Book Review for Beasts of Babylon by E.A. Copen
Beasts of Babylon, by E.A. Copen, is a Western Horror about a woman attaining her revenge while her humanity erodes from within.
Anastasia Thorne is a ghoul searching for the monsters who killed both her and her son, Micah. Her husband, Christian Thorne, is the sheriff of Babylon, a town that has come to fear Anastasia because of her inhuman qualities. After saving a man from being executed, she enlists his help to hunt down these monsters in exchange for assisting him and his gang in a robbery. After they succeed, they make their way into the mountains. Soon, Anastasia, Christian, and the gang become stranded, and are forced to survive through a terrifying night. It’s a race against time to see who survives, when Anastasia learns just how much blood will be on her hands, if only for the sake of a hollow vengeance.
Ana and Christian captured my heart from the moment I read about them. Along with Micah, they were a wonderful family, and its those memories I tried clinging to while practically seeing their experiences on the mountain. It shows that even when he forsook his wife as she returned from the dead, Christian still cared about her, albeit reluctantly. It’s why the ending was so tragic for both of them. I didn’t particularly feel mournful about Jesse and Tommy, mostly because of their racial slurs, but their ends were poetic as well. They cared for each other, and to some extent, the other survivors, so much so that Jesse put aside his differences to try to help Christian, despite the fact the sheriff would slow him down. It makes his end just as sorrowful as Ana and Christian’s, if not more so.
Personally, this Western reminded me of the Witch Trials in Salem. Loved ones betray loved ones because they thought they were doing what was right. Fear and paranoia gripped them, just as it gripped Babylon’s residents. The somewhat awkward bonding between Christian and Jesse, as well as the creatures that were tormented before finally succumbing to the monsters within; it’s a dark reflection of humanity’s own plagues. Just as Jesse, Tommy, Ana, Christian, and his subordinates stranded on the mountain, trying to survive these monsters, so do these monsters endeavor to live off their own, bloody desires. In these aspects, the beasts and humans of Babylon are one in the same.
Overall, I would give this book a rating of a 4.3 out of 5 stars. I loved the characterization, as well as the themes of survival surrounding the story. The Western horror also shrouds the fears that the isolated setting creates, reminiscent of stories that tend to trap readers in its malevolent words and psychological hell. The gory details are an added bonus. As such, I would recommend this book to fans of Thatcher’s Tree by James Shipway.
