Review copy was received from Author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
A Haunt for Owls by Matt Posey on November 7, 2024
Genres: Historical Fiction
Pages: 288
Format: eARC
Source: Author
Goodreads
Amazon
An unlikely trio is challenged by their dark pasts as they fight to make a place for themselves in the frontier West in 1873.
Doyle Hill; his wife, Annie; and their ranch hand, Harper, are scratching out a future on arid, unforgiving ranchland when a seemingly mythical evil descends upon the high desert. A series of grisly murders—each foreshadowed by an owl’s cry—terrorizes the frontier community. Doyle, Annie, and Harper have no idea that the evil manifested is closer to them than they could ever imagine.
Fear is a cunning enemy, and it takes Doyle, Annie, and Harper each down a different path. Doyle, plagued by his Civil War trauma, strives for control. Annie, terrified she will be forced to relive the devastation of her childhood, reverts to her Choctaw traditions. Harper, the victim of lifelong abuse, begins a steady descent into madness.
Every year I try to be a little better at reading more Indie authors and trying out a few genres I don’t often read. After meeting Matt Posey in the real world, I decided his book A Haunt for Owls would fit both of these categories. As most of you here know I am a huge fantasy buff, so a book categorized as Western Religious Fiction is somewhat outside of my wheelhouse. That said I do love a book that focuses on characters and their growth and in that regard this fit my reading needs.
The story is broken up into three chunks we’ll call them, all focused on a different PoV at a different time in the story. I found that really interesting as I hadn’t seen that type of format before. Doyle starts of the story set mostly in the present. It is focused on his journey to become more than the coward he feels like. Left with feelings of doubt in himself after the civil war, he is trying to find his path to being a better man. Living on a homestead with his Indian wife and best friend from the war, he battles with nightmares and trying to find the good in people. When murders come to their corner of the world and Annie thinks it tied to some mysticism around tales of Owls, Doyle decides this is his chance to prove his worth and protect his family all by himself.
Harper’s PoV fills the middle of the story as he explores the past and all the events that led them to this homestead. In it, we find that Harper has his own demons and secrets kept hidden for so long. Seeing though his eyes, the reader experiences how doubt and negative self talk can twist your perceptions of the world and the people around you. Walking in Harper’s shoes you can see how some small decisions lead to the big ones later.
Annie’s PoV, set after the discovery of the murderer, was probably my favorite as it focused more on how to heal and forgive. It is not something that happens overnight or even alone. Healing sometimes takes others to prop you up until you can stand for yourself. She faces the Owl and what it represents, learning that while yes, there is evil in the world, there are also really good people that will help you make up your new family and home.
I think Matt Posey did a good job of bringing in the culture of the time into this story and letting the reader live in a moment of history. One where homesteaders tried to eke out a living and sometimes needed to depend on other members of the community. The religious implications in the story fit with culture of the time and felt appropriate but not overbearing to the story.
I’m not sure what I expected going in but the story was different from a lot of what I’m reading and seemed pretty unique in the way it was told. I was unexpectedly surprised by some of the events and liked how the PoV format lent to the overall telling of the story. A Haunt of Owls is a solid debut book for Matt Posey.
“I cannot re-solve this to your satisfaction, so it comes down to this: I will die tonight, if necessary, to preserve justice – true justice.” He rested the heel of his right hand on the handle of his holstered revolver. ” The question that remains,” he continued, “is who among you will die first to preserve blind vengeance?”
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