Red Rabbit

A witch, a demon, a shapeshifter, ghosts, and cannibals are just some of the characters whose exploits enliven this sprawling, picaresque post–Civil War weird western from Grecian (The Saint of Wolves and Butchers). When residents of Riddle, Kan., put a bounty on the head of accused local witch Sadie Grace, it attracts the attention of Texas cowboys Ned Hemingway and Moses Burke. As they ride northward for a shot at the prize, they’re joined along the way by a widowed schoolmistress, a Mexican desperado, and a self-proclaimed witch-master and his enigmatic ward, Rabbit. Their experiences en route include a near-fatal confrontation with a supernaturally possessed outlaw, a terrifying journey through a forest that has seen mass suicides, and a dangerous stopover in a town of flesh-eating ghouls. Grecian’s eccentric characters are wonderfully developed (save for the title character, who is mostly on the periphery for the tale’s duration), but their episodic adventures meander with a randomness that keeps the narrative’s direction loose and unfocused. It’s all incident, no plot—but the incidents are good fun. (Sept.)