Hellhound on My Trail (Rock Band Fights Evil, #1) by D.J. Butler

Hellhound on My Trail (Rock Band Fights Evil, #1) Reviews

• 
  Jay Barnson

  A rock band that changes its name for every gig. A new bassist with an unpleasant past haunted (literally) by the ghost of his brother, contemplating suicide. Some twists on religious tradition and mythology. A giant attacking hellhound and swarms of demonic giant flies. And lots of guns, knives, swords, and chase scenes.
  
  That pretty much sums up Hellhound On My Trail, by D. J. Butler. It's the first book of the Rock Band Fights Evil series, and if the first book is any indication, the series is exactly what it says on the tin. It's a short novel and a quick read that stomps the accelerator in chapter 1 and never really lets off much.
  
  The titular "Rock Band" consists of a bunch of musicans who aren't exactly on God's good side. But they haven't thrown in with the opposition either; on the contrary, they have a bone to pick with the forces of evil, for individual reasons.
  
  Mike Archuleta is a replacement bassist planning on getting drunk and committing suicide after this last gig, but his plans are interrupted by a fiery monster from hell attacking the band. While his checkered past means he's no slouch with a handgun, he's the newbie on the team, and spends a lot of the time asking the other band members what's going on. That's perhaps the biggest downside to the book, and one I hope to see less of in future installments. At least the mythology Butler builds here is pretty interesting stuff.
  
  While there's a smattering of horror and comedy (I particularly love Eddie Marlow's hilarious back-story of a crossroads deal gone wrong), for the most part the book is straight-up pulp-style action and adventure. Which I'm totally down with. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.
• 
  Daniel Burton

  I have been known to use hyperbole. I have also been known to love two books with equal passion even when they have absolutely nothing in common, whether one be a time-tested classic (like, say, Anna Karenina) and the second all fun (think Larry Correia).
  
  I use no hyperbole, then, when I say that
  D.J. Butler hits the sweet spot with his Rock Band Fights Evil series opener
  Hellhound on My Trail. It may not withstand the test of time, but I'd pick it up over
  Ulysses almost any a dry summer afternoon.
  
  If there's one thing that delayed me from picking Hellhound up earlier than I did, it was the cover. But don't let the comic book-like art on the cover dissuade you.
  Hellhound on My Trail has more in common with the
  Monster Hunter International series: guns, monsters, and magic, and a rip roaring adventure more fun than a barrel of zombies...and maybe even including zombies, too, as well as demons, monsters, and any number of versions of evil and mythical creatures.
  
  Don't be deceived, though. While Butler's Hellhound seems straightforward, it is anything but simpleminded. Rather, Butler seems bent on proving that fun can be intelligent. Whether you get that the title is riffing on Robert Johnson's blues classic or that the incarnation of the devil is a play on the Hebraic translation of Beelzebub or not, the book is a romp to enjoy.
  
  And just because his lead character might be one beer from a DUI, it doesn't mean that the supporting cast can't be witty, intelligent, and articulate, either. This doesn't mean you should expect them to spout Shakespeare, but you can at least plan on laughs and no wasted dialogue.
  
  One of my favorite exchanges happens between Eddie and Mike as they try to open a door. Eddie has been pulling all sorts of items out of his pockets, including duct tape.
  
  "Man of action has to be prepared," Eddie sniffed.
  
  "Maybe you should MacGyver open the door."
  
  "You MacGyver open the door," Eddie chuckled. "I'm gonna MacGuyver me a little Baal Zavuv."
  
  "I don't think MacGyver used guns."
  
  Eddie's eye skewed sideways and then he gritted his teeth and blinked. "I don't think MacGuyver was ever on Hell's Ten Most Wanted list."
  
  Delivered during snappy, non-stop action, the lines feel fluid and made me smile.
  
  Then there's the narcoleptic "wizard" on the team, constantly dozing off in the midst of crucial moments of the fight. Butler writes him spouting cliches...but never to complete them. Rather than finish the cliche, the wizard breaks off half way through, once you've pegged which cliche it is, and finishes with "and so on" or "et cetera" or something like that.
  
  "A stitch in nine, et cetera," he says. And because it becomes almost a verbal tick for the character, it adds to the color and character depth. I found it very clever.
  
