Crimson Star by Elizabeth Jewell

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Trev is a 400 years old vampire that in a futuristic setting is now a respected member of society. A space engineer he is on a mission with a small crew; he is hardly a favorite of society, but he is accepted inside the community. And this day could be also a nice one since Ash, one of the pilots, made him clearly understand that he is interested in an enjoyable fling during their mission. So Trev is happily taking on his offer and they playfully spend a night together... to wake up to the not so nice discovery that they are the only members alive in all the spacecraft. During the night there was a lack of oxygen, and since Ash has lung problems, he slept with an oxygen mask and survived, and Trev doesn't need to breath to live.

Now Trev and Ash are forced to suddenly shift from almost buddy friends without strings attached, to partners for life. They not only have to find a way to repair the spaceship, they also have to navigate it in a place where they could find help. It's a fight against time, since Ash has only few hour of oxygen and he is not considering to accept Trev's offer for another solution.

The story is not very long, 53 pages, but it surprised me: it's very well plotted, both characters are interesting and involving. Trev is not the usual dark and brooding vampire, he is a man who had the time to arrive to pact with life, and found his path; his vampire nature is no more something to hide, but it makes him still someone different, but maybe, for some men, also more interesting. Ash is an easy to go guy, he likes to play, he is probably not ready to settle down, but he is forced to accelerate his journey in his life to commit to a man, that yes, probably would be his choice, but maybe not right now.

I like this book, since it has a strange atmosphere, like an old classic sci-fic movie, once made more by the characters than by the setting, since, not having enough budget for the setting (read book lenght), the author prefers to concentrate on the characters' development instead.

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