**Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the eARC of this title!!**

I ended up picking up a physical copy of this at Stokercon (eeeeep!) and will be reviewing a bit closer to publication. I am dropping 5 stars as a placeholder and will be back to update with posts and reviews!

Creepy vampire kids are my newest trope obsessions, I have decided.

Coffin Moon is one of the more tragic, depressing stories I've had the pleasure of reading. A Vietnam vet's life is destroyed after encountering the vampire, John Varley, triggering a vengeance-fueld cross-country road trip with his young niece. And oh boy is it brutal and intense.

Poor Duane, this guy wears bad luck like a layer of skin. His whole story is heartbreaking--the draft, the flashbacks of combat, coming back home to work at the bar while dealing with PTSD unmedicated...and of course, the aftermath of meeting John Varley. Julia doesn't fare any better, who faces her own share of trauma and trials at just thirteen years-old. The characters are thought out, tying together themes like surviving loss and grief with their development. There's even a moment where you start to pity the bad guy, despite knowing he's an irredeemable monster who doesn't deserve it.

This book is definitely going on my physical shelf. Thank you to Random House, NetGalley, and the author Keith Rosson for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Tried out a new to me author for horror and had a good time! This was gory and creepy, and entertaining! Not my go to type for horror but was pleasantly surprised!

It's 1975, and Duane Minor is a Vietnam veteran in Portland, Oregon, battling PTSD, alcoholism, and the strains of keeping his family together. When his thirteen-year-old niece Julia arrives following a tragedy, he hopes to build a semblance of normal life with his wife Heidi.

But everything shatters when Duane crosses paths with John Varley—a vampiric killer with a blood-soaked past who murders Heidi in cold blood. Consumed by guilt and grief, Duane and Julia form an uneasy alliance driven by vengeance. Their pursuit knows no bounds and leads them through the dark alleys of 1970s Portland, isolated highways of the Northwest, and the snow-filled plains of North Dakota where carnage and horror are displayed throughout.

The author does a good job of melding gritty and chilling horror with the bleak realities of post-war trauma and PTSD. Duane is used to war, and this vengence trip is like war. The cold, violent settings—from urban decay to remote plains—heighten the novel's tension and atmosphere, and also solidifies the bond between Duane and Julia as they work together to wipe out the evil menance.

I'm always up for a good vampire story but this just got too gross for me. There is brutal violence, dismembering, and trauma which really didn't add to the story for me. I was more interested in the bond between Duane and Julia, and thought the author could have focused more on that. There are long sections of the book just focused on revenge and suffering which became hard to take at times.

Can't exactly say this is a fresh take on the vampire genre- not even sure if that's possible- but it is an exciting, suspenseful, and humane take. Rosson's characters are vibrant, and each loss (there are many) hits the reader hard. At it's core, this is a revenge stiry, but one that takes care to look ar each side of the revenge and question it in a way few novels do.

This is the third of Rosson's books I've read. The improvement with each one is remarkable. The one gave good cause to turn me from a casual fan to an outright acolyte.

This was such a fantastic vampire story! I love when writers have a unique version of a vampire tale, especially when it unfolds perfectly! Horrific, beautiful, and heart breaking. This is a must read!

Establishing a balance between the gruesome & the pathetic seems an easy road to trapeze. One might feel it so obvious a juggle to teeter that there is no need for any discussion at all. Perhaps they are correct. Meeting a failed attempt within the pages of a book one knows cannot be written with them in mind, one longs to seek the pathway one such person felt overcome to take; a pathway that appeared difficult, challenging, between pedantic blood loss & vile terror.

I have sat with myself after reading this story because I felt that I had nothing to say. This is partially untrue because I have a lot to say, as evidenced by the length of these reviews. However, in the context of this story, the weight of the obvious, that is, the clarity with which I knew I was not the target reader, has left me feeling as though I might prefer to hold my tongue. Indeed, what is the point in writing forty pages about my disappointment if I might have spared myself by simply closing the book when the clock struck the hour?

