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Servant of the Red Quill: A Baker Johnson Tale
In this exciting sequel to The Giving of Things Cold & Cursed, psychical researcher Baker Johnson returns. The year is 1927. The place is New York city. Baker Johnson is reluctantly pulled into a case involving a troubled family in Yonkers. Jeremiah Simms, a wealthy collector of haunted objects, has acquired a rare tome penned by the infamous Marquis de Sade. Titled Servant of the Red Quill, this cursed book unleashes an evil spirit that threatens to destroy the Simms family. Baker must face a cunning and powerful demon to save the innocent. But the deadliest demons of this battle lie within Baker. Servant of the Red Quill is an 11,000 word novelette. Featuring an introduction by Paula Cappa, the award-winning author of The Dazzling Darkness.
- GenresHorror
72 pages, Paperback
First published January 2, 2015
2 people are currently reading
304 people want to read
About the author
Terry M. West
198 books134 followersTerry M. West is an American horror author. His best known works: What Price Gory, Car Nex, Dreg and his Night Things series. He was a finalist for 2 International Horror Guild Awards and he was featured on the TV Guide Sci-Fi hot list for his YA graphic novel series, Confessions of a Teenage Vampire. Terry was born in Texas, lived in New York for two decades and he currently hangs his hat in California.
www.terrymwest.com
www.terrymwest.com
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 7, 2021
The sequel was just as good as the first book!
A small backstory:
Baker Johnson is back as he meets with a man, Jeremiah Simms who is having problems with supernatural activity in his house. There is "something" after his daughter and Jeremiah is not sure what the entity wants except maybe to take over his daughter as she has become attached to an ancient book that is probably demonic. Baker has to go up against something not of this world and will have to go to hell and back to save Jeremiah's daughter!
That is about all I can give on a backstory without giving away spoilers as this story was a short reading romp as it only took me about an hour to read.
Thoughts:
I am really enjoy these short serials with the character Baker Johnson and the writing style just flows along dragging me straight into the storyline. This story was actually more creepier and had lots of demonic vibes running through it. There are three more books to go in the series and I will be curious to see where the character ends up next on his journey to finding cursed artifacts. Giving this book four "Spooky Demon" stars.
For more thoughts on this review, please see my blog:
https://booknookretreat.blogspot.com/...
A small backstory:
Baker Johnson is back as he meets with a man, Jeremiah Simms who is having problems with supernatural activity in his house. There is "something" after his daughter and Jeremiah is not sure what the entity wants except maybe to take over his daughter as she has become attached to an ancient book that is probably demonic. Baker has to go up against something not of this world and will have to go to hell and back to save Jeremiah's daughter!
That is about all I can give on a backstory without giving away spoilers as this story was a short reading romp as it only took me about an hour to read.
Thoughts:
I am really enjoy these short serials with the character Baker Johnson and the writing style just flows along dragging me straight into the storyline. This story was actually more creepier and had lots of demonic vibes running through it. There are three more books to go in the series and I will be curious to see where the character ends up next on his journey to finding cursed artifacts. Giving this book four "Spooky Demon" stars.
For more thoughts on this review, please see my blog:
https://booknookretreat.blogspot.com/...
June 15, 2020
this was a really good quick listen. I did not listen to the previous Baker Jonson tale(s) and had no problem keeping up with the story. I would listen to more in this series. Jason Mills reads it and does a great job.
I requested this audio book in exchange for a honest review.
I requested this audio book in exchange for a honest review.
February 5, 2015
A broken and haunted man, Baker Johnson is a second generation parapsychologist and trustee of plagued and cursed items during New York's "Roaring 20's". Turning to the drink to fill the void of his lost family and quiet the regret of unleashing his cursed items back into the world. Coerced away from his downward spiral in order to help an old acquaintance to his deceased uncle, another collector of plagued objects, who is being plagued by a recent acquisition.
The brand of Terry M. West has become synonymous, to me at least, with quality, easy to engage and tough to let go, frights. Populated with damaged heroes, imaginative creatures and real world, believable predicaments. With "Red Quill" Mr. West serves up another tightly knitted yarn. It is a period piece, taking place in 1927 with dialogue and social definitions & interactions feeling true to the era. The narrative cruises along at a brisk pace and before you know it, the last page is turned and you are left aching for more.
And with Baker Johnson, Mr. West has delivered his most gripping character yet, from a long line of memorable dramatis personae. A man working more on science and fact, less on faith, although he uses faith based items in his repertoire of tools, to abolish dark entities. He is damaged goods, but not by his own hand, at least not initially. It's easy to empathize with Baker, feel his pain, all the while rooting for him to rise from the murk.
There is a touching moment when Baker interprets his own suffering, a defining moment when we, the readers, feel his shift away from the his self-imprisoned black spiral. And we know, if Baker Survives he's going to make it.
