Deadmen Walking

Deadman’s Cross, Book #1

By Sherrilyn Kenyon

ISBN# 9780765385680

Author’s Website:  https://www.sherrilynkenyon.com/

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi

Devyl Bane was murdered by his treacherous wife.  Now Thorn has brought him back from hell to lead a crew of other deadmen to fight demons in the human realm.  The gates between the demon worlds and the human world are buckling and they need someone to fight the demons back and save the human race.  

Their ship is Devyl’s wife’s sister, Mara, who is from a nearly extinct species that binds with wood.  Mara despises Devyl, but bound herself to him to save her people.  If one dies, they both die.

Their misfit crew take on another passenger when Cameron Jack hunts Devyl down.  She is looking for info on her brother’s ship that went down months ago.  She received a letter from him after the shipwreck that included a strange medallion.  Cameron and her brother were born of a Seraph’s bloodline, descendants of Michael.  And, Devyl’s evil ex-wife has got her hands on Paden.  She’ll continue torturing him until he turns to the side of evil.  They must save Paden before it’s too late.

This book was kind of hard to follow honestly.  There were so many different characters and all of them had multiple names (real names and nicknames) that it was really hard to keep up.  Then, you get into all the species names and places they come from, words I can’t even begin to pronounce.  I got the basic gist of the story, but it was no easy feat.

Then there were several flashbacks that were hard to determine were flashbacks and not currently happening.  After the first few, it became easier to tell, but it took a minute.

Mara struggled with trusting her sister or the man that all but destroyed their species.  However, if Devyl goes down, so does she.  And, Mara has her eyes opened where Devyl is concerned.  Maybe he had reason to act the way he did.  Maybe he’s not so bad after all.  But will they survive the upcoming battle with evil?

I did like Devyl and his motley crew, the ones I could keep straight anyway.  Like many of Kenyon’s characters, Devyl had a rough life.  He was forced to murder his own parents to save his sisters, and then later lost his sisters as well.  He’s never known a kind word or touch that wasn’t some kind of manipulation.

It’s nice that Mara started to see Devyl for whom he really is.  And, I thought her species was an interesting concept.  However, I found the relationship between Mara and Devyl to be a bit bland.  I really wasn’t sure if he was going to be with Mara or Cameron at first, but honestly both girls were kind of boring.  I think he deserved someone a little more interesting, not a perpetual damsel in distress that needs saving.Overall, I found this book to be as bland as Devyl and Mara’s relationship.  Maybe that would be different if it were easier to follow.  I’ll continue the series to see if it gets any better.  I do enjoy the pirate theme.  Besides I’m trying to read all the series that crossover with the Dark-Hunter series.  I must push through.