Chapter by Chapter features me reading one chapter of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.
When we last left our heroes the captain was dead, which may or may not be due to a vengeful horse god, Alec and the Black were still lost in the Everglades, and chapter titles barely described what happened in the chapter. I wonder what will happen in this one?
Chapter 17: Nothing At All
Alec and the Black meet Joe, who works at the stable our heroes have been staying at, and he’s well-meaning but still a bit of a jerk. Alec tells the man he found someone dead and just because the house and barn is all padlocked and empty (Odin sure cleaned up real fast…maybe he can help me with my clutter issues and organizing the studio) he shakes off any belief. So Philipe’s body is about to be burned in a fire. All Joe cares about is that the swamp is drained for farmland and development. That’s kind of cold, Joe. Yes, Alec and the Black are exhausted and have been out all night, but it’s not like they mentioned Kovi or the Captain’s own superstitions (while vaguely mentioning the local Indians Native Americans have a superstition about a swamp god, which he laughs off WHILE THEY’RE IN THE JEEP WITH HIM! All Alec said is that a man was dead in the swamp. Maybe look into that, Joe.
So the title refers to Joe dismissing him. Outside of Black still dealing with horsey blue balls concerning Ghost and checking out the fillies still at the stable (Black’s a playa, yo!) not much else happens in this chapter, but as a young reader book with chapters this short that’s not surprising. What is surprising is that you wouldn’t think there was much more to this story but the epilogue. However, there are still three more chapters to go.
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