Leandra Walters

James Donovan is struggling with a dead end, thankless job, and is the sole caretaker of his family. We get to know James' family and his past. This book is far from bereft of emotion. The author jumps right into descriptions of difficult family life and hardships, which will likely cause the reader to immediately empathize with James. Things only get tougher from there on, and the reader is taken on an epic journey into the world of the vampires, a world hidden from human senses. It feels like we are only getting a tiny glimpse into the true depth of lore and world building in this story and I, for one, can't wait for further installments! I absolutely cannot commend Jack's writing enough! It is so refreshing to see deeply disturbing topics handled in such a professional way. The content warnings in the beginning of the book should definitely be heeded, but I don't believe they should discourage anyone from reading this. They are written about in a way that feels cathartic. Rarely has a novel pulled at my heart strings as much as this one has. I think it is because Jack Townson (the author, who shares his name with the titular character), has poured so much genuine feeling into this work of art that it feels very different from other novels I've read, in which the emotional struggles of the characters can seem forced, fake, or even unintentionally humorous. As for the writing itself, it feels artful and masterful without resorting to so many obscure words that the reader needs to have a Thesaurus at hand for every paragraph. (Something which has afflicted other novels in this genre.) He puts the raw power, energy, and ferocity of the vampires right next to their equal capacity for tenderness. The vampires, (at least not all of them), are not mere monsters but, like humans, struggling to survive in their own world which they are perfectly adapted to. At times, the monsters are more human than the humans. All in all, my only complaint is that a few words feel overused. "Crimson" and "curls" being the two that stood out to me. Of course, that was just something I noticed and it doesn't detract from the epic story that Jack has given us. I also noticed some small grammatical errors. Regardless of those nitpicks, this is a 5/5 book and it isn't easy to put down. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll be left waiting eagerly for the next book in this incredible saga. Forget Twilight, this is how real vampires do battle!