Ride The Snake Road--Beamo Roamer’s Hardcore Jaunt to the Wasteland

A biker gang rides across a desolate, precarious future world to get their hands on ancient gold in Wow’s SF debut.

Beamo Roamer is a “scavenge man” in Zarkaria, the former United States. Over a millennium ago, the apocalyptic “Doomtime,” which included a global plague, ravaged what is now referred to as “Merica” when speaking of the past. When biker gang member Beamo stumbles across a map to the old Merican base Area 51, where Fort Knox’s gold is allegedly stashed, he destroys it before rival bikers can get it. Gang leader Tee Sal enlists Beamo, his old friend, to guide his biker gang west; per the map, the scavenge man knows how to bypass Area 51’s tech-laden booby traps. The journey teems with dangers, including the notorious Mutant Angels, “sadistic freaks” who wear the skins of their victims. Other menaces are even more unpredictable, from “tech-goblins” to “geemo” (genetically modified) creatures. Beamo, Tee, and Little Bit, Tee’s half-sister (and Beamo’s romantic interest), undertake a treasure hunt that may very well get the gang killed. Wow’s dense backstory provides a rock-solid foundation for the story. Likewise, the cast already has history (Beamo and Tee did their mandatory militia service together). In fact, the story too often dwells on the past, as the bikers discuss topics they barely know anything about, such as bygone Merican days (“Back then, privileged kids went to schools called collegesuntil they turned twenty-two, a lot of times even went until they were a lot older”) and ancient religions. The author smartly keeps the characters moving westward; the gang runs across all sorts of trouble that they handle as efficiently as possible before Tee belts out his refrain, “We ride!” They face monsters of assorted sizes, supernatural beings, and evil humans, who tend to be the most deplorable of these foes. Beamo, who narrates, dubs this his memoir, but as it’s only a small part of his life; sequels/prequels are a definite possibility.

A grim but entertaining dystopian tale.