The Six-Gun Tarot

Golgotha, Book 1

By: R. S. Belcher

Narrated by: Fleet Cooper

The Six-Gun Tarot is the first audiobook in the twisted weird west world of the Golgotha series by R.S. Belcher.

Nevada, 1869: Beyond the pitiless 40-Mile Desert lies Golgotha, a cattle town that hides more than its share of unnatural secrets. The sheriff bears the mark of the noose around his neck; some say he is a dead man whose time has not yet come. His half-human deputy is kin to coyotes. The mayor guards a hoard of mythical treasures. A banker's wife belongs to a secret order of assassins. And a shady saloon owner, whose fingers are in everyone's business, may know more about the town's true origins than he's letting on.

A haven for the blessed and the damned, Golgotha has known many strange events, but nothing like the primordial darkness stirring in the abandoned silver mine overlooking the town. Bleeding midnight, an ancient evil is spilling into the world, and unless the sheriff and his posse can saddle up in time, Golgotha will have seen its last dawn...and so will all of Creation.

R.S. Belcher's The Six-Gun Tarot is "an astonishing blend of first-rate steampunk fantasy and Western adventure." (Library Journal, starred review)

Other books by R.S. Belcher:

The Golgotha Series

The Six-Gun Tarot

The Shotgun Arcana

Nightwise

The Brotherhood of the Wheel

©2013 Rod Belcher (P)2018 Macmillan Audio

YES!

When I discovered RS Belcher's Brotherhood of the Wheel, I immediately started exploring his other books. At the time the only audio available of his Golgotha trilogy was put out by Graphic Audio, that has since been absorbed by Audible, so it's available here too. I paid top dollar for The Six-Gun Tarot and regretted it immediately. I'm not into multi-cast audio dramas. His other stories are much more engaging and intense. More adult oriented too. While GA's dramatic adaption lost much of that and added a more juvenile tone to the story.

Years later I stumbled upon The Six-Gun Tarot, narrated by Fleet Cooper. My initial response was Gah! But there's a terrific review, touting the merits of the book and nailing everything I disliked about GA's version, with the added caveat GA's version was edited. I didn't realize at the time that dramatic adaptions can also be considered abridged versions of the story. I much prefer an unabridged story.

So here was a gem of a Weird West story just waiting for me and Fleet Cooper's narration is _fantastic_. Vivid and intense, he accurately illustrates the tone of the book. Fights are exciting, contemplation is soft, crazy people seem crazy and best of all, the story has gravity. There's creeping dread, hints of a supernatural menace and the hinky weirdness of Golgotha's residents all coming together. Every character's accent is distinct and believable too.

After a satisfying listen my only regret is that The Six-Gun Tarot is the only book available from Macmillan Audio. Hopefully they'll produce the rest of the Golgotha trilogy, with Fleet Cooper narrating. If you like RS Belcher's other stories, you'll like The Six-Gun Tarot. If you know nothing about RS Belcher's books, but like three dimensional characters you care about, horrors threatening their existence and the desperate struggle to fight the good fight against overwhelming odds, definitely give The Six-Gun Tarot a listen.

Well worth the credit.

Great performance, good story

A highly entertaining and imaginative story made even better by superb narration. Crosses several genres to deliver a satisfying thrill.

Finally!

Oftentimes I’ll buy a book and find I have little time to read it. I’m extremely happy this has come to Audible. I can’t wait until the rest of the series is finally on audiobook!

Fantastic paranormal western fantasy!

The Six-Gun Tarot
Golgotha, Book 1
By: R. S. Belcher
Narrated by: Fleet Cooper
This is one amazing and creepy paranormal western book! There is a town in the desert that attracts the odd, the magical, the otherworldly, and often they don't know they are being attracted to the town. Every one here in the town of Golgotha has secrets, everone.... And when someone tries to open the old silver mine, certain secrets cause a chain reaction. Lots of creepy but great stuff! Terrific imagination! I can't wait to get enough money to but book two!
The narrator was super awesome! He has a slightly western sounding gruff voice, and had the voices perfect! (Of course he made the ladies sound like ladies! He was quite talented!) Great with emotions and accents.
A must read/listen for fantasy lovers.

AWESOME!!!!!!!

I had been wanting to read this book after I had found the Ballard and Brotherhood series, but never had the time. Then, I saw it on Audible and listened to it right away, almost straight through! What a great story, dialogue, characters, everything! Had never heard of the narrator before, but wow, what a performance! Get this book! I want to hear MORE!!!!!

Surprise find

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but really enjoyed this book. There’s a lot going on with the story/characters and I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

Ancient Good vs Evil in the Old West

R.S. Belcher has his greatest hit yet with The Six Gun Tarot: Golgotha. Apocalyptic events center on the desolate town of Golgatha where dark conspirators pit the resurrection of their eternally shackled God against our beliefs and the existence of everything.

Fantastic book and writer

It’s difficult not to get excited whenever I see R.S. Belcher comes out with a new novel. I came a bit late to the guy. I caught on with Night Wise. Brotherhood of the Wheel confirmed his place as one of my favorite new writers. I’m a guy whose usual favorites are either long dead or passed their hey day. It’s an added pleasure to find a writer who is either in his prime or still working towards his peak of creativity. It’s also a bit of a drag since I have to WAIT FOR THE NEXT BOOK every year, haha. I know. What a beautiful problem, right? It is.

So imagine my excitement a while back when I realized there were already two early westerns in a series called Golgotha (now three books) that I hadn’t read yet! Here’s the problem. They weren’t available in standard Audibles files. (There are some Graphic Audio versions of the whole series, but I’m not a great supporter of the whole “movie in your mind” deal. the sound FX are cheesy and voice performances a bit boilerplate, if you will. I also suspect the novel was adapted rather faithfully read.)

I just happened to find THIS NEW recording of Six-Gun Tarot by chance. I’m so glad! Now we have the real story told on R.S. Belcher’s terms.

I’m just hoping books 2 (The Shotgun Arcana) and 3 (The Queen of Swords) hits Audible in 2018 or ’19. Let’s DO THIS, Audible!! Graphic Audio scooped you on this one.

Great Read

loved it. a bit cheesy on the narration but the book was great. I listened when I didn't have time to read but read more than I listened to.

Just too many perspective shifts.

The setting and concept seem interesting, and the characters are...okay. But the story is just all over the place and has no cohesion. Just as you're getting used to one narrative voice, it switches to another without warning...then another, and another. It's like the author couldn't settle on who he wanted to write about.