The Rider, the Ride, the Rich Man's Wife
by Premee Mohamed

Reviewed by Galen Strickland
Posted August 30, 2024

Buy the hardcover from Amazon. A purchase through our links may earn us a commission. Not listed at Bookshop at this time, but I'll provide other purchase links below.

A new novella by Premee Mohamed from PS Publishing in the UK. At the current time Amazon in the US only has it in hardcover, not for Kindle yet. Not sure why, but Barnes and Noble has the e-book for the Nook, which is what I purchased and read, being able to add the Nook app to my Kindle Fire tablet. Unless I didn't search correctly, they don't seem to offer the hardcover now. I suppose I could have bought the e-book direct from PS Publishing, but I wasn't positive that would be compatible with my device. We won't receive a commission if you choose either the B&N or PS Publishing link, but that doesn't matter. I recommend it, so however you choose to buy it is okay with me, and I'm sure okay with Premee.

Equal parts post-apocalyptic western, a horror story, and fairy tale. The small village of Wrathford exists in the midst of a bleak landscape, dry and dusty, with few plants and trees, and difficulty finding fresh water when digging a well. What water they do find is very salty, but they keep trying. There are stories about the before-times, of the large cities now mostly empty and decaying, but without details of what caused the collapse. The first person narrator is Lucas "Luke" Hall. He is about fourteen years old, along with his twin brother Christopher, "Kit." Their parents had died seven years before, and since then they had a lot of help from a town elder named Rowse, along with their teacher, Mrs. Edwards. Seven years is significant for the story, as it has been for many others, although in this case I'm not sure there is a rhyme or reason for it. Every seven years the Rich Man's Wife and her Rider select a person from the area to hunt. No one is allowed to help the chosen. Rowse has told them of three in the past who escaped their fate, but that might not be accurate, only told to give people hope if their turn ever came. Luke and Kit have no memories of the previous hunts, since they were just babies one time, then busy trying to help their dying parents the second time, so they have never seen the Wife or her Rider. They had heard many stories though, and have no trouble identifying them as they ride toward Wrathford. There are other villages nearby, and the chances the pick would come from Wrathford were small. But not small enough. Kit is chosen this time.

Now for the horror part. Both the Rider and the Wife (Constance Thompson) are dead, or at least had been dead, but are now reanimated. That might be another thing that happens in a seven year cycle, they may be inactive between times. The Rider is the person killed in the previous hunt, in this case a man named Phineas Webb, whom Rowse had known, and several of Webb's family are still around. The first person the Rich Man's Wife had killed had been her husband, the Rich Man himself, although I am not sure if she was already dead at that point, or if that came later. Her and the Rider's actions are mysterious and creepy. They are very strong, and can move fast. They can disappear, then reappear somewhere else in the blink of an eye. They also have helpers in the hunt, creatures that may have been dogs and snakes at one point, but now blend together in conglomerate form. They more or less flow across the landscape rather than walk, run, or crawl. The chosen victim has a night to prepare, then must be at the hunt's starting point the next morning. Luke and Kit spend that night planning, with Luke intent on helping his brother even though that is against the rules. But rules are meant to be broken, or at least that's the way Luke sees it. As is the case with many twins, they are nearly inseparable, linked in thought as much as in action, although there are differences in their personalities. Luke knows that if Kit is killed he would have no reason to live himself, so what does it matter if he is killed too?

I hesitate to say much about when it turns to fairy tale. They manage to evade the hunters and make it to one of the old cities, but it is not as decayed as they had been lead to believe, nor is it completely abandoned. They get help from a group they encounter, then…that "help" becomes something else. About two-thirds into the story I was taken aback by another occurrence, and so were Luke and Kit. They are no longer in the city, but they don't know where or how they got there, they are not even sure it is the same day. The hunt lasts a day. If they can make it to sundown they are free, or so they had thought. It is possible that rule doesn't apply anymore. The landscape changes quickly and without warning. They are on a plain, then in a dense forest, which continues to grow thicker around them. Then they are within the wall of a stone castle, then they are separated. Since Luke had decided his life meant nothing without his brother, if he couldn't find his brother again it didn't matter what happened to him. He makes some bold moves that pay off, although I won't say what or how he reunites with Kit. Oh, one other thing; while in the forest they encountered a girl, Estrid, who had been altered somewhat, taking on aspects of a dear, including horns. She was apparently in the midst of running from her own hunters. It is possible there are a never-ending array of hunters and hunted throughout multiple separate realities. Where did it all begin, and when will it end? Will it ever end, or will it repeat seven years later? Or did Luke and Kit break the cycle? I guess there is no way to know except to wait seven years, or whenever Premee writes a sequel. If she chooses to do that I hope it is sooner. Otherwise, I will need to read the story multiple times to try to figure it out. I would like to learn of Estrid's fate.

 

We would appreciate your support for this site with your purchases from Amazon.com, Bookshop.org, and ReAnimusPress.