Highest praise first: The Erstwhile Tyler Kyle felt like a happy marriage between Twin Peaks and the Wicker Man. Expect to come away terrified and delighted by the characters, lore, and the setting of Echo Island itself.
For his part, Tyler Kyle is an incredibly endearing protagonist. He’s a bit of a jerk, but if you met him, you’d quickly realize that his endless supply of self-loathing is not at all earned (no matter how hard he tries), and you just want to give the lovable idiot a big hug. His impulsivity and quippy internal and external dialogue throughout the book also make him a really fun character to live inside the head of. And while I called him a lovable idiot just now, that’s mostly in the social sense. Tyler Kyle is an incredibly canny individual, and with one major exception that will likely take the reader by surprise, doesn’t fall into a lot of the same traps stereotypical horror characters fall into. His skepticism makes for a great mystery protagonist, which comes in handy because there’s lots of mystery to be had in this book.
The plot is one of this book’s greatest strengths. Steve Hugh Westenra does a really good job of getting the audience invested right away by front-loading the stakes: Tyler Kyle is a successful cryptid-hunting YouTuber (successful as a YouTuber, that is. They haven’t found any cryptids yet) on the cusp of losing it all, his personal life is in shambles, and he recently received a clue as to the whereabouts of his long-lost B-Movie starlet mother, who abandoned him in an empty apartment when he was a child. If those weren’t already high stakes, the clue was provided by a stalker, and leads him to a remote locale no one’s ever heard of, the aforementioned Echo Island. None of this is a spoiler, as the second the story starts, we the reader learn all of this and are thrust into uncertain circumstances wherein this YouTuber is investigating an incredibly personal mystery. As wild as all of that sounds, Westenra makes this all feel believable and cohesive. And while that early synopsis has a lot going on, trust me, this book is FULL of surprises for readers to discover.
The characters populating Echo Island are all memorable and likable in their own right, which works with Tyler’s limited perspective to make the “whodunnit” aspect of the plot that much more interesting. Indeed, of all the characters he meets, there’s only a couple who Tyler doesn’t vibe with. Speaking of vibes, the villain(s) are incredibly memorable as well, and well… they stick with you. No spoilers, but when I realized what was happening, I didn’t put the book down for several hours, and the payoff was a successful punch straight to the solar plexus: breathtaking and horrifying. There’s a lot of subtext that eagle-eyed mystery readers will really appreciate. And without spoiling anything, the point-of-view shifts at one point to a different character investigating another leg of the mystery, and that character’s unique perspective is a complete departure from how Tyler approaches things, which pays off to great effect. It’s always fun to see how different characters who know each other approach similar situations.
The general atmosphere of the setting, the “Twin Peaksyness,” if you will, is something that I really appreciated too. The locations in this book are really fleshed out, and provide lots of juicy subtext and clues to chew on, and I loved the slightly-off retro feeling of everything. Tone is something Westenra plays with a lot here, and this book is a four-course meal of dramatic tension, irony, suspense, humor, and for lack of a better word, fun.
There’s lots to chew on in terms of themes here too. This is Queer lit at its best, and without spoiling anything, Echo Island is the perfect place to explore the themes of alienation, self-doubt, the explicit and implicit oppressions of heteronormativity, rebellion against this oppression, found family, found identity, and true affirmation that come part in parcel with great works of Queer art. For all its darkness, this is a book that understands catharsis, and provides it in fulfilling ways with a side of dick jokes.
All in all, if you’re looking for a fantastic horror-mystery that kind of makes you want to live in its Lynchian world, pick up The Erstwhile Tyler Kyle. He’s an erstwhile kind of guy.
p.s. Confession time: every time I say Tyler Kyle, my mind wants to make it Tyler Kyler. You’re welcome, dear reader.
O. A. Bhatti 
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