Already Dead – Charlie Houston

This book was on my Amazon recommendations for reasons unknown. The description sounded sufficiently whimsical so I decided to give it a go. I mean, what’s not to love about a vampire novel noire?

This is a very fast paced easy read, the perfect thing to take with you to the beach or to a waiting room. It’s quirky. The main character is a vampire who is a bit of a freelance thug/private eye, a sort of typical underdog and antihero. He gets himself into some trouble when he’s hired to find a patient zero zombie. So it’s already ridiculous and fun from from the start.

This book does get weird at points though. I think in an attempt to make it feel extra hard boiled the author has put too much emphasis on making it gritty. I mean I’m a huge fan of excessive cursing but the obscenities in this book really struck me as forced like, “this person has no idea how to swear in real life.” Again with trying to keep it dark there seems to be a lot of superfluous scenes of violence or just perverted perspectives. It actually starts to become uncomfortable at points especially when it talks about some teenage characters and their suspected sex lives. Luckily it’s a fast paced book so all the whinging and cringing is short lived!

This is a fun book and an easy read if you’re looking for something ridiculous and silly. Beyond that I wouldn’t put much stock into it.

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