Book Review: Shadow of the Winter Moon by Cam Sinclair

Author: Cam Sinclair

Title: Shadow of the Winter Moon

Series: Kraven Kronicles #1

Genre: Fantasy

Format: ebook

Published: October 10, 2022

Where I Got It: Netgalley

Summary: 

Sharrock is a grisly veteran from the harsh lands north of the Riven Expense—a brutish man with a hard temper and harder reputation. When a business opportunity presents the seemingly simple task of locating Reelum Hangs and providing a solution to his money woes, Sharrock is set on a course that will forever alter his life.

Foul conspiracies that may threaten the very fabric of society will be uncovered. Scores will be settled, violence and mayhem unleashed, and bestial lusts unfettered to rampage without restraint. The notion of right and wrong, hero and villain, action and consequences will forever be skewed and tainted.

Welcome to the Kraven Kronicles …

Review:

I picked this up because the cover drew me in...the summary seems crazy....and I was feeling a bloody fantasy novel. 

We follow Sharrock who is a veteran from the harsh lands. When a business opportunity pops up that seems simple, Sharrock will take it and find himself on a course that will forever alter his life. There are foul conspiracies that may threaten the very fabric of society. Revenge, violence, mayhem, and many evils will be unleashed. 

This certainly got dark right off the bat. Evil people are everywhere. So yes, there are a lot of TWs like sexual assault, child abuse, torture, murder, and more. Things have gotten bad in this world. There were times where I would just stop reading and take a break. 

This is a world of grey. Even our hero has isn't 100% clean. Sharrock has seen some things that have hardened him to be a warrior you do not want to mess with. I'm glad we got to learn more (slowly mind you) about him and some other characters. It took a while for them to be fleshed out and become more 3D. I'm grateful because at first I literally didn't care about these characters. It took a while, but we got to learn more about them slowly but surely. 

The ending seemed so abrupt! I get there will be more books after this one, but gah. You can't leave a girl hanging like that. 

All-in-all this was an interesting read. It really was a dark world and there is barely a glimmer of hope. No hope at this point...except for a handful of decent people who are not squeaky clean. This does have a lot of dark scenes that are not for everyone so just be warned before picking this one up. I wish the ending wasn't so abrupt. I am curious about book 2...we'll see though. I'll need a break from dark reads for a while. I'll give this 3 stars.