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Westchester Station [Westchester Station Series Book 1] [MultiFormat]
eBook by Patrick Welch
eBook Category: Fantasy
eBook Description: Westchester Station. An interdimensional train depot lying somewhere between Chicago and eternity. I, Robert Winstead, was brought here by someone I did not know for some purpose I had yet to discover. But I also knew that only by fulfilling that purpose would I be allowed to leave … assuming I survived the journey. Somewhere among the hallways and denizens of this haunted environment I would find the answer. I had to.
eBook Publisher: Double Dragon Publishing, Published: 2001
Fictionwise Release Date: April 2002
This eBook is part of the following series:
30 Reader Ratings:
 
Westchester Station
Reviewed by Barry Hunter
Patrick Welch continues to surprise me with his works. His first, THE 13th MAGICIAN was swords and sorcery; his second, THE BODY SHOP, was horror; and, this one is a quest/fantasy/mystery that throws you a curve when you think you have it figured out.
Robert Winstead is an advertising salesman, who is prepared for anything except the massive storm that hits Chicago and makes him change his plans to get to Schenectady to meet his next client. Instead, he is taken to WESTCHESTER STATION to meet a train.
After he arrives there, he has some strange adventures while waiting for a train to Albany, since there is none to Schenectady. While here he has many adventures with the other people awaiting their connections. There is a group going to Atlantic City, a player looking for Lady Luck, some mental gymnasts, and many more who have been waiting for a train. Winstead travels the length and breadth of the station meeting people and trying to sort out where he is and if he can ever leave.
Patrick Welch has written a very interesting book and filled it with a cast of characters that have to be met on their own terms. It would give too much away to let you know who they are. Welch is well on the way to make a name for himself and this book is another fine example of his talent.
Westchester Station
by Patrick Welch
Reviewed by Elizabeth K. Burton
When a huge snowstorm closes the airports in Chicago, marketing consultant Robert Winstead takes the advice of an airport employee and takes a taxi to catch a train for Schenectady at Westchester Station. He hasn't even entered the old-fashioned terminal before things take a turn for the bizarre. A young woman begs him to help her get into the station, which seems simple enough--until the guard refuses to let her pass. She has, he explains, already been inside and may not go in again. It isn't long before Robert discovers that encounter may be the simplest of the adventures he will experience, for Westchester Station is more than a place to wait on a voyage from here to there. It is, according to its stationmaster, in "interdimensional" terminus, and what those who enter it learn there determines whether they will eventually proceed with their lives...or remain forever within the station's walls.
Westchester Station is part magical realism, part allegory, a story of a man whose convictions about himself and his universe are challenged in ways that are always peculiar, unexpected and yet oddly appropriate, once he is able to gaze at them with hindsight. Part of the novel's success lies in the character of its narrator-protagonist, who is basically willing to explore and try to understand. Not that Robert Winstead is thoroughly likeable, being somewhat pompous and opinionated, but those are the qualities that his adventures in this most unusual train depot seem to target.
Mr. Welch has filled his story with symbolism and wordplay that requires more than passing attention from the reader, as any good allegory should. As Winstead meets characters both historical and mythological, from the Minotaur's garrulous twin brother to Jack the Ripper, he is forced to rely on his wits and reason to resolve problems that are sometimes life-threatening. In the process, he comes to open his eyes to possibilities he hadn't considered in his original complacency. Westchester Station is also a subtle commentary on how much we humans are inclined to accept what goes on around us on a daily basis without really being aware of it. Mr. Welch suggests that what we see as reality may, in fact, change regularly, but in our blindness we fail to perceive those changes and before long believe firmly that things have always been this way.
While not to everyone's taste, Westchester Station is a fine, thought-provoking and entertaining work. Those partial to works where they are required to think about what they are reading are certain to find something to provoke consideration.
