"Benevolent Slayers" by Marie Krepps

BOOK TITLE: Benevolent Slayers

AUTHOR: Marie Krepps

YEAR: 2017

GENRE: Fiction

SUBGENRE: Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy

GRADE: Pass

In a necrocosm swarming with evil beasts, it is the duty of the Benevolent Slayers to extinguish these threats and bring peace to the world. Although the muscular warrior Brock the Rock and the magic-wielding druid Saber share the same job title, they work together only out of necessity and not because they want to. The more adventures they go on together, the more they realize just how much they need each other. They’ve spent years closing their hearts off to everyone around them due to their painful pasts. Now that they have an ultra-powerful vampire to hunt down, freezing each other out is no longer an option. It’s kill or be killed in this post-apocalyptic nightmare and nobody does a better job of killing than Brock and Saber.

The themes of dead emotions and social barriers are what really got me into this story. I personally have struggled with shyness and keeping everyone out all of my life, which is why my social circle is limited to only a few people. In this story you have two badass warriors, Brock and Saber, who don’t want to be vulnerable around each other for fear of getting hurt worse than when they actually go into battle. But the more time they spend around each other, the more they begin to open up about their traumas. Reading about a character in a book is like having a relationship in real life: you can only care about somebody if you have a reason to do so. The more you know about a person, the less likely you are to judge them. Marie Krepps doesn’t just make you care about her two main characters; she holds your emotions hostage and squeezes those tears from your eyes like grapefruit juice.

Of course, where would a fantasy story be if there wasn’t at least a modicum of delicious violence? Here, you get more than a modicum. There’s no rest for the weary in this world of villainous demons. If you’re caught slipping, you’ll be a bloody mess before you can say…anything at all. Normally readers like to cheer for the average joe because that’s who they can relate the most to. This world weeds out the average joes in a big hurry whether it’s with a plague or getting ripped apart by savage warriors. Yes, the two main characters are battle-tested ass-kickers, but they’re far from Mary-Sues and Gary-Stus. They’re real people with a lifetime full of intense emotions (which they keep hidden from each other throughout the novel, of course). Not only will you root for them to get their ducks in a row, but you will also cheer like a stadium full of wild fans once they win their physical battles. And boy, do they have plenty of those!

You also have to admire the world-building Marie Krepps has done with her novel. You would think a post-apocalyptic world would be easy breezy lemon squeezy since it’s basically just one big rotten wasteland. Uh-uh! These towns vary wildly from each other whether it’s the ability to relax, the urgency of their problems, the hostility or friendliness of the citizens, and the political structure of those in charge. Even the outside world has a lot of uniqueness to it, mostly because of the strange creatures and bipolar weather systems that pass through. Somewhere near the beginning of the novel, Marie Krepps made room for a tanuki, which is a Japanese creature that’s a mix between a raccoon and a dog. Whenever I kept reading about him, I just wanted to rub his belly and play with his ears. Aww! Every place the Slayers go and every person or creature they meet is as colorful and vivid as a reader would want them to be, if not more so.

This novel is more than just an ass-kicking fairytale. It’s every bit as emotional and heartbreaking as it is violent and colorful. You have no choice but to actually give a damn about these characters and if you don’t, you probably don’t have a pulse. If you don’t have a pulse, you can always count on Saber to use her healing magic on you. I won’t say when she uses it or what the circumstances are, but when she does, your heart will explode with passion like an active volcano. This A+ author deserves yet another passing grade for her beautiful story!