Book Review: Rattus Rattus by Mitch Seabourn

When Casey Waters and her dad, James, move to the Rocky Mountains to renovate an old house over the summer, she has more than the plague to worry about.

After her parent’s divorce, teenage Casey stayed with her professor dad. Unfortunately, due to alcohol and other poor choices, James is now an odd job man struggling to make ends meet, forcing 17 year old Casey into adult responsibility.

Offered a job that seems too good to refuse, they move from Denver to the small mining town of Leavick, high in the Rocky Mountains, to live in and renovate a house. Mystery shrouds the disappearance of the previous owner, and, as Casey starts seeing rats and other things around the house, and her father falls ill, she soon realizes that there are worse things to worry about in the mountains than the plague.

Written in the first person, mostly from Casey’s point of view, this is a leisurely paced, slow burn horror. Laying the crumbs from the start, it is satisfying to piece together the puzzle and, when the horror really kicks into gear, it doesn’t disappoint.

I enjoyed “Rattus Rattus“, it kept me engaged from the start, and it’s an imaginative take on the vampire legend. What lost it stars was the fact that I never believed the narrator was a 17 year old female. The author also writes a few chapters concerning the thoughts and actions of Casey’s friend, Ophelia, while still being first person pov of Casey, which I thought was odd.