Ian Rogers Presents The Biblio-Files Episode One: Patrick Lestewka’s The Preserve

Hi there. Ian Rogers here, Biff Bam Pop’s former “LOST” Boy, and I’m back with a new feature called The Biblio-Files.

In this column I’ll be talking about books. Some of them are new, some of them are old, but they’re all books I’ve enjoyed. These articles are more recommendation than review, since I’ll only be talking about the books I like. They way I see it, there are plenty of other places on the Internet you can go if you’re looking for snark, why not make a place exclusively for booklovers. And seeing as how I read quite broadly, I’ve got all kinds of great books to tell you about.

For my first column I chose a novel by a Canadian author named Craig Davidson, writing under the pseudonym Patrick Lestewka.
“The Preserve” is a horror-action story about a group of Vietnam veterans who, as members of a black ops unit, encounter a powerful supernatural entity that nearly kills them all. Twenty years pass and the men have returned to the world — one of them has become a hitman, another robs banks, another makes adult films. Each one is battling with personal demons from their time in the war and their horrific experience with the unknown. The men are contacted individually by a mysterious benefactor who offers them fifty thousand dollars each if they will hunt down three escaped fugitives in Canada’s Northwest Territories. Of course, there’s more to this offer than meets the eye, but to tell you anything would ruin the story. Suffice to say the eponymous preserve is filled with something a bit more troublesome than wolves and moose.

Lestewka/Davidson has a sharp, concise writing style that propels the story forward. The Preserve has plenty of monsters and action, but there’s more going on beneath the surface. The way each of the men deals with the chaos of war and the chaos of their later lives, helps to
elevate this story beyond an ordinary pulp-action yarn.

If you dig this one, I’d also recommend you check out Davidson’s other books, a novel called “The Fighter”, and a collection of short stories, “Rust & Bone”. He has a new book, “Sarah Court”, coming out from Chizine Publications later this year.

The Preserve was published by Necro Publications.