Book Review: "Callus & Crow" by D. B. Rook

 

A Western vampire's Dystopian odyssey across a monster filled sea.

Can a path of blood lead to redemption?

Is redemption enough to amend a wayward world?

Morality and reality have shifted from their natural axis. Technology and ideology derive from the remnants of a world long dead and segregated by the monsters that now rule the seas.

Crow, a young ranch hand, is swept into an odyssey of redemption and revenge as he strives to hold back the ravages of fate and the urges born of a curse shared with his new mentor.

Callus, an exile struggling to find redemption whilst keeping his vampiric curse from tainting his new ward, pursues his prey across the sea.

The new world they discover reveals a tyrannical society fixated on their council’s ascension to godhood. - from Booksirens.com

I received this ARC from Booksirens.com at no cost and am providing an unbiased review.

This book was a random pick based on how the plot description caught my eye. I freely admit I enjoy a good vamp novel, and this one being in an apocalyptic setting was somewhat interesting. It started off fairly moderate, and then it seemed to struggle to keep anything interesting happening to the characters. At first the writing was easy to follow, as the two named characters are traveling together, but in short time, the book is split into chapters telling the story of each one, and what is happening from their view points while they are apart.

I felt a bit lost for what was going on through the part I read. The plot description sounds like a young boy traveling with a vamp, has to learn to fight his own learnings/desires of a curse, yet, there is no mention of how/what this is from. Just that the vamp showed up near dead on the farm where he and his dad (dead mother) lived... then the next things is they are leaving - no dad alive - and just up and go. Maybe there was explainaion later in this story, or possibly in future of the series (as it looks like it will be one). I honestly did not read more than around halfway, as it just could not keep me interested, even though I kept questioning things as I read. I think I was just frustrated nothing was explained in such a way to at least keep one reading.