Therefore, in an attempt to be clear before roaming the lane of wordiness, as is my habit, I wish to acknowledge the type of horror that is found within this book. Certainly, readers who appreciate the realism of terror as I do within books may find the mark has been missed within this plot. The author has sought to include a vampire, indestructible & villainous as no other, while colouring his being with silly emotions like hesitancy & a maniac’s inability to be in control. Each of the characters fits into this typecast; none are particularly unique enough to warrant a story being told about them & yet when one takes note of the details of their person, they become disjointed.

Why would the story follow a man who was in his mid-twenties with the personality & lifestyle of a man in his middle age? Was the decade of the 1970s so different than the current decade that his person might easily have been mistaken for someone in their forties or fifties? I pose this question because Duane, the main character, did not fit into his role & I began to grow tired of the truth, which is that he was too young to be so naïve & too old to be so hopeful; I note with purposeful phrasing.

Duane is presented as a tired person. I cannot fault him for feeling this way; his life has been a series of highs & lows, categorized by his life-altering experiences in the Vietnam War (1955-1975). I could understand how the hopefulness of his early years might have been dashed when drafted, being left to battle a society of people for reasons that were unclear even to the most learned among Americans. Indeed, the life & times of Duane’s character were a draw for the story. The setting within which he exists is evocative of more than just the casual haunts of men who experience Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) & who roam in dreams to escape themselves.

Duane represents an era during which political stamina for action & misdirection were rampant; much of what is now romanticized today stems from the political direction & policies adopted during this era. The greatness of casual calls to war, so soon after a monstrous world war; the enemy who has been isolated due to their face & race; the patriarchal pressure to remain headstrong; the list goes on. This story advocates for a reflection by the reader on such realities & although I will not seek to include political discourse on the rights & wrongs of the United States Army & their political propensity for invading Vietnam to oust Communism, I do believe its relevance merits inclusion in this review.

Without the Vietnam War & the involvement of the United States, men like Duane would not have been faced with the nightmares they carried for the rest of their lives. It feels kinder to reflect on Duane’s circumstances by noting that he did not want to fight, nor did he wish to kill. Duane is introduced to the reader as a pacifist who has found love & whose life feels at ease in the flow of mortality. Perhaps this is why I felt put off by his age. I acknowledge that perhaps the author chose to make him so young to drive home the point that horrors are not age-restricted.

It is a personal opinion that sees me reflect on the age of all of the characters & the way this fell flat in the context. Surely, for readers who are seeking to consume a story about young adults whose lives have been carried away by circumstances outside of their control, this will be the ideal book. One notes that many, if not all, of the characters are young. Heidi’s parents are no more than fifty years old, which makes them old in the context of Duane & Heidi’s ages, but not in terms of life on Earth.

I remark on this as such a point of contention for me because it felt at odds with the events. Duane is saturated & soaked by his alcoholism; Julia is too young to be insightful & continues to make the wildest decisions; Heidi’s parents are crass & brokenly naïve to believe that becoming a drug mule will grant them financial freedom; I ask then why that is. Why are all these characters so well accustomed to the world & its complexities, & yet stifled by the youth of their age that they make such wildly juvenile choices?

The story follows the consequences of their choices. Julie becomes a vampire child, ignoring the fact that, should she live forever, she will be no more adept at life than she is right now. Duane does not put his foot down & refuse this course of action, choosing instead to pretend that getting drunk while Julia plots her escape might dissuade her from sneaking out in the night to become a vampire.

Back & forth, one wanders amongst these decisions & although one may be more tender-hearted than I am coming across in this review, enough to forgive the characters for their naivety, I cannot help but gawk at their stupidity.

This frustration is a tricky thing to develop while reading, for one must acknowledge that had anything been different, one would not be reading the story as it exists. The story that might have existed had Duane understood the craftiness & determination that Julia fostered to fight a vampire beast that she could not win against would have led to the author writing an entirely different novel. Therefore, I note the uselessness of feeling frustrated by characters who were shaped the way the author intended.

Praise should be given to the author for framing & shaping characters the way that he has, for indeed they appear as real individuals might in real life. Although a reader might not long for their companionship, their presence on the page felt entirely true to their beings & for that, the author has accomplished his feat of giving his story wings to fly.

