This was so enjoyable, very funny, I love how it gave a new twist to the vampire genre! It was very funny, I kept chuckling throughout the entire story. And I enjoyed the TV Show plot and how the humour blended so well with it.

However, I wish the side characters were fleshed out a little more. I wanted to know more about them; Catherine, and the TV Cast, especially the older vampires that show up about 3/4s into the story.

Also, I wish there wasn't so much of a fixation on the female beauty; there was a lot of mentions of women's breasts and their physically beauty, but the same treatment and the same type of descriptions weren't given to the men.

This was great, funny, enjoyable, and the balance of humour and horror was just right!

Perhaps a bit late to submit this review, but, oh well.

4.5/5

This is an excellent read from what I remember a few years back, it was a vivid read filled with humour and quite a bit of belly-laughs in terms comedic delivery and prose. The tone of the story was relatively upbeat and fun even when things got dark (it did), and then delivering on the main premise with gusto.

Perhaps the only criticism of the book that stuck with me was the delivery foreshadowed events, it felt slightly rushed and was addressed with a slight shrug on the shoulders. The idea of reincarnation of was touched upon, but the idea that Simon was the once-nemesis of Yulric, our protagonist, wasn't really given a lot of thought in terms delivery.

In short, great read that stuck with me. Would recommend purchasing this story to binge-read or to be discussed in-depth for fans of urban fantasy.

I'm pretty sure there is a better title hiding in this book somewhere. This just seemed much longer than it needed to be. Although it was quite funny in some parts, making fun of the current cult of pop culture vampire, the humor didn't make up for its rambles.

This review is in exchange for a free e-galley from netgalley.com.

Forget the Emphasis on the "Twilight" Putdowns; This Is Great on its Own

The premise is simple enough - authentic old-school vampyr Yulric Bile wakes up to find that vampires nowadays are sparkly and sexy and fun, and he resolves to put the evil and danger back into vampire lore. Is this a putdown of the "Twilight" phenomenon? Of course it is, but that alone does not a good book make. And this is a good book.

It is witty and edgy and cleverly plotted. It is anchored by three strong, engaging and fully realized characters. It has mastered the art of deadpan evil mixed with screwball, slapstick comedy, which is really saying something.

The book changes tone a good deal as you read it. Bile's awakening is played as a light fish out of water comedy. His recollection of his days back in the time of the Puritans gives us a taste of the deadpan humor. Bile's coming to grips with his new housemates - no nonsense Goth wannabe vampire Amanda and young twisted genius Simon suggests some weird "Bewitched" meets a buddy comedy meets "Leave it to Psycho Beaver". At this point you're about a quarter of the way in and you wonder how much more of this there will be. That's when we change gears.

The rest of the book follows Bile's rampage against the glamorous vampire stars of a twinkly glamorous vampire TV show. At this point we get wheels within wheels. Bile wants to reassert the dominance of old-school vampire evil. But, he also wants to know how the TV show turns out. Amanda wants to force the TV show's writer to change the endings of the various show romances. But Simon has plans of his own, and he's nuts. And, Bile has gathered a collection of old time horrors who have their own agendas. You get the idea. All of this lends itself to some slapstick and low comedy, and some really clever bits, and a lot of snappy cross-talk, and some twisty plot surprises. This one really is shaken, not stirred.

The bottom line is that the whole affair is pretty breezy but somehow weightier and more grounded than you might expect. There are lots of chuckles and some laugh out loud moments. Bile, Amanda and Simon will hook the reader, but at least a dozen side characters have their memorable moments. If books could have little fingers, (they really can't), there would be more entertainment value in this book's little finger than there is in the entire "Twilight" universe. It's that much fun.

(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)