Seems native American wonder worker Misquamacus isn’t finished in his battle with the white man and is back, twice as deadly, with some powerful allies. Standing in his way is his surprising nemesis Harry Erskine, a con-man who naturally has more supernatural awareness then Harry is aware of. While Erskine is apt to not want to face the mischievous medicine man again, he is forced to realise that he isn’t going to be able to duck out of this fight, and enlists the aid of friends who have encountered Misquamacus before, both living and dead. It soon becomes apparent that the wonder worker is attempting to pull all of White America into the great beyond, or the happy hunting ground, and return the U.S to the virgin state it was in before Europeans decided to mess it up. Can Harry with the aid of one of the last Native American wonder workers fraught the diabolical plan, or is it home on the ranges time again with deer and antelope facing off against the Indian Nations.

Surprisingly Graham Masterton was born in Edinburgh, Scotland while his novels are very much U.S centric. He came to prominence with his first publish novel The Manitou which was the basis of the 1978 movie of the same name, and which features the first face-off between Misquamacus and Harry Erskine. Since his original novel Masterton has been what can be called prolific with well over a hundred titles in various genres to his credit. I first became aware of Masterton due to catching the movie The Manitou on late night television, and then reading a bunch of his novels over the years. Finally, I have a platform to start discussing the Author, and Burial is a good enough kicking off spot; I’ll get to the earlier novels in due course.

Structurally Masterton does something interesting with Burial, we are in first person narrative during the parts of the book where main character Harry Erskine is front and centre, and then divert to third person for those scenes that Erskine is not present in, and hence cannot provide a personal account of the events happening. What this does do is give the reader a narrow focus on his lead character while at the same time giving a broader view via events happening elsewhere in the U.S. It’s an approach thwart with danger, will the reader get lost in the narrative switches for example, but Masterton handles it without breaking a sweat. If you are not a first person narrative fan, the approach at its best is meant to fully involve the reader as a character in the novel they are reading, this might just be the book to make you a convert to the approach.

As is usual in a Masterton novel, well at least in his horror novels, his writing is easy to read and simply flows in a naturalistic style that will have the reader deep into Burial before they realise it’s time to turn out the lights and catch some sleep. The Author doesn’t try to beat the reader down with obscure wordage, he leaves that to quality literature, the text of plain English is used to strong effect. Things simply flow from page to page, and time is taken to make sure the reader is keeping pace with the ideas being expressed on the page. While it would be easy to categorise this novel as a penny dreadful, which given the subject matter would be the easiest assumption to make, Masterton raises the bar with a well thought out assault on the audience through his imagery and use of the language.

So the central character of the novel is Harry Erskine, and the reader may find it hard to accept the qualities of the character in terms of their own morals; remembering first person narrative means the reader should identify with the main character. Harry might have some warts, the less of which is he is a reluctant hero, but overall is the sort of hero that readers can appreciate. He isn’t a superman, the dude needs serious help, and he isn’t an expert though he has face Misquamacus a number of times previous in Masterton tales. I think must readers will get behind Harry, but be prepared for that being a bumpy road. While Mr Erskine is not really an anti-hero in the Clint Eastwood "man with no name" style, he is edging directly into that territory and is one of those rare characters in horror literature, a character who is in the grey rather than being entirely white or black. At the very least the reader is going to find Harry a more than interesting central focus point.

Masterton’s approach to Native American affairs is going to be controversial to say the least for the modern reader. Basically the Author is saying through the novel that history has moved along and any thoughts of restoring the Indian Nations isn’t going to happen, quite rightly Masterton points out the culture of pre-European America has been overlaid and largely erased by the rise of the White conquerors. Even more the Author is pointing out that traditional Native American society gave rise to life that was brutal, short, and pretty much saw the tribes living in squalor rather than being the noble savages some writers portray them as. I’m not about to get into this debate, just pointing out the viewpoint that is common throughout the novel. Even descendants of the tribes don’t want to give up modern convenience for a hunter gathering life-style.

Strangely Masterton also constructs a world where descendants of black slaves are in a conspiracy with Native Americans to bring down whitey. It is never adequately explained how exactly black America will co-exist in a primitive landscape with the indigenous population. Still was an interesting twist to bring voodoo into the equation with traditional wonder workers, and strangely show a leading light in the voodoo scene from the old west exploiting the souls of his fellows to advance an agenda that really wouldn’t work for his people. So hey I’m up for voodoo, zombies, the whole nine yards but am left wondering if this aspect of the novel should have been edited out rather than expanded upon as the final battle gears up.

Graham Masterton writes in a traditional horror style, think James Herbert, without any hint of the naturalistic stylings of say Stephen King. His prose is crisp, gets where it needs to go, and I didn’t notice a slip at any stage. The pacing throughout the novel is solid, and things ramp up when they are needed and slow down as required. A very solid novel without doing anything left field, which is pretty much what I’m after in my dark genre reading material.

I’ve been putting off talking about the horror elements of Burial, mainly because the author goes brutal with this aspect of the novel. When you get a prolonged description of someone being pulled inside out, and some of the funkier sex you are ever going to ran across, then you know you are not delving into a parlour novel your maiden aunt is going to swoon over. Got to say there was more scalping going down in this novel than was achieved at Custer’s defeat at the Little Big Horn, and if you are going to count coup then the Author has your back. Just warning potential readers, Masterton lays down some gory vibes through the course of the novel. The horror is strong with this one.

Burial sees Harry Erskine clashing with Misquamacus for the third time, and yes there is room left at the end of the novel for future conflict. Once again Graham Masterton doesn’t disappoint with a novel, and I have to say the reader is in for a treat with the book. While the author is prolific none of his books decline in quality, and Burial is proof of that. I’m not saying this is a good kicking off point for new readers to Masterton, the whole Manitou referencing to previous events thing might be confusing, but for seasoned readers of the Author it is a good fit. I’m going to recommend this novel, I had a fun time between the covers, I reckon you will as well. This is one novel you can quickly bury yourself in, be careful you just might become a Graham Masterton fan by the last paragraph.