Thirty Miles South Of Dry County By Kealan Patrick Burke
(DarkFuse)
Milestone is not a town that can be found on any map. Those who are aware of the place avoid it, and those who call it home treat it with a respect borne from fear. A once thriving mining town, the legends of myriad horrors operate as a warning to those who seek to cross its borders.
After his friends disappear, Warwick Tanner, an old man whiling away his days outside a liquor store, is forced to go find them, which means crossing into the dreaded town for the first time, a town marked by a sign that proclaims that: THERE ARE NO MIRACLES IN MILESTONE.
But Warwick will quickly learn that there are plenty of miracles in Milestone, and plenty of horrors, all of which he will encounter in his search. Trapped within the town’s fog-shrouded borders as the few remaining citizens, both living and dead, natural and supernatural, prepare for Milestone’s anniversary, Warwick will realize that his coming here was not an accident.
Because the town knows something about Warwick that he has chosen to forget. A secret that perfectly qualifies him to become part of Milestone’s accursed, and inescapable history.
Keelan Patrick Burkes’ “Thirty Miles North Of Dry County is a sometimes sad and poignant look at old age, memories, loss and friendship.
Warwick Tanner spends his days on a bench in front of a liquor store with his friend Dick, he has nowhere else to be and no one else in his life. When Dick and the liquor store owner Sven hop in Sven’s beat up old Volkswagen to confront the Mayor of Milestone about what he did to Sven’s store and don’t return.
Warwick makes the decision to go find his friend and confront the Mayor and whatever else is in Milestone. What he finds there he will have to confront things about himself that he has forgotten that the town knows about.
This is a really heart wrenching tale about a lonely old man and his last effort to do some good by helping his friends. The characters are absolutely wonderful, with a vivid sense of realism that really draws you into the story.
I came to very much care about Warwick, and was really able to lose myself in the story due to this, and Kealan’s wonderful and moving prose. For such a short novella Kealan’s work packs a powerful emotional punch, one that I enjoyed very much.
DarkFuse and Kealan Patrick Burke has a winner on their hands and one you don’t want to miss. I wholeheartedly recommend it.
