Synopsis:
A devastating love story. A bewitching twist on history. A blood-drenched hunt for purpose, power, and redemption.
In 1785, Professor Sebastian Grave receives the news he fears most: the terrible Beast of Gévaudan has returned, and the French countryside runs red in its wake.
Sebastian knows the Beast. A monster-slayer with centuries of experience, he joined the hunt for the creature twenty years ago and watched it slaughter its way through a long and bloody winter. Even with the help of his indwelling demon, Sarmodel – who takes payment in living hearts – it nearly cost him his life to bring the monster down.
Now, two decades later, Sebastian has been recalled to the hunt by Antoine Avenel d’Ocerne, an estranged lover who shares a dark history with the Beast and a terrible secret with Sebastian. Drawn by both the chance to finish the Beast for good and the promise of a reconciliation with Antoine, Sebastian cannot refuse.
But Gévaudan is not as he remembers it, and Sebastian’s unfinished business is everywhere he looks. Years of misery have driven the people to desperation, and France teeters on the edge of revolution. Sebastian’s arcane activities – not to mention his demonic counterpart – have also attracted the inquisitorial eye of the French clergy. And the Beast is poised to close his jaws around them all and plunge the continent into war.
Debut author Cameron Sullivan tears the heart out of history with this darkly entertaining retelling of the hunt for the Beast of Gévaudan. Lifting the veil on the hidden world behind our own, it reimagines the story of Europe, from Imperial Rome to Saint Jehanne d’Arc, the madness of Gilles de Rais and the first flickers of the French Revolution.
Review:
Sometimes you pick up a book and you realize it’s right up your alley. The storyline, the lore, the vibes…it’s all there. Other times you realize fairly quickly, this is not the book for you. Something is just off and maybe you can’t even put your finger on it, but it didn’t really work for you. This may sound odd — but this book was both of those things? Like…I really liked the historical setting and overall themes in The Red Winter, but in the end, I can’t say I would read it again or sign up for any more books in Cameron Sullivan’s horror-fantasy universe. But I might…it’s complicated. I liked it, but I kinda didn’t at the same time.
Ringing endorsement, right?
Yeah. I had some mixed feelings about this book.
So with The Red Winter, I was expecting a little more fantasy and horror, but Sullivan injected a lot of romance into the book and while I can roll with a little, it verged a bit more spicy than I typically go for. That colored a lot of the book, even when serious things were happening, the horniness of the characters seemed to be an everpresent theme. In some ways, the way it was presented almost mirrored some of the character of Vigga from Joe Abercrombie’s The Devils, but in that case Vigga was a part of an ensemble and her actions didn’t dominate the entire storyline. Here, the romance at times overtakes the action.
For me, where the book shines are in the “present-day” portions of the book that happen in 1785, just in the beginning stages of the French Revolution (although, depending on the character, they are either mildly or blissfully unaware of the pending revolt). The inevitability of the revolution and the way the upper class treats their lives as compared to the everyday citizen, especially in light of a “monster on the loose,” set this book apart from other creature features.
There are flashbacks to a time 20 years before when Sebastian (our main character) hunted the Beast before. The mistakes of the past are crucial to revisit as they make the time in 1785 all the more important, but they mostly fell flat for me. There is also a third storyline that takes Sebastian back hundreds of years at times to the Roman Empire and up to the Hundred Years’ War.
Like I said…my feelings on this book were mixed. The writing was great and the narration by Rory Barnett and Imogen Church (one of my favorite female narrators!) pushed the rating over the edge a bit. With the French setting, there was definitely a feeling of Jay Kristoff’s Empire of the Vampire that hung over the novel.
Overall, I appreciated The Red Winter and I liked it a lot, but I can’t say I loved it. The history and writing were great and the narration was top notch, but I probably will be a little careful in who I recommend this book to.
Thank you to Tor Books as well as Macmillan Audio for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
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