The plan is to reread all of Brian Keene’s available works in roughly the order that they were published. I’m doing it because I’m an author in need of improvement and a reader who enjoys a storyteller willing to bleed out on the page in a powerful and interesting way. I’m a fan of Keene’s work. I think there is something to be learned through this process.

You can also go back to the Introductory Post: A Gathering of Books to read more about the how and the why of this or any of my other posts up through this one and beyond by checking out the Master List of all my #BrianKeeneRevisited posts.

Take the Long Way Home is a cool novella with concise action all the way through. It was originally intended as part of an apocalyptic four novella anthology with three other authors that would have been called On a Pale Horse. That never came to be, but the effort led to this post-rapture tale that leans heavily into the Biblical narrative with Keene’s own bloody and unflinching storytelling style.

Key writing icons are thanked. Carlton Mellick III even gets a cameo in the book. Keene thanks his parents. He warns us that he took liberties with the exits along the highways in question in the story.

John Skipp talked in glowing terms about this “young new writer Brian Keene” in his introduction/foreword. Based on what Skipp said, it looks like this Keene guy might be going places.

When the trumpet sounds in a Brian Keene story, it’s not going to be your grandparents’ rapture. And yet, Keene holds pretty true to the framework of the rapture as it is understood by believers who interpret the Bible to include this event as part of God’s plan for the final act of the world, His creation, and judgement.

In my days entrenched in Christian Church youth groups much like Keene himself, I was taught often about the rapture and Christ’s return. Keene mentions one of the more well-known examples of a series from the time period this was originally written, but there was an influx of rapture and tribulation stories in Christian fiction throughout the 80s, 90s, and beyond. In my amateur days, playing at writing as a teen, I imagined writing a rapture story. It would have never been as good as what Keene produced here. In some alternate universe, there is a whole series of books by Keene of his dark and dirty version of the events from Revelation. I wouldn’t have minded reading what he would have done with that.

He captures the shock and trauma from the accident well. That extends to the shock of everyone coming to grips with what unfolded in the wider world.

Early on, I didn’t like the Gabriel character or his set up. I didn’t trust him and even as I guessed what this character would be, I was wary how it would play out. This could have been a really cheesy addition to the narrative if it was handled wrong. Of course, I should have trusted Keene more. He knew what he was doing and all the pieces introduced earlier in the story came together nicely before it was over.

“I always thought there wasn’t much difference between a tavern and a place of worship.” Great line.

“No time to hang around.” Keene is a master of a dark turn of phrase. Here he is even more masterful in that he sets up some important business later while allowing us as the readers to think we figured out a thing that we really hadn’t. A double twist of sorts that we really did to ourselves.

“There’s enough religion in the world to make people hate each other but not enough to make them love each other.” Ouch.

Assholes in fancy Volvos will meet Karma in a Brian Keene story just as surly as the Lord’s will shall be done.

“I don’t want the animals getting to her… looks like they already did.” Brilliant prose. Simple but deep. Such a powerful takedown of a society under stress in the smallest space required by the author.

“I’ll walk my path alone.” I agree with the main character’s disdain for the syrupy sentiment of the “Footprints” poem. I love how Keene gave us the whole thing like it was going to a revelatory moment then took it a different direction. Real revelation is typically made of rougher stuff which this novella delivers on.

We get a little bit of an information dump on the final leg of our trip. There is some explaining to do for readers not as familiar with the details of the Biblical Revelation. It’s not bad enough to take readers out of the story, I don’t think.

Keene gives us a blunt and supernatural road trip story with raw action and dark turns. This is a strong offering from an author with an impressive catalog of work from end to end.

My next post in this series will be Tequila’s Sunrise #BrianKeeneRevisited which can be found on the Master List of all my #BrianKeeneRevisited posts. Note: The photo of Brian Keene used in the banner image of these blog posts was taken by John Urbancik and used by permission of both Keene and Urbancik.

Jay Wilburn

Jay Wilburn has a Masters Degree in Education that goes mostly unused since he quit teaching to write about zombies. Jay writes horror because he tends to find the light by facing down the darkness. His is doing well following a life saving kidney transplant. Jay is the author of Maidens of Zombie Kingdom a young adult fantasy trilogy, Lake Scatter Wood Tales adventure books for elementary and middle school readers, Vampire Christ a trilogy of political and religious satire, and The Dead Song Legend. He cowrote The Enemy Held Near, Yard Full of Bones, and The Hidden Truth with Armand Rosamilia. You can also find Jay's work in Best Horror of the Year volume 5. He is a staff writer with Dark Moon Digest, LitReactor, and the Still Water Bay series with Crystal Lake Publishing.

Jay's Patreon Page | Purchase Signed Books