Bloodsucking Fiends – A Vampires Love Story

I was doing my usual blog hopping as per the alphabetical listing on my blogroll (although I don't visit them alphabetically since I like to "mix it up" most days) and noticed on Ryne's blog over at The Moon is a Dead World that he is compiling a really cool gathering of sorts for those with a certain affinity to vampires, called the "Review A Vampire Movie/Talk About Vampires for An Unstated Length of Time Blog-A-Thon" (Ryne fully admits this is an odd choice for titles but he's sticking to it, and quite frankly, I see no reason to argue the point.)

The gathering isn't so much of a bar-b-q of IRS body parts (post to follow,) but rather a virtual gathering of posts written by us cool folk who have something to say when it comes to vamps. Be it a movie review, a book review, or perhaps just a stated opinion on the subject of blood suckers, it's all about vampires.

Anyway you bite it, it's well worth the visit to both Ryne's blog, and the cool peeps he links to (like me.)

My contribution is a review of one of my favorite books: "Bloodsucking Fiends" written by one of my most favorite authors, the very talented Christopher Moore.

Christopher Moore is mostly known for his absurdist fiction as his work has a nonsensical, comedic twist to it. Additionally his work has a flavor of the bizarre, somewhat freaky, and well..... absurd! Not necessarily in a horrific way, but rather a "what the F***??" kind of way.

Synopsis of "Bloodsucking Fiends"

Jody didn't ask to become a vampire. As a matter of fact, she was rather pissed off to realize she was one after waking up under a dumpster with a wad of cash, a "sun"burned arm, superhuman strength, and an insatiable thirst for blood.

Needing a "human" to do the daily tasks she no longer can, Jody enlists C. Thomas Flood (Tommy to his friends,) a 19-year old beatnik wannabe author from Indiana who works midnights at the local Safeway and specializes in turkey bowling, along with his motley crew of co-workers, The "Animals." He's not quite what Jody had in mind but he fits the bill (plus the sex is a bonus since Tommy is more than willing to appease her kinky appetite and her blood lust.)

Since Jody needs to feed and Tommy can't provide the level of "food" she requires, Jody adopts a sort of "mercy" killing mentality and targets the terminally ill; killing two birds with one stone, if you will.

What really sucks though (no pun intended) is that neither Jody nor Tommy have any idea of what being a vampire involves, and they kind of stumble through it day by day, with Tommy conducting odd experiments on Jody to test her abilities and vulnerabilities (with or without her permission.)

All these events provide quite the amusement for Jody's "sire" as he lurks from afar, strategically placing clues and dead bodies at almost every turn, enticing Jody with the hunt for self discovery and entertainment for his own twisted little games.

Too bad the cops want to charge Tommy with all the dead bodies that keep piling up.....

Summation

If you want an intense drama with not even a smide of humor, read Ann Rice. If you want a rollercoaster ride of romance, sex, murder, and mystery with a comedic twist, then I strongly suggest you try Bloodsucking Fiends. This book will make you laugh in amusement, chew your nails in suspense, fan yourself with heated desire, and cringe ovet the callous killings.

And if at the end of this book you find yourself wanting more (as I did) then you will be happy to know that Christopher Moore came out with a sequel. Of course, I had to wait 11 years for it, but you guys have the advantage of time passed on your side. It's no where near as good as the first, but still definitely worth the read.