I made it a goal this year to prioritize reading books from authors I haven’t read yet. The list of folks I want to read books from is massive. So my focus has been on kinda shorter stuff, to accomplish that goal.
It wasn’t too long ago I picked up these two short stories, having already been looking forward to reading Callus & Crow (which I will certainly be doing soon), and I figured it was time to check one out.
Well, turns out that was impossible. Checking out one, that is. I read The Price of Piety and started No Hook for the Hood immediately after. And if there was a third short story to hand, I probably would have kept going. That’s that, both in one sitting. I know, they’re short stories and that shouldn’t seem like a feat, but I do often have difficulty making the time.
I was immediately hooked on this world, and DB Rook’s style in general. Dark and gritty with just the right amount of snark and interesting ideas. These were the sort of reads, that afterward, you just know you’ll be checking out everything else an author releases.
The Price of Piety tells the tale of a ragtag group of ne’er-do-wells out for a big haul. A highly ambitious heist and all the mayhem that occurs when the shit hits the fan. And shit most certainly hits the fan. I loved this motley crew of criminals and the tale of their misdeeds.
No Hook for the Hood is about Grawnden Tweed, a renown dispenser of punishments, an axeman, whether taking fingers, hands, or heads. But his last day is fast approaching. What haunts an executioner? A dark, surreal journey into the depths.
Rook knows how to write some excellent characters and has established a dark, twisted world in these two short stories. And I am here for it! I’m hooked and will look forward to reading anything else DB Rook puts out.
I don’t know what you’re still reading this review for. Go get these stories. Read them! Now!
Check out DB Rook’s website here:
