I would like to thank Titan for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher - Titan

Published - Out Now

Price - £8.99 paperback £6.99 Kindle eBook

The Wind in the Willows meets Fargo, in this gripping tale of murder and revenge in a tight-knit community of woodland animals.

In a feral twist on crime fiction, Cal, a mutt with a criminal past, must step back into the world of animal violence to avenge the death of his wife and protect his pups from the inherent darkness of nature.

His journey leads him out of the woods and into the dump where he spent his youth, a dump run by Maurice and his ferocious gang of rats, weasels, stoats – murderers all. Cal has to face up to his past to save his children, and protect the woods from the violence on the borders.

Meanwhile the woodland community is fraying at the seams as talk of infection and sickness is spreading like wildfire. Anyone could be rabid, and turn violent at a moment’s notice. And the local trader, that should be bringing much needed supplies to the community has vanished. With a long winter ahead, and their protector, the great brown bear, asleep on the mountainside, can the town stop their own fears destroying them?

Any pet owner is likely to tell you their animals have personalities like a human; as we grow up we all see animals as something we can talk to and imagine deep down they’re just like us. Then of course you watch a nature documentary and all the nice scenes suddenly have a dose of blood and claw reminding you there is a lot more to any animal. In fiction there has been a long history of tales doing this from the gentle adventures of The Wind In The Willows to the darker allegory of Animal Farm. I’m Christopher Irvin’s dark fantasy western tale Ragged we get an imagined world of animals living in a remote community but these characters are not going messing around on boats but more seeking revenge and death is lurking always in the background.

Cal while not fully respected in his little community is at least tolerated as a stranger who has settled down with his wife Winifred and their two pups. Like other folk of the Woods they focus on life in the local shop; farming, and ensuring the kids are at school on time. But then Winifred is murdered; Cal seeks answers and his past; as a member of the notorious Rubbish Heap gang who lurk in the Fells outside the Woods, is coming back to haunt him.

This is a fascinating and throughly enjoyable tale that plays it straight throughout. The core plot is the stranger with a past that returns to haunt him. Cal is a reformed (ish) outlaw now family man. But when Winifred dies and his world collapses the older Cal appears who knows how to shoot; use his teeth and when necessary hide a body. We get a tense drama where Carl’s new friends and his old gang mates are getting closer to finally meeting and are unsure how they’ll both react to Cal.

The strength of the tale is how Irwin makes these characters all believeable. Cal is a decent tormented soul; I loved meeting his probably only true friend the Wood’s equivalent to a mayor in the form of the badger Billiam who loves to fuss and retired veteran George Washington better known as GW who now just guards the school but finds events require him to teach for his weapons once again. On the darker side of life we get the wily Gang Leader Maurice a Racoon who knows all the secrets and has a few of his own he wishes no one to know about in his gang of rats and weasels. Above it all is a enigmatic grizzly bear ready to hibernate known as Old Brown the closest thing to a God that neither side wishes to provoke into action….

Take the animals out of the tale and we get a very tense western style drama but with the animals there is also a reminder that animals are also keen to hunt and prey. The mystery of what happened to Winifred crosses both world in an unusual way and as Cal investigates we get a series of confrontation that eventually lead to a bloody and messy final set of battles where the truth is finally revealed.

Ragged is a very well told story. The use of animals as main characters I think enhances this almost classic tale and gives it a refreshing atmosphere and approach. The emotional battles for Cal; his family and his friends glue it all together and we get invested in their survival not just to stay alive but also to stay together as a community. Well worth your time!