"Servant of the Red Quill" is a great, quick read. It'll stick with you for a bit, the shadows rattling around in your brain pan. The character Baker Johnson has legs, hopefully strong legs, as I am quite curious and excited to see where his adventures will take him after "Red Quill". Whatever is next for this character, I'm in.
The Mouths of Madness Podcastshow
www.facebook.com/themouthsofmadness
The brand of Terry M. West has become synonymous, to me at least, with quality, easy to engage and tough to let go, frights. Populated with damaged heroes, imaginative creatures and real world, believable predicaments. With "Red Quill" Mr. West serves up another tightly knitted yarn. It is a period piece, taking place in 1927 with dialogue and social definitions & interactions feeling true to the era. The narrative cruises along at a brisk pace and before you know it, the last page is turned and you are left aching for more.
And with Baker Johnson, Mr. West has delivered his most gripping character yet, from a long line of memorable dramatis personae. A man working more on science and fact, less on faith, although he uses faith based items in his repertoire of tools, to abolish dark entities. He is damaged goods, but not by his own hand, at least not initially. It's easy to empathize with Baker, feel his pain, all the while rooting for him to rise from the murk.
There is a touching moment when Baker interprets his own suffering, a defining moment when we, the readers, feel his shift away from the his self-imprisoned black spiral. And we know, if Baker Survives he's going to make it.
"Servant of the Red Quill" is a great, quick read. It'll stick with you for a bit, the shadows rattling around in your brain pan. The character Baker Johnson has legs, hopefully strong legs, as I am quite curious and excited to see where his adventures will take him after "Red Quill". Whatever is next for this character, I'm in.
The Mouths of Madness Podcastshow
www.facebook.com/themouthsofmadness
Read
January 9, 2018Set in a gothic past, Baker Johnson is a cool, Kolchak the Night Stalker-like psychic investigator with the uncanny ability to "read" other people. He puts this to good use in his daily life, when not drowning his deep pain in whisky and women.
A solicitor employs our "semi-retired" hero for a wealthy collector of curiosities when one of the items, a book by an infamous marquis, possesses his daughter. Baker faces his pain and realizes a new and useful aspect of his intuition. At the end of the novella, Baker Johnson intimates a desire to right some wrongs of his past, which promises new tales from Terry M. West, which makes this reader happy.
A solicitor employs our "semi-retired" hero for a wealthy collector of curiosities when one of the items, a book by an infamous marquis, possesses his daughter. Baker faces his pain and realizes a new and useful aspect of his intuition. At the end of the novella, Baker Johnson intimates a desire to right some wrongs of his past, which promises new tales from Terry M. West, which makes this reader happy.
December 30, 2014
One doesn’t destroy the lamp of a jinni. One corks it.
"This thing is more powerful than I thought," Baker admitted, and worry charmed his face for a second – The guilty always fall apart so much sooner if they've any remorse in their souls – his plans and hopes and dreams for his twelve year-old daughter caught and froze somewhere in Baker's soul and at that same moment, God died as well – You will carry us and think us no more than your own sinful thoughts.”
The Giving of Things Cold & Cursed, the first installment in the Baker Johnson series, firmly establishes Johnson as a man tired of confrontation with the other side and yet, due to his natural talents and clear vision through the veil, he continues to entertain those beyond as well as himself. It also establishes him as a man to be respected for his expertise and forgiven for his vices. He is a hero commanding respect even from the demons. I love the Baker Johnson tales. They bring me straight into that huge old black and white television set we used to watch when I was a kid. It had doors that opened on the front and had a fake drawer beneath. The Servant of the Red Quill bleeds right out of that set.
The Servant of the Red Quill took me to a time in antiquity when, unlike today, people enjoyed driving – when the automobile was new and few on the roadways. Reading about Baker Johnson is like reading an old classic: oil lamps lit with kerosene oil, coal burning stoves for cooking, bedpans, water pitchers, hand drawn wells, fireplaces, candles, the smells, the sounds, old tinny radios playing, fabrics that haven’t been chemically altered with softeners, an age long before this fast-food mentality that we live in now, and with the added horrific advantage of demons, ghosts and magical incantations.
The gothic edge is fabulous. Because Mr. West perfectly demonstrates that time travel is possible through his ability to capture a reader within the world he has created, I was once again easily absorbed with The Servant of the Red Quill. This story is disturbing, sometimes shocking but always engaging. Once again, Mr. West resonates in this piece and reveals his lure and power as a courageous writer of true horror.
"This thing is more powerful than I thought," Baker admitted, and worry charmed his face for a second – The guilty always fall apart so much sooner if they've any remorse in their souls – his plans and hopes and dreams for his twelve year-old daughter caught and froze somewhere in Baker's soul and at that same moment, God died as well – You will carry us and think us no more than your own sinful thoughts.”