  If there's one thing that I would have liked to see more of, it's a bit more attention to detail on some of the details that seem to be lost in the rush of action. Mike, the protag, has a death wish and is on the verge of suicide, and has a pretty dark background. Which, of course, is part of the reason he makes a great addition to the band of the doomed fighting Hell. But Butler brushes past it so quick I almost missed it. Perhaps an updated and expanded draft would fill it in a bit more?
  
  Hellhound on My Trail is short and fast, one long action scene, really. It's so fast, I almost read it in a single sitting, and would have if I didn't have work the next day. You can pick it up singly, in ebook, or in a collection with other installments in Rock Band Fights Evil in paper back. It's worth it. It's not Tolstoy, but if you like Correia, and I do, this is a fantastic read.
• 
  Nathan Shumate

  I’ve read two of my friend Dave Butler’s unpublished/on the market novels, which are terrific alternate-history epics (one is a “black powder fantasy” in a magical America, the other is steampunk Mormons). Hellhound on My Trail is different in these ways:
  
  It’s shorter, just under 37,000 words, meant to be the first installment in a serial adventure (“Rock Band Fights Evil”).
  It’s set in the present-day real world.
  It’s available as an ebook to y’all, not just those of us lucky enough to be Dave’s personal friends.
  
  Mike, a suicidal bassist, gets a gig sitting in with a bad band, who are unfortunately all kinds of trouble — demons want them dead, and Heaven isn’t too happy with them either. Mike has to fight off flaming reptilian hellhounds and giant demonic flies while trying to figure out, Who are these people? And is committing suicide worse than fighting the forces of Hell?
  
  It’s a little lumpy with expository dialog in parts, but it’s a fast-paced pulpy combat-laden adventure. Lots of things get hit and go squish. Recommended.
  
  (The second installment, Snake Handlin’ Man, is also out. He’s writing them faster than I can read them!)
  
  Official site: RockBandFightsEvil.com
  
  Disclaimer: Because of the unelected dweebs at the FTC who wouldn’t know the First Amendment if it wore a thong and gave them a lap dance, I must hereby announce that the media reviewed herein was received gratis from the distributor of said media with the understanding that I would comment on said media in this blog.
• 
  Erik Holmes

  Shotguns, Demons, and Rock & Roll!
  
  If Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Supernatural had a kid, and that kid had a one night stand with the son of The Da Vinci Code and Gun & Roses in a seedy heavy metal bar, that kid would be Rock Band Fights Evil.
  
  While trying to avoid the ghost of his dead brother, Mike gets involved with a wandering Rock Band that is more than what they seem. In the end they'll have to survive demons, ancient temples, and renegade angels as they pursue their near impossible goal: Take on the man downstairs himself.
  
  Full of action, mixed with well thought out ideas from religious mythology and an interesting look at Satan's fall from grace, this is a great, quick read. If you have some spare time on your hands and want a good book to read, load this into your kindle and enjoy the ride!
• 
  C.V. Hunt

  D.J. Butler takes his turn with heaven, hell, and everything in between with Hellhound On My Trail. Much like other authors that tackle biblical stories, his rendition is unique. He starts with a very diverse and strange band of characters that somewhat confuse you, but learning about who they are, and what they are capable of, keeps you flipping the pages to find out more.
  
  The story is action packed! You barely have time to breathe from one chapter to the next as the misfit band fights against unstoppable demons.
  
  Mike decided to play on more gig with an obscure band, and after the show he planned on killing himself. He’s been faced with the ghost of his angry brother for years, and uses alcohol to keep the delusions away. His scheme of one final night seems to be going as planned, until an angry demon busts into the bar and threatens to swallow him whole. Now under the sobering pressure, he realizes that where he is going after he dies isn’t an ideal place. Mike forces himself to step up and follow the group as they jump from the pan and into fire.
  
  The story is fast-paced and slightly chaotic to keep up with, but you are following Mike as he learns about the same world that you are being introduced to: God, Satan, demons, angles, shape shifting fairies, immortals, narcoleptic wizards…. Butler built a crazy world with infinite possibilities.
  
  This read gives you a great pulp fiction feel that would easily transfer into a comic book, and in a sense, that is what I felt like I was reading – minus the illustrations.
  
