It’s the winter of 1975, and Duane Minor, back home in Portland, Oregon after a tour in Vietnam, is struggling to quell his anger and keep his drinking in check, keep his young marriage intact, and keep the nightmares away. Things get even more complicated when his thirteen-year-old niece, Julia, is sent across the country to live with her Aunt Heidi and Uncle Duane after a tragedy. But slowly, carefully, guided by Heidi’s love and patience, the three of them are building a family.
Then Minor crosses the wrong man: John Varley, a criminal with a bloody history and a trail of bodies behind him. Varley, who sleeps during the day beneath loose drifts of earth and grows teeth in the light of the moon. In an act of brutal retaliation, Varley kills Heidi, leaving Minor broken with guilt and Julia shot through with rage. The two of them are left united by only one thing: the desire for vengeance.
As their quest brings them into the dark orbit of immortal, undead children, silver bullet casters, and the bevy of broken men drawn to Varley’s ferocity, Minor and Julia follow his path of destruction from the gritty al-leyways of 1970s Portland to the desolate highways of the Northwest and the snow-lashed plains of North Dakota – only to have him turn his vicious power back on them. Who will prevail, who will survive, and what remains of our humanity when our thirst for revenge trumps everything else?
Dark bleatings, my toothy tribe! I love vampires (I mean, I REALLY love vampires). And I’m not going to sit here pretending that I haven’t enjoyed sexy vampires. I loved True Blood (the show, not so much the books). I’ll also admit to loving the broody kind, thanks to Anne Rice. However, my very favourite are those horrible, scary ones. You know, the 30 Days of Night kind. The John Carpenter’s Vampires kind.
And finally, Keith Rosson has been an absolute legend and brought me my very favourite type of toothy fiend in this book. He said “nasty vampire” and he really meant it, because this monster is…well…an absolute monster.
Our story revolves around Duane, who lives with the love of his life and his niece, who they have taken in because his sister is in prison. He works in a bar owned by his in-laws, who he actually gets along with, and business is decent. All in all, his life has its challenges but it’s shaped up very nicely.
….Until they turn up. They’re a gang with an unconventional boss that, in Duane’s somewhat correct but incorrect opinion, is extorting his mother-in-law. He walks in on something but he’s no push over, and tells them to skidaddle. Scram, boys. Maybe if they were all human, this would have gone differently.
Varley is a savage piece of work with selfish motives, and doesn’t take too kindly to being threatened. And, unfortunately for Duane, he’s spiteful and vengeful.
There’s one scene in the first half of this book and the picture Rosson paints of it is so brutal that I gasped aloud while reading. I read a lot of horror and always expect the worst but even I was shocked by the utter cruelty of it. What follows is an emotional, violent, and twisted adventure worthy of being on any horror fans shelf. I’m finding it hard to discuss the story without diving into spoiler territory, but I will tell you that if you’re a vampire-of-the-monstrous-variety fan, then you’ll probably love this. Also, a monstrous villain isn’t the only thing this book has going for it, but is just one of its many excellent upsides.
Duane and his niece are complicated characters that are so easy to get behind, and their relationship dynamic was fascinating. Both of them have interesting back stories that serve their motivations, and make them easy to empathise with, without making them predictable or boring. There’s also a detective that brings in a cop/thriller type of element.
My only complaint (genuinely, my only one) is that I wish there were more horrible vampires and/or horrible vampires scenes of savagery. Varley was so scary and I’m hardly ever actually scared, so I hoped for a bit more of him and those of his ilk. However, this is still a definite, solid, 5/5 for me.
If you’d like to check out the book or the author, I’ve popped some links below for you:
Bleeeeat!
Happy Goat Horror 
Leave a comment