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Kill Creek (2017) by Scott Thomas
This review contains spoilers, but you should read it anyway. It’s horror–things end badly. Kill Creek (2017) by Scott Thomas makes two moves at once: It describes the process of sanitizing America’s racist past while it participates in that process, modeling how black history is erased. If there is a critique of white-centric storytelling and…
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I, Vampire (1990) by Michael Romkey
Review by guest commentator VamPullet I, Vampire (1990) by Michael Romkey avoids the potential challenges of organizational vampirism by giving us monsters with big personalities. Their nearly unlimited power poses a plot problem, but not one glaring enough to diminish my enjoyment of the book. The novel purports to be the personal journal of David…
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How Dear the Dawn (1987) by Dave Pedneau
Review by guest commentator VamPullet In How Dear the Dawn (1987) by Dave Pedneau (aka Marc Eliot), a slaveholding vampire from the Antebellum South terrorizes a beach town. While this sounds like a mashup of Interview with the Vampire and The Lost Boys, it isn’t nearly as good as either one of these works. Still,…
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Helpmeet (2022) by Naben Ruthnum
Helpmeet (2022) by Naben Ruthnum is a literary experiment that explores the relationship between language and pain. If you are interested in how writers negotiate the narrative problems posed by suffering characters, then I highly recommend this book. But I urge you to read it even if you have zero interest in the craft of…
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A House With Good Bones (2023) by T. Kingfisher
A House with Good Bones (2023) by T. Kingfisher takes a light approach to some heavy questions: Can you escape generational abuse? Can you repudiate the racism of your ancestors without rejecting their entire legacy? Can you stop a ghost from bullying your mom? The result is an uneven mix of interesting themes and undeveloped…
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The Spirit Engineer (2021) by A. J. West
Spoiler Alert: OK, not a true spoiler–it doesn’t give away the ending. Still, this review may tell you more about the book than you want to know. No big deal. Read it anyway. A fictional account of real people and events, The Spirit Engineer (2021) by A.J. West tells the story of Professor William Jackson…
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The Fifth House of the Heart (2015) by Ben Tripp
The Fifth House of the Heart (2015) by Ben Tripp should have been a series. The success of a book series hinges on a strong main character, who is compelling enough to carry a readers’ attention from one adventure to the next. Asmodeus Saxon-Tang is that kind of character. Smart, witty, and a master of…
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Mind of Winter (2013) by Laura Kasischke
Some of the best novels bring several ideas into relationship without fully resolving their connections. Instead of the stolid sureness of a single clear note, they have the haunting musicality of a wind chime. Laura Kasischke’s Mind of Winter (2013) is a wind chime. Rather than a linear narrative with a predictably unfolding plot, it…
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Blood Kin (1996) by Ronald Kelly
Ronald Kelly’s Blood Kin (1996) is an 80s-style vampire romp complete with uncomplicated bloodsuckers who relish their power, stakes galore, and, of course, flashbacks from Vietnam. For a Gen X’er like me, it’s a nostalgic comfort read. Part of this pleasure comes from the novel’s self-consciousness. Kelly makes vampire fiction itself part of the story…