Faolan (Fway-Lawn) is 17 when his last remaining family member dies. He was close to his Pop, living out on his land, and he’d be quite capable of living there on his own, but it seems the local town mayor has other ideas. He puts him on a cart with a grumpy trader and a gunslinger, set for a far off Fort that takes in orphans while authorities look for any kin.

Faolan sees money passing hands before they leave and figures this is just a transaction to get rid of him so the Mayor can get his hands on Pops’s land. The Mayor is unaware of two things however. One – Faolan is a girl. Two – she knows where Pop’s land deed is hidden.

She’s heard of this Fort and had thought it was a doomed place to try and live, far from everywhere. But she’s surprised to find good food, kindness and purpose in the comunity. What she soon learns is completely different. The Fort is ruled by a man named His Benevolence by the people of the Fort, and his 2nd in charge is Acolyte Stuckley. Both men give Faolan the creeps.

Faolan has always been taught to be self sufficient and wary of others. Despite this she makes a couple of friends in Jesse & Dai Lo as she gets to know her new life within the Fort’s strict walls of work and prayer.

But something is wrong with this place. She’s heard screams in the night, and howls on the wind from her bed, and she wonders what roams outside the walls.

The more she learns about the Fort and its leader, the more eerie the place becomes, until she is right in the centre of something otherworldly. Can she use her smarts and fiddle playing to save herself and all those she has come to care about?

Part Real Life Western, and Historical Horror with a slash of Fantasy thrown in, Red in Tooth and Claw has an intriguing premise and a captivating plot that races the reader to a satisfying ending.

Main character Faolan is a likeable character (albeit with an annoying stubborn streak), that draws others to her. She’s smart, even when she mouths off when she shouldn’t, and this YA novel is told in her voice.

The setting easily encompasses the reader, taking them back to a Fort in the American Western Frontier, and the wilds around it.

With just a whisp of romance interwoven into the story, (that Faolan resists) her wariness and stubborn streak melts a little, making her even more authentic.

Great read.

Author – Lish McBride

Age – 13+

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Publisher – Penguin Books

Set – Similar to Wild West (USA) Late 1800’s

Viewpoint – 1st person

Violence – Yes

Sex – No

Real Life – Aspects yes

Fantasy – Yes / Supernatural

Blend – Real Life / Historical /Horror / Western / Fantasy

(2025, Penguin Books, Putnam, Western, Wild West, Orphans, Religion, Control, Fort, Death, New Friends, Creature, Courage, Healers, Western gypsies, Rovers, Music, Fantasy, Crime)