• 
  Susan Gottfried

  When DJ Butler sent me the description of Hellhound on my Trail, the first in a pulpy Rock Fiction series, I sent him back an e-mail with three words: SEND SMASHWORDS COUPON.
  
  Start to finish, this was a great read. Suicidal Mike stands in with a band he’s never heard of before. They need a bass player. He’s putting off the inevitable. It’s a good fit.
  
  Except… in the middle of the set, a Hellhound rushes in, setting off a chase that lasts the length of the book. Mike’s suddenly fighting for his life even as he’s haunted by his dead brother. At times, he wonders if he would have been better off if he’d kept to his plan and offed himself, but this ragtag band he’s fallen in with most certainly needs him in order to stay alive, themselves.
  
  What else is there to say? The story’s tight, the writing’s snappy, the creepy stuff is delicious, and there’s a ton of cleverness going on in here, as well. There are dead rabbis, tasers, archangels, weird metal-like fly-things, and a piece of Satan’s hoof. This short book, just over 100 pages, is closer to a novella – and it’s the perfect length. Any longer and it would run the risk of getting tedious. Any shorter, and it wouldn’t be nearly so complete.
  
  No matter what comes next, it’s got quite a predecessor to live up to.
  
• 
  Mark

  This is not the next Great Gatsby and it doesn't pretend to be. What this book is, is precisely what I wanted it to be. It is nothing more than a fun schlocky bit of urban fantasy with interesting characters and genuinely fun plot. There's really nothing not to like here except the that it's too damn short. It's one of the best escape books I have read this year but I felt more could have been done with this being the first book in the series. Don't get me wrong though, the plot is very well defined and well written; I would have just preferred a few more pages in length to add some more background to the characters. I have no doubt that there will be more background added in the coming books but darn it, I wanted more in this one. With that said I can also say that the one thing I am whining about didn't detract from the reading experience but was something I felt after I had scarfed down every word. I look forward to the next book in this series and hope that Mr. Butler can pull this series off for a good long time!
• 
  John

  Well, Monster Hunter Nation (The blog of author
  Larry Correia) did a book bomb of this title a few weeks ago, and the ebook was only $0.99, so I figured I would go ahead and read it.
  
  It's a short book, but a roller coaster ride of action. Angels, demons, guns and rock & roll, what more could you ask for? I did knock it down to 4 stars for a couple minor annoyances. A couple of characters will through out some dialogue in Spanish, which I don't speak, and I was too lazy to look up a translation. Also, I was a little put off by the depiction of Heaven as a bunch of busy-bodies interfering with humans as some kind of game.
  
  All in all, well worth a buck. And I'll probably get the other books in the series at some point.
• 
  Samuel

  I wasn't sure what to expect as I embarked on this journey. Dave sure throws you straight into the action and it doesn't let up until the end. One thing I didn't expect but enjoyed were the biblical references and characters which made it feel almost like a familiar story but with twists. Like other reviewers I've never read pulp fiction but I loved the intense, pop-shot (I think I just made that term up) action and pacing. I'm off to read #2 in the series.
• 
  Brian Klemme

  I couldn't put this book down! Lots of action, awesome characters - a great short story. This is my first pulp fiction read, and I must admit that I enjoy the genre - I mean, a rock band fighting evil? What could be better? Looking forward to reading Snake Handlin' Man (Rock Band Fights Evil, #2)
• 
  Karen

  This story picks you up in a seedy bar in New Mexico, and the action begins. There are infernal attack, lots of guns and swords, and a sideways glance at good and evil. The action doesn't end even after the story does. If you like monsters, guns, or rock and roll, this is definitely the series for you.
• 
  Steven Peck

  Sometimes you just feel like killing demons. A great ride. Fun, non-stop action, and a trill-a-second demon slaughter fest. This gave me the Buffy fix, I've been missing since I finished watching the show. I can't wait to read more from the Rock Band series (and more of Butler's work). His imagined world is well-wrought and loads of fun.
• 
  E.J. Patten

  Awesome book. Non-stop action. Cool characters. If you like Jim Butcher (Dresden Files), you'll love this.
• 
  Platte Clark

  Guitar riffs, an old van, an eclectic rock band, lots of guns, and being hunted by demons. Need I say more?
• 
  Bear

  God, Guns, and Rock and Roll! Who could ask for more?!
• 
  Jenn Rickel

  It took a while to get the characters together at first but the book was great after! Funny, short & action packed.
• 
  Per Gunnar

  I cannot say that I was overly surprised finding this book to be, well, not really to my liking. This was one of the books I bought and red in a moment of “What the hell, let’s try it“.
  