The Giving of Things Cold & Cursed, the first installment in the Baker Johnson series, firmly establishes Johnson as a man tired of confrontation with the other side and yet, due to his natural talents and clear vision through the veil, he continues to entertain those beyond as well as himself. It also establishes him as a man to be respected for his expertise and forgiven for his vices. He is a hero commanding respect even from the demons. I love the Baker Johnson tales. They bring me straight into that huge old black and white television set we used to watch when I was a kid. It had doors that opened on the front and had a fake drawer beneath. The Servant of the Red Quill bleeds right out of that set.
The Servant of the Red Quill took me to a time in antiquity when, unlike today, people enjoyed driving – when the automobile was new and few on the roadways. Reading about Baker Johnson is like reading an old classic: oil lamps lit with kerosene oil, coal burning stoves for cooking, bedpans, water pitchers, hand drawn wells, fireplaces, candles, the smells, the sounds, old tinny radios playing, fabrics that haven’t been chemically altered with softeners, an age long before this fast-food mentality that we live in now, and with the added horrific advantage of demons, ghosts and magical incantations.
The gothic edge is fabulous. Because Mr. West perfectly demonstrates that time travel is possible through his ability to capture a reader within the world he has created, I was once again easily absorbed with The Servant of the Red Quill. This story is disturbing, sometimes shocking but always engaging. Once again, Mr. West resonates in this piece and reveals his lure and power as a courageous writer of true horror.
September 3, 2022
The Baker Johnson Tales is an ongoing series of short stories by Terry M. West, all of them dealing with Baker Johnson, the Black Room inherited from his grandfather, and their shared legacy of darkness.
With Servant of the Red Quill, West picks up the story two years later, with Baker having become a poor, drunken, sullen recluse, rather than the dark sort of avenging hero we may have expected after the first chapter. While he has no interest in resurrecting the Black Room, much less ever filling it again, an unwelcome visitor drags him back into the world of parapsychology.
The initial battle of wills with a clever, manipulative lawyer reminds both the reader and Baker himself of the man he once was, drawing him out of the shadows of gloom, and thrusting him back to the edge of true darkness once again. The man he's been summoned to assist, Jeremiah Simms, is an old confidante of his grandfather and a fellow collector of haunted objects. What convinces Baker to take his case, however, is the demon that is haunting the old man's daughter - an affliction that tugs at his heartstrings, reminding him of his own lost daughter.
The haunted object in question is what initially prompted me to give these stories a read. Simms is in possession of a rare, handwritten manuscript from the Marquis de Sade, containing a tale that even his scholars never suspected to exist, written in a strange language. His daughter has been working on translating it, and the deeper she's gotten into the text, the worse her affliction has become. At the risk of saying too much, it all adds up to an exorcism the likes of which is rarely seen in fiction, and a climax that more than delivers on the tension and the fear that West so carefully stokes.
While The Giving of Things Cold & Cursed was a solid tease, it really did leave the reader wanting more. Fortunately, Servant of the Red Quill delivers admirably, not only rewarding the reader for having stuck with the character, but making us hungry for more.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
With Servant of the Red Quill, West picks up the story two years later, with Baker having become a poor, drunken, sullen recluse, rather than the dark sort of avenging hero we may have expected after the first chapter. While he has no interest in resurrecting the Black Room, much less ever filling it again, an unwelcome visitor drags him back into the world of parapsychology.
The initial battle of wills with a clever, manipulative lawyer reminds both the reader and Baker himself of the man he once was, drawing him out of the shadows of gloom, and thrusting him back to the edge of true darkness once again. The man he's been summoned to assist, Jeremiah Simms, is an old confidante of his grandfather and a fellow collector of haunted objects. What convinces Baker to take his case, however, is the demon that is haunting the old man's daughter - an affliction that tugs at his heartstrings, reminding him of his own lost daughter.
The haunted object in question is what initially prompted me to give these stories a read. Simms is in possession of a rare, handwritten manuscript from the Marquis de Sade, containing a tale that even his scholars never suspected to exist, written in a strange language. His daughter has been working on translating it, and the deeper she's gotten into the text, the worse her affliction has become. At the risk of saying too much, it all adds up to an exorcism the likes of which is rarely seen in fiction, and a climax that more than delivers on the tension and the fear that West so carefully stokes.
While The Giving of Things Cold & Cursed was a solid tease, it really did leave the reader wanting more. Fortunately, Servant of the Red Quill delivers admirably, not only rewarding the reader for having stuck with the character, but making us hungry for more.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
February 19, 2020
I enjoyed this short, interesting story. I think I will look to pick up other Baker Johnson tales. I think I could get into this series if they are similar to this story. It was well-written and concise and the narration was spot on. I wasn't sure that I would enjoy it to begin with as Baker seemed like a hot turd on toast... I really think I can like his character though.
