strong voice, and I'm enjoying his mix of humor and suspense. He gives a vivid depiction of small-town life and cultural issues. The haunted casino premise hooked me, and the opening scene brings the place fully to life. The narration is smooth and expressive.
I posted a release day recommendation on TikTok. (First link)
Thank you, Highbridge Audio|RBmedia,  for the ALC for consideration.

A complex and enrapturing novel that centers around a troublesome spirit in a casino, Passing Through a Prairie Country is a must-read for those who love multi-perspective narratives rife with supernatural horror!

This wasn't my favorite book. I enjoyed it but it wasn't my favorite horror I've read this year. I found it to be a bit overly obvious and that's not always a problem for me but in this case it made this book feel a little flat. I will also say I'm white so I very well have missed some nuance this had.

Thank you HighBridge Audio for this gifted ALC!

What a beautifully atmospheric horror story, full of rich lore and heritage. I loved every second I had with it. Staples’ writing was so delicious and easy to fall into. I absolutely loved this book, and I want more.

Thank you to high bridge audio and net galley for this audio. It was very dark and interesting. The characters were really well depicted and I enjoyed it very much.

Super spooky, dark, and suspenseful! Enjoyed the magical realism in this book. I kept forgetting who was a ghost and who wasn’t, which honestly was part of the fun reading it!

DNF at 20%. Nothing *wrong* with the book as much as I was just bored. At 20% in I need a little more to go on. I think I’d have gotten along with it in movie form, though. There’s something very atmospheric and out-of-time about the setting.

Marion can see spirits including one particular malicious spirit at a casino. He’s given the task of handling it, and my impression is he will run into other spirits is an episodic manner along the way.

The story is pretty aimless and dream-like. I think it’s overly disorienting in audiobook format, which is how I was reading it. But if a dreamy, eerie time sounds good, this could work for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Welcome to the Hidden Atlantis Casino and resort that is your nonstop venue for the restless and hopeful! Though if those who float on the floors have a pulse or not depends on your eyesight. Run by the local members of the Ojibwe of the area it markets opportunity for patrons and as a resource for a people who've been robbed of traditional means. In reality it is far more a tangled web of disappointments, resignation, lost opportunities, and obligations as it is also the economic heartbeat many must or eventually are drawn to.

Told through the perspective of employees and customers, this book is split between two themes that compliment one another yet can be used to appeal to various audiences. For those who like the fantastical, there is an initial and core problem of a rumor of the casino being haunted by a trickster like entity who delights in baiting those who can see him clearly and digging into the shadows of patrons to indulge in their vices. While it is all through this lens, I found the second commentary to be the far more interesting part.

Through each of these characters we are being shown what becomes of a culture, a people, and a community both a part of and separate of the Ojibwe. It digs into how addictions of all sorts are fostered. and the whirling, hypnotic, flashing casino with it's own lighting, drinks galore, and strange work shift hours giving each character a very distorted perspective on time and self. This is both a great mirror of the cylindrical nature of habits and provides a space for the reader to wonder how much of the story, for a long part of the book, is actual supernatural occurrence and what might be psychoanalytical. It brings out the very sober reality for many into focus including the perspective shifts showing just how interconnected people are in ways we don't always consider.

What stood out for me in this was that it played with not only myths but in the end continued the structure of storytelling as a parable. I also enjoyed how complex and messy nearly all the characters lives were even if they genuinely seemed to have positive, common, intentions. Where this fell apart was that I spent a very long time trying to feel out exactly what this book wanted to be. Was it a character piece? Was it supposed to be a mystery? There is a great stretch of time where we seem to leave behind the issues raised with the first perspective so that when it comes back into play it feels like a very abrupt tonal shift from where it came from.

Overall, this was an interesting experience to read. There were some really beautiful moments and in the segments if taken more like short stories I could find myself quite invested. I just wish the puzzle pieces were a little more snug

A dark entity, known as the Sandman, has taken residence on a Minnesota reservation, haunting the local casino. Those gifted with seventh-fire-sight, the ability to perceive and interact with the spirit world, become embroiled in a struggle to protect their people and their casino from the encroaching evil. Dennis Staples' beautiful writing style enhances the haunting atmosphere of this tale. I experienced this book via audiobook and highly recommend it!

Listening to Passing Through A Prairie Country was like walking through a fever dream. The vivid descriptions and changing points of view kept me on my toes. This book was an experience, I felt like I was in the story jumping from perspective to perspective and while at times I had to go back or relisten to passages I think that made the book feel like such an intriguing experience.

The narrator does an amazing job and the production immersed me in the story. I feel like I will be thinking about it for days. Figuring out each character and how their stories over layed and connected was a journey.

If you like eerie horror where you can't quite tell where the story is going I would recommend this. Additionally, if you just want a book that's going to knock you off your feet, I would give the audio a listen. Thank you to the publisher for providing an ALC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Received a free audio copy from NetGalley.

Was really excited to see a take on a haunted casino. It was decent but I'm sure it'll be well liked by the public.