Deadmen Walking Review (Deadman’s Cross #1)

Deadmen tell their tales . . .

To catch evil, it takes evil. Enter Devyl Bane―an ancient dark warlord returned to the human realm as one of the most notorious pirates in the New World. A man of many secrets, Bane makes a pact with Thorn―an immortal charged with securing the worst creations the ancient gods ever released into our world. Those powers have been imprisoned for eons behind enchanted gates . . . gates that are beginning to buckle. At Thorn’s behest, Bane takes command of a crew of Deadmen and, together, they are humanity’s last hope to restore the gates and return the damned to their hell realms.

But things are never so simple. And one of Bane’s biggest problems is the ship they sail upon. For the Sea Witch isn’t just a vessel, she’s also a woman born of an ancient people he wronged and who in turn wronged him during a centuries long war between their two races―a woman who is also sister to their primary target. Now Marcelina, the Sea Witch, must choose. Either she remains loyal to her evil sister and almost extinct race against Bane and his cause, and watches humanity fall, or she puts faith in an enemy who has already betrayed her. Her people over the totality of humanity―let’s hope Bane can sway her favor.

Even though the Goodreads synopsis focuses on Bane, I loved hearing about Marcelina’s story. She always hated Bane, but she can never leave him because they are irreversibly bound. Throughout the novel, she learns more of the truth about his backstory, and she learns more about his sister Elf. I also really enjoyed reading about her own backstory. I won’t spoil too much, but it definitely held a lot of secrets and plot twists!

Also, at the start of the novel, it seemed like the main story would be about a girl named Cameron who is masquerading as a boy to find her lost brother, Palen. When the book changed focus to Bane and Mara, I was quite confused at first and thought that it was just a very long flashback. However, this cleared up quickly, and it did not distract me very much from the rest of the story.

The world-building of this novel was incredible. I felt as if I was personally on a boat and fighting off demons, learning about the cursed passengers. I loved the amount of description that the story had about each character and each scene. It truly draws the readers in, and I fell asleep a few nights because I had read this book until my eyes couldn’t stay open any longer. This was definitely one of the most fleshed-out fantasy books that I had ever read, with some of the best world-building and character development.

I had never read a single book by Mrs. Kenyon before, but after this, I definitely plan to do so. This was a multiple POV fantasy novel that actually wasn’t confusing or long-winded, but just generally enjoyable!

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a new adult fantasy read.

I received a copy of this book and this is my voluntary review.

Overall Rating: 5/5