Red Reckonin'

Boots scuff across a wooden floor, scattered with sawdust and black globs of chewing tobacco. Smoke drifts in the air, the thick, cloying smoke of pipes and cigars. The scent of whiskey permeates, lingering upon the tension held within. Two figures sit across from one another, their low voices like grating stone, exchanging words as the posse prepares their ambush outside the tavern on those dusty streets.

That grainy, grittiness of an old western. A setting so familiar.

Red Reckonin’ brings that feeling in with full force, but there’s nothing cliché or familiar about it. It sets the tone, so fitting of those westerns, and immerses its readers within. It takes all those themes, redemption and reckoning, regret and grim determination, and it spins them into its own. And as you continue your journey, you’re plunged into the shoes of Callus, there to make his decisions, for good or ill. And whichever way you go, the significance of your choices will weigh upon you. And the consequences will haunt you.

Perhaps that dingy tavern is replaced with the basement of a dilapidated church. That grim gunslinger instead a foul bloodsucker. Those twists and turns pulled into another world, while maintaining an essence of the old.

It’s no secret, I’m already a fan of DB Rook’s work. From his Shadows of the Collegiate short stories to his dystopian science fiction adventure, Residuum, he has written some of my favorites.

Red Reckonin’, if you, like me, have not read Callus & Crow yet (and shame on us both for that, it has been on my TBR for far too long) introduces the reader to Callus, a man haunted by his past, his curse, and his very being. It is the tale of his letter to a friend, or perhaps a savior. And along the way, you decide just who Callus is becoming as he remembers that fateful meeting with Wilf.

I had wanted to write up a short review on this back when it first came out and I made my first journey through Callus’ memories. But I chose to hold off. Let the details slip away and follow his tale once more from another angle, and I’m glad I did (maybe that’s not the best choice of words, for perhaps I am a worse person for my actions the second time through, perhaps some of Callus’ choices are more harrowing than others). The differences between pathways are so stark, it’s impressive. The tales were so different, despite being enriched by the same themes, the same personality.

Like many of us, I too grew up reading those ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ books, flipping back and forth through the pages, and almost always making the ‘wrong’ choices. Unearthed Stories brings that energy back to a new era and creates a format in which Red Reckonin’ shines (albeit bleakly).

Rook’s ability to humanize and demonize at once, and to lay out all one’s flaws and still demand for them the compassion they deserve is on full display in this short journey.

So if you’re looking for a dark, weird western tale of remorse, redemption, and reckoning, that creates an absurdly immersive experience, then grab Unearthed Stories (which you already should have, there’s been plenty of time now), and click on over to Red Reckonin’, your only regret will be, potentially, the choices you make as Callus.