  The title is perhaps okay and the blurb not too bad either but I did get some bad feelings about the weird name, Rock Band Fights Evil, of the series.
  
  Well, one of the statements in the book blurb, “…then things start to get strange.“, was spot on at least. This book gets strange quite quickly. Unfortunately it gets messy as well.
  
  The main protagonist is more or less a case for a small room with padded walls right off from the start and those who are about to become his new friends are crazy, crazier and bloody crazy.
  
  Right from the start the main protagonist stumbles into a big fight between a Hellhound and this rock band who’s members are much more than they seem to be. The fight is messy and crazy to say the least and from there on it never really stops.
  
  Everyone is talking crazy and fighting at the same time and there is never really any pause where the author gives the reader some world building or character introduction or anything. There are some but it’s all intermingled with this big fight/chase/being/chased scene that takes up more or less the entire book. In my opinion it is poorly written altogether.
  
  I also cannot say that I really liked any of the characters. I have never really met any members of a rock band but the characters in this book pretty much behaves like I would have thought a rather stoned rock band would behave.
  
  The book is quite short at 126 pages and, for me, this was a good think because, as you can assume from this review, I didn’t really like this book at all.
• 
  Graham Bradley

  The good side of 3, a fun fantasy romp.
• 
  Scott William Taylor

  Have you ever read a book where the main characters are members of a rock band and they fight evil? Chances are good if you know author Dave Butler, you've read just such a book. If you don't know the author, I recommend you check out one of his many books in the Rock Band Fights Evil series.
  
  The first book in the series is Hellhound on my Trail and I finished it on the bus ride home this afternoon. The story begins with a rock band playing your basic gig in an out-of-the-way bar in New Mexico. The bass player Mike is new to the group and his life is going nowhere. In fact, after the music stops, Mike has plans of his own, plans that involve ending the personal torment he's facing.
  
  Good thing Mike joined this group of musicians. You see, normally rock bands invite evil, not fight it. But this group is different. As the rockers rock a hellhound and demon crash the party complete with death and giant attacking metal flies.
  
  We, along with the newest band member, have many questions and as Mike learns more of Heaven, Hell, androgynous drummers, wizard keyboardist and other surprises as the adventure unfolds. Seriously, I'm once again blown away by Mr. Butler's imagination.
  
  I'll be checking out the second book in the Rock Band Fights Evil series soon. This was a very fast read and the pace of the action never waned. There's nuggets of humor strewn throughout the book that had me laughing--not out loud, of course because I was on public transportation and no one wants to be "that guy..." Glad to have read the book. Glad Butler didn't make the bass player some patsy, butt-of-the-jokes guy. Glad there's more to come. If this sounds like a book you'd like, please give it a try!
• 
  sertakia

  This was a really intriguing book, and I loved the story line. It really draws you in and then spits you out at the end, leaving you wanting for more. Luckily we are granted that luxury considering this is only the first in the series. It definitely has an excellent beginning for a series, and I am left wanting more. We only know so much about the characters at this point, even by the last chapter there are so many mysteries to be answered. Personally I related to Twitch the most. If you are looking for wild west adventure with fantastical creatures thrown in and just a little bit of religious content thrown in then I would definitely recommend you read this. I certainly enjoyed it.
• 
  Matthew Santa Cruz

  When you pick up a book called Hellhound on My Trail (Rock Band Fights Evil), you have certain expectations going in. The author met these expectations and then some. From the moment that the Hellhound crashes through the wall of Butcher's roadhouse in the middle of the band's performance, it's almost non-stop gunfighting, swordplay, and spell-casting. The book might have been short, but it had enough action to fill a book ten times its size. I am eagerly looking forward to the rest of the series.
• 
  James Wymore

  This book is one big chase scene from cover to cover with non-stop action. With a ghost haunting his living brother, a shape changer, an archangel, and plenty of demons, the band just can't catch a break until there's no where else to run.
• 
  Kittydragon

  This book is not stop action fun! You and Mike might have no clue what's going on but you are definitely gonna jump in the van with a rock band that has the gun power to fight demons.