Book Review: Rook by Cristyn West

What isn't there to love about this book? With a smart-ass protagonist called, Rook, and a whole host of crazy characters ranging from a transgender arranger named Beauty, to an institutionalized kid named Fanny, this novel takes you on an unexpected journey of epic proportions.
Rook is aptly named for it's leading character - strong, arrogant, mysterious and decidedly sexy despite the obvious lack of romance and intense commitment to action within the story. With a particularly dry sense of humour, the author had me laughing-out-loud with the first few pages of the chapter one.

Rook sat back on his heels. Carefully, he reached a hand out and picked up the rough piece of paper. Grotesque scenes of human suffering bordered the edges.
How delightful ... not.
The inscription was not just in Latin, but an ancient form of the dialect. He translated it rapidly.
"There is nowhere you can hide. We will eat your intestines and feast on your ... yada, yada, yada."
Typical demon smack talk. All it was doing was making Rook hungry.

I found myself continuously amused by the witty dialogue which in effect, captured most of the action in surprising detail. I never felt like I was outside of the unfolding plot but standing within it, embroiled within dire circumstance and seemingly implausible scenarios.
Rook is a play-by-play story unraveling over a twenty-four hour period that follows the motley group likened to CIA operatives tasked with supernatural missions.
Not surprisingly, with this fast paced novel, we jump immediately to the African jungle and uncover an ancient seal masking its brutal secrets of hell-gate potential on the young flesh of the President's nephew. Teamed with slippery demons and cannibalistic natives, Rook soon discovers that the hell gate is merely the beginning. The ever thickening plot also introduces an immaculate conception and a government conspiracy masking the true intent of both good and evil.
Seriously, the action and drama never ends!
With ample descriptive content and enough antagonistic one-liners to keep the pages turning, I will be rating Rook four out five fangs. Absent of romance, but action packed, I didn't feel as if I were missing out on anything.

Synopsis:
"Saving the world twice a week is a crappy job, but hey, somebody's got to do it." And yes, Rook would like to be quoted on that. In a world where the earth is the DMZ between Heaven and Hell, Rook and his team try keep the forces of good and evil at bay. But like we said... try.