The Legend of Charlie Fish

(Paperback)

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Josh Rountrees powerful debut Western novel wades into the literary waters of True Grit and Lonesome Dove by way of The Shape of Water. This story of turn-of-the-20th-century Texas pits an unlikely found family, including a strange gill-man, against relentless bounty hunters all set against the worst natural disaster in U.S. history.

After burying his father, Floyd Betts is returning to Galveston, Texas. He is not alone in his journey, riding out of town with two orphaned siblings he has rescued. Descended from a long line of witches, Nellie struggles with visions from other peoples minds. Her impulsive younger brother Hank just wants to break out his oversized revolver.

On the way to Galveston, Floyd, Nellie, and Hank rescue a lost, two-legged amphibian, Charlie Fish. But dangerous men, who want to profit from the spectacle of Charlie, are hot on their trail.

As Nell forms a strong psychic bond with Charlie, Floyd, still grieving, is struggling to protect this strange new family. Ominous winds are picking up from an impending hurricane. Meanwhile, all Charlie wants is to return to his home at sea.

With the taut intensity of an impending storm, Josh Rountree has created a unique Western, neo-gothic novel that demonstrates exactly why he is a rising star of American fiction.

'Odd, creepy, funny, The Black Lagoon meets the Six Gun universe. High up on the way-cool factor. You need this.' Joe R. Lansdale, Edgar Award-winning author of the Hap and Leonard series

Reviews

"Rountree excels at creating new mythology and folktales that feel like they've always existed, and The Legend of Charlie Fish is no exception. A tense, exciting, and gorgeous read that will sweep you up immediately and not let go, lingering even after you turn the last page."
--A. C. Wise, author of Wendy, Darling

"A winsome tale of wondrous misfits and unlikely kinships, The Legend of Charlie Fish channels all the wit and melancholy of the great Charles Portis. Part adventure story, part lament, the whole is a triumph of voice and heart."
--Andy Davidson, author of The Hollow Kind

"A fantastic novel about the power of family, be they blood, human or not. Of love and loyalty and strange talents. Of heat and violence and storms and a Fishman. A tight heart-filled tapestry of almost alternate history that hits all the notes I crave in weird fiction. I adored it."
--John Boden, author of Jedi Summer, Spungunion, and Snarl

"An entertaining historical weird fantasy tale featuring a cigarette-smoking manphibian befriended by an orphaned witch girl and her gun-toting kid brother. Set in Galveston, Texas, during the deadliest hurricane to ever strike the United States, this strange self-made family not only must deal with the elements but a pair of scheming scoundrels intent on capturing Charlie as well. Author Josh Rountree knows the city of Galveston and its tragic history backwards and forwards. Recommended for those who enjoy a good 'weird western.'"
--Nancy A. Collins, author of Sunglasses After Dark

"A fantastic work of dark historical fiction, in the spirit of Lansdale, Gorman, Pronzini, and McMurtry."
--Brian Keene, author of the Rising series

"Odd, creepy, funny, The Black Lagoon meets the Six Gun universe. High up on the way-cool factor. You need this."
--Joe R. Lansdale, author of the Hap and Leonard series

"By recounting their past tales of loss and longing, Rountree effectively crafts deep characterizations for each of his cast members and makes you care for their plight, especially during the breathless final act as a colossal hurricane bears down on their Galveston locale. I was thoroughly taken with this story, Rountree's writing, and the unique island setting."
--The Speculative Shelf

"Equal parts touching and bizarre, The Legend of Charlie Fish is a weird western with heart, and is a completely delightful read from start to finish."
--David Liss, author of The Peculiarities

Praise for Josh Rountree

"Josh Rountree is that rarest of creatures, a natural born storyteller."
--Jaime Lee Moyer, author of Divine Heretic and Brightfall

"Rountree's writing came down on me like the Assyrian on the fold."
--Howard Waldrop, author of Night of the Cooters

"Despite the popularity of fantasy during the past twenty years or more, very few writers have done much with short fantasy fiction rather than novels, and Rountree is definitely one of the exceptions."
--Critical Mass

Praise for Fantastic Americana

"Rountree demonstrates impressive range in his wild debut collection of 21 speculative shorts. Unusual juxtapositions create striking tales . . . The result is as inventive as it is eclectic.
--Publishers Weekly

"This is a collection not to be missed!"
--A.C. Wise, author of Wendy, Darling and The Ghost Sequences

"A corkscrewing roller coaster that stretches from sea to shining sea."
--Bradley Denton, author of Lunatics and Blackburn

"Fantastic Americana justifies its bold title. It's worth looking for."
--The Endless Bookshelf

Author Bio

Josh Rountree has published more than sixty stories in a wide variety of magazines and anthologies, including Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Realms of Fantasy, The Deadlands, Bourbon Penn, PseudoPod, PodCastle, Daily Science Fiction, and A Punk Rock Future. Several of his stories have received honorable mentions in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Seventeenth and Twenty-First Annual Collections, as well as The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Sixth Annual Collection. His latest short fiction collection is Fantastic Americana: Stories from Fairwood Press. Josh lives somewhere in the untamed wilds of Texas with his wife and children, and he tweets about books, records, and guitars at @josh_rountree.