Many of my qualms lie in the tone of the story & while paired with characters who were both too young & too old, as noted earlier, I found the shift to quirky horror decidedly odd. The main villain did not seem like much of a deviant at all.

John Varley, the very young twenty-five-year-old vampire, transformed in the summer of 1917 by an original vampiric creature, murders at random & enjoys galivanting in the beds of anyone who might have a penchant for the deranged. His reputation precedes him; his murderous follies speak for themselves, but when John is left to speak for himself, his foolish & trite personality left me with a crinkle in my brow.

What makes a vampire such a scary creature is its ability to live forever. The author has included traditional lore associated with vampires & brings forth a character who embodies the cruelty of psychopathy. I could not help but hope for more from John Varley. His teetering between understanding the brutality of his abilities & the loneliness of his circumstances, to trust someone whom he didn’t know from Adam, all felt very ill-conceived. Would a vampire need someone else when all the while he spent his life not needing anyone? What left John feeling certain that the casual murder of the elderly man in the restroom was significant enough to trust the hitchhiker?

So many instances raise questions & yet, I return to my main point, which is that the target reader for the quirky horror genre is not me. Ultimately, I appreciated the musings of the author as he crafted characters whose flaws did not lead them to despair. I appreciated the marooning of a magical realism that existed while mortal men flew overseas to evoke war on the snipers & unsuspecting. There are aspects that any reader may appreciate if they choose to do so.

However, when it comes down to it, skimming the majority of the middle of this book would not leave one any worse off than if they had read it. The changing perspectives gave me more ammunition to dislike the way each character was & their choices. For another reader, this approach will grant them the intimacy with each main player they long for.

Although I cannot say I had a fun time or a fulfilling time reading this book, I am glad to have done so, for it gave me a better appreciation of the structure of the genre. For readers who enjoy the twinge of cringe that marches alongside malevolence, this book will be their bread & butter, jam & jelly.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House, & Keith Rosson for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

‘It’s the winter of 1975, and Portland, Oregon, is all sleet and neon. Duane Minor is back home after a tour in Vietnam, a bartender just trying to stay sober; save his marriage with his wife, Heidi; and connect with his thirteen-year-old niece, Julia, now that he’s responsible for raising her. Things aren’t easy, but Minor is scraping by.

Then a vampire walks into his bar and ruins his life.

When Minor crosses John Varley, a killer who sleeps during the day beneath loose drifts of earth and grows teeth in the light of the moon, Varley brutally retaliates by murdering Heidi, leaving Minor broken with guilt and Julia filled with rage. What’s left of their splintered family is united by only one desire: vengeance.

So begins a furious, frenzied pursuit across the Pacific Northwest and beyond. From grimy alleyways to desolate highways to snow-lashed plains, Minor and Julia are cast into the dark orbit of undead children, silver bullet casters, and the bevy of broken men transfixed by Varley’s ferocity. Everyone’s out for blood….’

I can’t yap enough on how great this read was. I’m not a huge vampire fan (in books), probably because I just haven’t found the right one (yet). Coffin Moon is described as gritty, unforgettable and emotionally devastating, and delivered all three. Duane and Julia will forever be two of my favourite characters; I haven’t felt this connected to a story in a long time. If/when you read this book, come chat!

Five stars.
A definite future reread.
Adding all of Keith Rosson’s books to my list.

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC!

After returning from Vietnam, Duane Minor is doing his best to leave the past behind and build a new life with his wife, Heidi, and their adopted thirteen-year-old niece, Julia. But one night, while working at the bar, his world is destroyed when he crosses paths with John Varley–a powerful man who sleeps during the day and thrives on blood at night. In the aftermath of a devastating loss, Duane and Julia embark on a quest for vengeance. But as they close in on John Varley, do they have what it takes to bring down a monster or will they become his next victims?

This book was dark, gritty, and impossible to put down! Set in 1970’s Portland, it had a chilling and uneasy atmosphere and it’s a great book to read on a dark and stormy night. Duane and Julia, though deeply flawed, were incredibly compelling characters. Haunted by their pasts and driven by a shared need for revenge, I loved how their relationship was central to the story– these characters will stay with me for a long time, even the sinister John Varley.

