The Witch of Hebron

The Witch of Hebron

The second book in the post economic collapse novel series World Made by Hand written by James Kunstler called The Witch of Hebron further delves into the story of survivors in a small upstate New York town after the total collapse of the United States. (Read About Book One Here) As the title implies, this post economic collapse novel crosses into some supernatural territory with the introduction of  a witch (or is she a prostitute) that has some rather “unique” abilities. A comment made about our review of World Made by Hand seems even more relevant with this book: “I took a lot of the behavior to be more in keeping with the wish fulfillment of a libertine aging boomer author.” (Thanks Russell1200) This witch just happens to be the most beautiful and seductive woman alive! (paraphrasing the inner commentary of every man who sees her). While this reader has no problems with a writer embellishing their story to explore some fantasies, it could be annoying to some, especially to the female gender. But alas, surely most fans of apocalyptic fiction would not be terribly offended by some fairly descriptive scenes? Anyway, the book is more of a coming of age story following a boy that runs away from home and gets involved with a sociopath, villainous thief and wannabe cowboy who happens to be on a murderous rampage. If you liked World Made by Hand, you will probably enjoy The Witch of Hebron. It isn’t the best post shit hit the fan novel but it is entertaining.

2 thoughts on “The Witch of Hebron

  1. I liked this book better than the first. But much of the story with the anti-hero seemed to be trying channel the ghost of Billy the Kid – or at least an inept version of Billy.

    The detailed appendectomy scene almost had me wondering if the author had lost his libertine marbles and was trying to channel the (also overdone) birthing scene from Rawle’s Patriots. Because as we all know from many post-apocalyptic book reviews by the true faithful, people read these books to get survival tips. Well now, provided your medical emergencies are limited to appendectomies, you won’t need a doctor, you can just keep this handy book with you.

    If you are already under a heavy load, I guess you could just tear out the pages from that particular scene. But then you might get the idea to learn detailed, medical procedures from some kind of difficult, fat, heavy medical tome – and what would be the point of that!

    • As always, thanks for your insightful and humorous comments Russell1200!

      The appendectomy was quite a feat to say the least, especially considering that it was performed by a 10 year old boy. On top of that, such a quick recovery with no antibiotics!

      A post apocalyptic story with real Billy the Kid type of character would be something wouldn’t it? Morph Billy the Kid, Doc Holliday and Roland from The Dark Tower, roaming the post apocalyptic wasteland and you have a bestseller!

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