On a piece of land called the Range, a peculiar group of people isolated themselves from the rest of the world that they dubbed as the Outsiders. The Purdys, the Semenics, and the Eddingtons have their own way of life. Lead by the austere Reverend Nathan Purdy, they raised his prophesied child Angela, who was born with a right arm that has a mind of its own. It’s akin to a strong serpent with an enlarged hand possessing six long fingers, with a single green eye in the center of the palm. Nathan has foreseen his daughter’s fate, but will Angela and her arm obey him to fulfill her destiny? A mysterious underground pool they called Thetis Springs is the source of the characters’ uniqueness. With the gift of foresight, Nathan Purdy has a weird puritanical mindset. His affair with the tenacious Mena Semenic and his antagonism towards Woolly Ben－who helped Nathan acquire the Range in exchange for gold prospecting－heighten the silent tension of what’s to come.

Angela's Arm by Roland Allnach is unusual from the start. The plot has an impressive originality. Coupled with a prose with poetic flair, the narrative is easily engaging. Cult comes to mind after several pages into the story, but the people in the Range are more than just individuals with socially deviant or novel beliefs and practices. The late 19th century background provides a provocative atmosphere with elements of the surreal in portraying the distinctiveness of the group living on their own terms and secrets, guarding the land that they shared with strange large beasts known as stargazers.

Angela and her arm are strong but strangely vulnerable at the same time. Her love for her cloven-feet mother Calliope, her friendship with the strong and fast-healing Ivan Semenic, and her feelings for the crippled but kind and knowledgeable Kyle Eddington provide the tender moments in the story. Overall, Allnach’s Angela's Arm is at times disturbing to read but oddly fascinating. Readers who want a slightly different kind of horror fiction will find this story satisfyingly intriguing.

Angela’s Arm by Roland Allnach is the story of a father, who sees the world ending, and his daughter, who is central to his plans. However, there are others who have no hesitation in living the way they want and making others do the same. Meanwhile, Angela’s arm has a will of its own and is ready to do what is necessary to protect Angela, who has no idea what her father is up to. As his plans unfold, she realizes her father may ask her for more than she is willing to give. Will Angela be able to stop the doom heading her way and save herself and her loved ones, or will she lose everything, even her life?

What an unusual story. Angela’s Arm by Roland Allnach is somewhere between a dark fantasy and a horror story, truly fascinating and unique. I want to pinpoint the world as being earth but everything is so odd that it is difficult to tell. There are moments when I wondered if it wasn’t some realm between earth and hell. The author does a wonderful job of creating creepiness in an ordinary and natural way, which makes everything all the more creepy. Kudos to the mind that created Angela’s Arm, a strange and mesmerizing tale that drew me to shadowy places whether I wanted to go or not. This is certainly written by a creative and dark imagination. It reminds me of the Sandman comics and American Gods. I would highly recommend it to anyone into Neil Gaiman, Lovecraft, or Poe.