If you’re into vampire novels, there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy this one! It’s bloody and gruesome at times, but what’s a vampire story without a little gore? This was also such an emotional and heartbreaking story and the author touched on some really heavy and thought-provoking topics- grief, guilt, trauma, addiction, and the all consuming nature of vengeance, no matter the cost.

If you’re looking for a modern day vampire novel filled with supernatural elements, revenge, justice, and family loyalty, definitely consider reading this one!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an electronic ARC of this book!

This book was very well written, but it wasn't for me. The pacing was great, and the characters were well-written. While I did read this in one day, the story commands attention, but I did not care for it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

A compelling, gritty vampire tale steeped in blood, grief, and vengeance. Coffin Moon doesn’t hold your hand or spare your feelings. It rips you open and dares you to look.

Set against a vividly rendered 1970s backdrop, the story feels as authentic as a primary source. If you’d told me it was published in 1975, I wouldn’t have questioned it. The coarse, grungy, masculine energy works superbly well here.

We follow Duane Minor, a Vietnam vet plagued by nightmares and drowning in alcohol. A traumatic event makes him and his wife the guardians of his niece, Julia. For a brief moment, they find peace. Then, a brutal act of violence shatters everything. What follows is a slow-burning bloodbath, as Duane and Julia chase a monster… well, a man. Or maybe both.

The story leaves you asking:
🩸 What makes a monster?
🩸 Is revenge ever righteous?
🩸 Can trauma be inherited like a curse?

Rosson doesn’t tread lightly. He doesn’t flinch. This book explores addiction, grief, PTSD, vengeance, and love in their rawest forms. Every character is complex, deeply flawed, and morally unmoored. Duane and Varley mirror each other. Both men are out for revenge, both broken in ways that echo across the page. Even Julia avoids the “tragic child” trope; her pain is real, rough-edged, and fully realized.

The supernatural elements are just barely that. The vampirism feels possible; less fantasy, more folklore lurking under the skin of everyday life. It’s grim, gritty, and oddly grounded. You finish the book wondering if maybe, just maybe, they are real.

The ending isn’t happy. But it’s earned. And honestly? Anything else would have felt like a lie.

⸻

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. I will be sprinting to get a physical copy of this one. BRB—diving headfirst into Fever House.

If you've had your fill of vampire novels, pick this one up because... no, you haven't. Rosson has a talent for putting new energy into or reviving genres that have been oversaturated for ages (I'm talking about you, Fever House) and Coffin Moon is his latest revival.

Seriously, check it out.

If you love complex characters that push things into over drive and stay there, making their way across the states a vengeance-filled road trip in order to kill one nasty vamp, this one is definitely for you.

This book was everything I was hoping it would be for a Keith Rosson vampire novel! Repeat Rosson readers can expect the same immersive world building feeling as the Fever House series that immediately draws you in and keeps you invested and beautifully written, multi-layered characters.

Duane Minor is a Vietnam veteran who came back from the war changed but is trying his best to stay sober and level headed for his wife Heidi, in-laws that he’s working for, and newly added to his care niece who’s already been through some shit, everything is working out just fine until a biker gang rolls through the family bar looking to sell drugs. When Duane gets involved in trying to put an end to it his life takes an unexpected turn and now his biggest problem is the man who took everything from him- only the man isn’t just a man but a vampire, which he finds out via Polaroid while trying to prove his innocence to the cops.

Duane and his niece, Julia, are then (against police order) on the hunt for the vampire no others seem to want to mess with, John Varley. The year and a half long, cross country search brings character changes and takes them to lows Duane never could’ve imagined, all while trying to do “the right thing” by his wife and family’s memory.

Coffin Moon was unputdownable, exhilarating, and devastating. A complete work of art and new favorite. Easily the best vampire novel I’ve come across, I cannot wait to purchase it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Keith Rosson for the opportunity to read it early.

This was a fast paced, fantastic vampire book! It was graphic and the horror level was perfect. I loved it. The setting in the 70s had such a good vibe. The characters were so well written too. Thank you!