Westchester Station By Patrick Welch
WESTCHESTER STATION - THE ASSAULT He knelt before the small bush and smiled. The drops of blood on the leaf told him everything; the long-eared leaf eater was wounded and had fled this way. He stood and shook himself, then scratched at some fleas that were troubling him. The leaf eater could not go far, not wounded as it was. And its trail of blood would make it easy to find. He picked up his spear, which still bore the blood of his prey, and continued his pursuit. They would eat tonight, he thought as he forced his way through the undergrowth, and he shivered with pleasure. That wasn't always the case, no matter how diligent the hunters. As he walked deeper into the forest, following the drops of blood glistening in the sunlight, he wondered if the leaf eater was trying to return to its burrow. Better if it did; he could then mark it to harvest later. Then he heard a roar of rage, followed by a squeal of pain. Another predator was in the area and he immediately crouched in the underbrush. The sound had come from his right, upwind. In all likelihood the other meat eater wasn't aware of his presence, being more concerned with its own hunt. But the blood trail led in the same direction. Then the wind brought him the smell of the other hunter, a smell he recognized immediately. A long claw. If he were with his clan, he would continue his search. But alone, he was no match for the creature. Still he forced himself forward, hoping he would find his own prey before meeting his fellow hunter. But he was not to be fortunate this day. He found them in a small clearing. Hiding behind a tree, he watched as the long claw happily ate the long-eared leaf eater. The same prey he had wounded. Moving slowly, he backed away, hoping its feeding would keep the predator occupied. Only when he had made his way back through the underbrush and into a clearing did he stand and begin running in the other direction through the more spacious forest. His stomach growled in protest as he now suspected this hunt was going to end in failure. The sky was darkening when he finally reached his cave. He had come across no other prey and could only hope that others of his clan had been more successful. But even that hope died as he entered. There were no voices, no cooking fires lit. The furs, bones, weapons and gourds: everything was gone. He concentrated, but could see or hear or smell no signs of danger. Had they been attacked, perhaps by another clan? But in the fading light, he could see nothing that suggested any battle. It was more as if his clan had never been there. He crouched down at the mouth of the cave and looked at the ground. And shivered. Again there were no signs of his people or others, just an occasional animal spore, and none were of dangerous predators. Had he become lost, gone to the wrong cave? He was certain he hadn't, but his eyes said otherwise. He sighed. It was almost nightfall and there was no other place safe but this cave. Tomorrow he would search for them but tonight he would stay here and try to build a fire. The clan kept firewood in the back chamber. He went there but found the chamber, like the cave itself, empty, and again there was no suggestion the caves had ever been occupied. But there was something different. Instead of ending in a solid rock wall, the chamber ended in a narrow tunnel that led farther into the mountain. He approached it cautiously. In the darkness, he could see a dim glow, as if there was another cave at the end of the tunnel. He didn't know where this tunnel had come from, if this was indeed his cave. If it was, perhaps his clan had followed it. Or perhaps an enemy had used it to attack. Either way, he was going to find out. Holding his spear before him, he started through the narrow tunnel. • • • "This is bullshit!" Robert Winstead sat quietly at his desk and studied his guest. Reactions of those who were brought to Westchester Station varied from abject fear to righteous outrage. It was one of his responsibilities as station master to make them more comfortable during their stay. "I totally understand," he said, keeping his voice soft and calm. "I felt much the same way myself when I was first brought here." "Brought here?" Jeanne Gannon shook her head furiously. Her hair, still wet from the Seattle rain she had so recently left, sent out a fine spray. "I was kidnapped! I want the police. Now!" He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk. "'Kidnapped' may be overstating your complaint. We have our own security force. You should be safe here." "Here? Just where the hell is here? And who the hell are you?" "This is Westchester Station. As I said, I am Robert Winstead, the station master." Gannon glared at the man. She guessed him to be in his late 50's, with graying short hair and mustache, wearing a nondescript white shirt and tie. Suited him, she decided, as he was nondescript as well. Then she looked around the room. "I'm supposed to be in the Seattle bus station. This is no bus station!" "Quite true. Although a bus has occasionally visited, we are a train station." "I've been kidnapped," she said with finality and crossed her arms, staring defiantly at him. "And you've kidnapped me." No, WestchesterStation has. "Let me try to explain. Westchester Station is a train station. An intertime nsional train station." He pointed at the skylights overhead. In one, the night sky held a full moon, while in another the moon was waning. The Southern Cross was visible in a third. She gave the display a quick glance. "Pretty painting. What's your point?" Copyright © 2004 Patrick Welch
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