On Stolen Land by Stephanie Rabig

On Stolen Land Reviews

• 
  Corrina Morse

  I saw a post on Twitter by Kealan Patrick Burke a few months ago, asking for ARC readers for this book, which was described as a "queer, dark-as-hell, horror western" I was intrigued and asked if I could participate and.... I got accepted! Thank you Stephanie! 😊
  Kealan is responsible for the awesome artwork which makes up this cover! 🖤
  So, here's what I thought of it......
  
  For starters.....WOW! What an opening chapter! High adrenaline, scary and brutal! What seems like a case of "prairie madness" leads to some vicious, barbaric killings! Bounty hunters and married couple Ada and Pearl, set out to hunt down the person behind it all, but he's not easy to track down despite leaving a horrific and bloody trail of destruction behind him!
  
  This is full of action, fear and blood, a lot of blood! It has supernatural elements too, which were fantastically creepy. Well described, vividly scarring images that are likely to stay in your head long after reading! Stephanie also deals with racism and sexuality in this book, but completely as part of the story, and really well done. The pacing and flow of the story are perfect! I really enjoyed the subtle humour that was weaved throughout too, and also the humanity and emotion.
  
  The culmination of the story was absolutely brilliant, edge of your seat stuff, leaving you with a fantastic, feel good satisfaction!
  This would fit in perfectly with the splatter westerns from Deaths Head Press, so if you're a fan of those, you'll probably want to check this out! 🤠
  
  This was my first by Stephanie, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, its left me wanting more and I will be actively seeking out more of her work in future!
  
  5/5 🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠
• 
  Bethanie Djonne

  I really only need to say one thing to sell you on this book: Bad ass lesbian bounty hunters in the old west looking for a being not of this world that’s wrecking havoc on poor unsuspecting town’s people. Who wouldn’t want that! This book was action packed. It had heart and soul and passion. Ada is a rough and tough chick whose only weakness seems to be her wife Pearl. Pearl is an even more bad ass bounty hunter with a past in slavery that has taught her the most valuable lesson, don’t fear anything. These two ladies are looking for a man who has seems to be suffering from prairie madness, but instead is suffering from something much more serious. It very much reminded me of the movie The Thing. So like yeehaw The Thing. The characters were solid. I loved that main two, and I was surprised by a lot of the deaths in the book that I just didn’t see coming. It was another book where the writing style was captivating enough to make me forget I was reading a book. And the ending was so freaking satisfying. It was a very fun entertaining book with lots of crazy stuff going down, which is why I’m give it a rootin’ tootin’ 5/5. Ok that was lame 😅🤣
• 
  Cobwebby Reading Reindeer

  What an incredibly, indelibly, potent tale, a Western turned on its head, then sideways, then reversed. Gifted author Stephanie Rabig (of whom my first reading experience was the also powerful PLAYING POSSUM) has struck every potential and essential note in this tale. Racism against freedmen, bounty hunting of escaped slaves, bigotry against Native Americans, patriarchy, propaganda founded in tragedy in order to turn a society into opposition to whomever is deemed "The Other," sexism and patriarchy, stomping on LGBTQ+ rights; ON STOLEN LAND is a terrifying and illuminating revelation of "The West That Was," not "The West That Never Existed. " A reader comes upon such Truths of History but rarely, and reading it here, it will not be forgotten.
• 
  Elford Alley

  This book is a tale about married bounty hunters trying to bring down a vicious prairie-mad cannibal, but more than that, it's a story that puts an unblinking focus on the legacy of the old west. The violence is brutal and visceral, and spares no one. The bounty hunters, Ada and Pearl, have a deep connection and a struggle to truly understand each other, as both come from such different experiences. They form the backbone of this epic horror western. I hope we see them again, their adventure definitely isn't over.
• 
  Laurel

  This was an absolute delight. I went into it blind, and was immediately pulled into the world of Ada and Pearl. Fun, fast paced, with glorious character building and a compelling storyline. A stellar sample of the splatter Western genre.
• 
  Sunny

  Back in January 2022, my dad sent me a tweet from Stephanie Rabig, announcing the e-ARC for this book, in hopes that I’d finally join him in loving horror if I read this. Well, he was right about that. I absolutely loved this book from page one and (I don’t say this lightly) I had a hard time putting this book down.
  
  To start, I adore Ada and Pearl. They’re the sorts of characters I always love to see in any book I’m reading, and I loved what they stood for. Putting everything on the line to fight for freedom and actual equality is something I’ll root for, especially from characters that I can actually relate to. And getting to read their thoughts and reactions to other characters’ opinions in the book was so intriguing. Reading some of the other characters in this story was almost painful at times, seeing how those ideas were so strong then (and, let’s face it, still strong in some groups today). But getting to see someone challenge those ideas, even if they’re fictional characters, is always refreshing.
  
  Ultimately though, this book wouldn’t have been the same without the Hungates family. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not always the best at connecting the dots in stories before the author connects them for me. I was surprised and so heartbroken by the reveal of that family’s deaths and what their pain had created. And it was so much more satisfying to see them be allowed to move on rather than just destroying them like the monster they were assumed to be.
  
  I won’t get too much further into the plot itself, ‘cause I’d hate to spoil it for other readers, but I cannot recommend this book enough. If you’re a horror fan (especially one that’s also looking for LGBTQ+ rep in your reading), give this book a read. I hope you all love it as much as I did.
• 
  James Wharton

  Well written western horror story with a lesbian couple who are also bounty hunters as the protagonists. I would have given this book five stars except my copy had excessive paragraph breaks that were often inside of sentences.