Coffin Moon by Keith Rosson is a noir-tinged novel that follows Vietnam veteran Duane Minor and his niece Julia as they embark on a vengeful journey after a brutal murder tears their family apart. As they pursue a mysterious and supernatural killer, they encounter strange horrors and must confront the emotional and moral cost of revenge.

This was definitely one of the more original books I’ve read lately. It reads like a dark fever dream, with a surreal, haunting atmosphere that lingers throughout. While this isn’t my usual type of read, I found the story interesting and intriguing.

3.5 stars only because it was not quite for me

The first thing that caught me in this book was the beautiful prose, Rosson has a very visual, metaphorical writing style which draws you into the story and the characters. The book brings the dark streets of 70s Portland alive. I was on the edge of my seat in the first half of this book, after which the pace picks up very quickly. The violence and gore ratchets up suddenly to 100, and those portions were just not for me, though a seasoned horror novel fan would probably enjoy it more.

There are lots of questions in this book about guilt, trauma, and what it means to get revenge, though it more hints at those questions than asks them; and is more interested in giving you a pulpy neo-noir vampire story that will leave you wanting to keep the lights on at night. From a genre perspective, this is a great book, Stephen King meets James M Cain.

Coffin Moon takes a minute to get going, but once it starts firing, it runs full throttle to a devastating, bloody, furious conclusion. There are vampires here, sure, and they are brutal and terrorizing. But this is really a tale of two road trips, following not only Duane and Julia, the so-called heroes, on their quest to seek vengeance, but also John Varley, the villain who ruined their lives. Woven into this revenge story is an absolutely wrenching account of a young girl whose life is punctuated by loss, and the family she desperately tries to hold onto despite the constant crush of violence that hangs over her.

The chase and the action is great; this story is unflinchingly gory and doesn't pull any punches. But the things that will stick with me are the surprising emotional elements. We never get the sense that Rosson is apologizing or justifying anyone's behaviour, but he illuminates everyone's decisions in such a clear way that even when you don't agree with what these people are doing, you understand why they're doing it. Coffin Moon is propulsive, captivating, and runs to its almost inevitable conclusion with the force of a freight train.

This book was insane! It was so intense. Is 2025 the year of the vampire? One can only hope, but Keith Rosson definitely has solidified his place in vampire fiction. This is not a story that you should miss! I highly recommend it.

This is my first book from this author and it was written really well, I would rate this a 4/5 it’s pretty grotesque the horror scenes and from a queasy person there was times I would skim those parts and just want to say, YUCK!
This is a true horror book and if you’re a fan of monster books or love horror and even vampires this is up your alley! I had no clue it was about vampires and was surprised, my favorite characters were Julia and Heidi, Duane was ehhhh I think the fact a 13 year old was braver than him was shocking.
I would recommend this book and this author and I’m so thankful for NetGalley for giving me a copy of this book.

First off thank you to Penguin and NetGalley for the arc.

I don't really get to plot heavy in my reviews because you can read the summary yourself and make a decision that way. I would only get into something if the description was misleading in some way.

While I haven't been a Keith Rosson fan a long time, I am all in and will most likely read whatever he publishes. Rosson's easy going style is apparent in Coffin Moon, as you are immediately in Minor's world, what he's all about, the struggles he carries, and how he beings to struggle with his ideas of right and wrong. In fact we spend a lot of time with Minor before there is even a hint of vampires. And well since I'm writing this during pride month, a gay vampire!

The story reads a little bit like you were watching a limited series on a streaming service. We have chapters from different character perspectives, then we get background histories of those characters. There are minor characters that pop in and out, but are very memorable, or your big name guest actors in a show. Any character could die at any moment, etc. This is my observation, neither bad nor good, just a feel. Also should this ever be picked up for series I would totally watch.

I also couldn't help but think of Salem's Lot by Stephen King, maybe because both take place in the 70s and in a smallish American town. There are a lot of differences too though. Some vampires are not absolute shits when they turn. Besides our big bad, a lot of the vampires we meet seem to have retained a lot of their humanity, which for me was something new and an interesting development.

I certainly think you should read this book! There are suspenseful/creepy moments, and some truly horrific/violent images. And frankly the novel leaves off with room for a sequel should Rosson decide Minor has more story to tell.