May 8, 2017
Another evil spirit bites the dust?
Another very good story from Mr. West! This is the kind of story I very much enjoy reading, and I was not disappointed in this one.
Another very good story from Mr. West! This is the kind of story I very much enjoy reading, and I was not disappointed in this one.
February 13, 2015
There’s something about Terry M. West’s work that runs smooth for me, like well-oiled cogs working harmoniously together. I’m a writer and pay careful attention to detail even when texting, so I can’t help but keep one eye on the story and the other on the look out. I look for sentences I would tighten, as well as errors in both grammar and punctuation. West’s work seems to help me set aside that anal retentiveness and just go for the ride. I’m able to look out the window and enjoy the scenery instead of tossing around my backseat driver opinions and corrections. In short, West makes it difficult to be distracted by anything else but the story he’s telling.
Servant of the Red Quill is a period piece (New York City, 1927) in which West builds on a character developed in an older story of his, The Giving of Things Cold & Cursed. The character in question, Baker Johnson, is a psychical researcher that has a knack for judging the book by its cover—that is, he gives accurate and thorough impressions of people’s character, insecurities, and strengths with nothing more than a look at their face. He’s also a bit of an exorcist who specializes in objects containing possession-causing properties. In this instance the object in question is a book with a very interesting and exciting history.
Baker, who’s dealing with his own metaphorical demons, comes out of semi-retirement for a chance at some cash helping out an old acquaintance of his uncle. The first half of the book really felt like an old classic horror film from the 30s or 40s, but it switches gears when it’s time to rid a young girl of a demon.
At this point things change into some stereotypical happenings for an exorcism, and the “Exorcist” type cover itself reminded me of that. As a result, for me, it did contain a bit of a lull here. But let me be clear, I do understand that shedding any negative light on a story for its common exorcism elements would be like badmouthing a vampire, werewolf, or zombie story because they mention drinking blood, shape shifting, and eating flesh while only being destroyed by stakes, daylight, silver bullets, and headshots. It’s the mythos. It comes with the territory, and often times readers don’t like you messing with the established rules, so I get it. And West does, however, add more than just holy water, crucifixes, and restraining straps. There were some genuinely new elements brought to the table to battle the demon despite some of the clichés throughout.
I feel comfortable in this particular instance that I may stand very much alone in what I don’t like about Servant of the Red Quill (which is very little). I can be very hard to please when it comes to music, film, or literature. This does not, however, stop Terry M. West from being one of my current favorite writers and from enjoying the scenery on this particular ride. More please.
Servant of the Red Quill is a period piece (New York City, 1927) in which West builds on a character developed in an older story of his, The Giving of Things Cold & Cursed. The character in question, Baker Johnson, is a psychical researcher that has a knack for judging the book by its cover—that is, he gives accurate and thorough impressions of people’s character, insecurities, and strengths with nothing more than a look at their face. He’s also a bit of an exorcist who specializes in objects containing possession-causing properties. In this instance the object in question is a book with a very interesting and exciting history.
Baker, who’s dealing with his own metaphorical demons, comes out of semi-retirement for a chance at some cash helping out an old acquaintance of his uncle. The first half of the book really felt like an old classic horror film from the 30s or 40s, but it switches gears when it’s time to rid a young girl of a demon.
At this point things change into some stereotypical happenings for an exorcism, and the “Exorcist” type cover itself reminded me of that. As a result, for me, it did contain a bit of a lull here. But let me be clear, I do understand that shedding any negative light on a story for its common exorcism elements would be like badmouthing a vampire, werewolf, or zombie story because they mention drinking blood, shape shifting, and eating flesh while only being destroyed by stakes, daylight, silver bullets, and headshots. It’s the mythos. It comes with the territory, and often times readers don’t like you messing with the established rules, so I get it. And West does, however, add more than just holy water, crucifixes, and restraining straps. There were some genuinely new elements brought to the table to battle the demon despite some of the clichés throughout.
I feel comfortable in this particular instance that I may stand very much alone in what I don’t like about Servant of the Red Quill (which is very little). I can be very hard to please when it comes to music, film, or literature. This does not, however, stop Terry M. West from being one of my current favorite writers and from enjoying the scenery on this particular ride. More please.
October 20, 2015
Quick read
A short story about possession. Quite naturally there's an exorcism. Nothing special. I didn't find it scary at all. But then again I collect Stephen King novels lol.
A short story about possession. Quite naturally there's an exorcism. Nothing special. I didn't find it scary at all. But then again I collect Stephen King novels lol.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews