By Grady Hendrix
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By the time I had finished about two chapters of this book, I'd already recommended it to at least two people. It ended up being not at all what I had expected, and definitely not what I had described to the first person I described it to. Luckily, she ended up liking it just as much as I did anyway.
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires is mostly a thriller, with a lot of horror and a little comedy thrown in. It's the kind of book that really shouldn't be spoiled, so I won't get into the plot too much. All I went in with was a book club of southern housewives and vampires, and that's all you should go in with too.
I found this book immediately engrossing—it's the kind of book that makes other parts of your day kind of annoying because you really just want to be reading. I think the key is that pretty much every element is unexpected. Whatever pop culture reference comes to mind when you hear "vampire," it's not that. You'll probably find yourself laughing during scenes that shouldn't necessarily be funny. Best of all, it doesn't rely too heavily on supernatural horror. It's definitely there, usually in short, almost startling, bursts, but there's a reason I called it a thriller before horror. The bulk of the drama is psychological and very much human. In fact, the scariest part of this book is not what you'd expect (probably the bloodsucking), but the questions it raises about trust and responsibility.
As we're nearing the end of the year, I've been looking back on the books I've read since the world's longest year began, and I think this might be among my favorites. If you need something to completely absorb you for a while, this would be a good choice. Just don't make the same mistake I did—you might think you're fine reading it on your Kindle with the lights off, but I meant what I said about the horror taking you by surprise.
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