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lalawoman416's review against another edition
1.0
It was torture to get through it. The only thing that got me through it was my commitment to read a certain number of books. This is a horror/comedy book about a reluctant and rogue Vampire who takes on contract work killing Zombies. It leads into a job that has some twists and turns. Didn't like the main character, or any of the side characters, or the storyline itself.
em_jay's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this book the first time even I read it over ten years ago more than I did this time around. Will I give up on the series no - but I’ll wait a bit for the next one.
criminolly's review against another edition
3.0
Entertaining Vampire PI schlock. Heavy on the slurs and societal underbelly stuff, but still a fun quick read.
jerseytodd's review against another edition
5.0
really really good - think Anthony Bourdain as a vampire, without the cooking part...
selenajournal's review against another edition
1.0
i actually really enjoyed it. instead of going the easy way and writing within the 'already established' world of vampires - he kind of did his own thing. and i like that. throw a few zombies in the mix and you've got quite the story.
re-read this in 2021 after having read it in 2007. I quit after I got to the n word. 2007 me may have pushed through the book after reading that slur, but 2021 me knows better.
Please avoid this book because the story doesn't justify its use of slurs to "add character depth."
re-read this in 2021 after having read it in 2007. I quit after I got to the n word. 2007 me may have pushed through the book after reading that slur, but 2021 me knows better.
Please avoid this book because the story doesn't justify its use of slurs to "add character depth."
lilyantan's review against another edition
2.0
It was just ok. Slow at the beggining with all this random action packed at the end. I bought this for the fantasy elements, but it was more of a mystery. Not that I did not appreciate the mystery plot, I did, but the fantasy elements? meh . I liked Joe as a character, the rest fell flat. I would not be buying the rest of the books.
frisby0's review against another edition
5.0
Read everything by this man. Right now. I mean it. He's a flipping genius. You think you've read everything there is to read with vamps? It's all been done? No ma'm. No one writes like Charlie Huston. No one. If vamps aren't your thing (I'm sorry for you, but whatevs)go straight to anything else he's written. Immediately. Caught Stealing is a good place to start, or The Mystic Art of Erasing All Signs of Death. Or his latest, stand alone novel is awesome, though a bit different than his other prose, and I recommend reading it after you've gotten a good intro to Mr. Huston, because by then, you are in love, and in it for the long haul. My only complaint is that his writing isn't quick enough to satisfy my appetite for him. NOW GO!!
reading_since_10's review against another edition
4.0
I was very unsure about this book, that was probably one of the reasons I made a pause reading it but now I'm really glad I gave it a second chance. Very different from other UF vampire books or at least to me it is.
The good thing is that some of the readers say the other books in the series are even better. So yeah I'll keep reading it :-)
The good thing is that some of the readers say the other books in the series are even better. So yeah I'll keep reading it :-)
trin's review against another edition
2.0
Vampire noir, marred by flat characterization and unpleasant treatment of women. If Joe had been a more interesting character, I would probably have been able to let that go as part of the genre, but his angst is pastede on yay, leaving me in the category of “not caring very much.” Good vampire novels, where are you? I can’t think of much I enjoy besides [a: Tanya Huff|1967|Tanya Huff|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1207242126p2/1967.jpg]’s Smoke books, and the vamps really aren’t the stars there, IMO.
kathydavie's review against another edition
5.0
First in the urban fantasy series, Joe Pitt, set in contemporary New York City.
My Take
I love it! I love it! Definitely Mickey Spillane-ish with Joe as the hard-boiled vamp with a soft heart getting pulled into a conspiracy of life-threatening proportions even as he learns about his own strengths.
The Story
Joe is such a sleaze. He does enforcement, collects on bad debts, hangs out in bars, and is trying to maintain his independence while living on one Clan's turf and doing contract jobs for yet another.
It's a tough balancing act for Joe and gets worse when Predo forces him into two tight spots: Finding a zombie carrier who is infecting people on the streets and finding the runaway daughter of a major corporate tycoon.
Then another clan steps in to complicate Joe's life setting him up for revelations as they attempt to entice him in to their belief group.
Slowly, slowly, slowly the truth unravels for Joe as he finds how all these odds and ends tie up together with two parents at odds over their daughter, an unknown entity entering locked, hidden spaces leaving blank holes instead of smells, street kids getting punked, and how sex ties it all together.
The Characters
Joe Pitt is a fairly young vampire who had run away from the various foster homes he had been placed in when social workers put his parents in jail. Turning tricks in a men's room at a concert brought him the wrong kind of customer. The kind who drank his blood and left him for dead on a bathroom floor where Terry Bird found him and brought him over.
Dexter Predo, chief of the Coalition's secret police, is a cold-hearted bastard who will happily plan three different ways to ensure your life is screwed. The Coalition is a traditionalist vampire group. If he shows up at your door . . . be afraid, be very afraid.
Terry Bird, a passive-aggressive hippie-type, started up the Society in a slow-moving bid to gather all vampire groups under one umbrella and then come out to the world. Joe spent three years with the Society as Terry's muscle until he realized that was how Terry saw him and would use him so Joe left. Tom Nolan and Lydia Miles are Terry's lieutenants. Tom is the kind of guy/vamp who flies off the handle and wants to kill Joe every other second while Lydia is their PC-obsessed feminist.
The Enclave is another vampire Clan led by Daniel.
Evie tends bar and hangs with Joe. Infected with HIV, she refuses to have sex with Joe, and they spend a lot of time watching horror movies together with Joe sneaking in the occasional Treasure of the Sierra Madre or Miller's Crossing. She doesn't know about Joe's "affliction" and he doesn't want to tell her.
Phillip is a weaselly little Renfield spying for the Coalition.
The Cover and Title
The cover is hysterical! The top half is a nighttime view of New York City covering Joe's head from the nose up leaving us a view of his mouth. Oh yeah, Joe's mouth . . . with its lit cigarette jutting from one corner of his mouth and a glistening fang overhanging his lower lip. A tough guy with attitude!
The title is too true, for Joe is Already Dead.
My Take
I love it! I love it! Definitely Mickey Spillane-ish with Joe as the hard-boiled vamp with a soft heart getting pulled into a conspiracy of life-threatening proportions even as he learns about his own strengths.
The Story
Joe is such a sleaze. He does enforcement, collects on bad debts, hangs out in bars, and is trying to maintain his independence while living on one Clan's turf and doing contract jobs for yet another.
It's a tough balancing act for Joe and gets worse when Predo forces him into two tight spots: Finding a zombie carrier who is infecting people on the streets and finding the runaway daughter of a major corporate tycoon.
Then another clan steps in to complicate Joe's life setting him up for revelations as they attempt to entice him in to their belief group.
Slowly, slowly, slowly the truth unravels for Joe as he finds how all these odds and ends tie up together with two parents at odds over their daughter, an unknown entity entering locked, hidden spaces leaving blank holes instead of smells, street kids getting punked, and how sex ties it all together.
The Characters
Joe Pitt is a fairly young vampire who had run away from the various foster homes he had been placed in when social workers put his parents in jail. Turning tricks in a men's room at a concert brought him the wrong kind of customer. The kind who drank his blood and left him for dead on a bathroom floor where Terry Bird found him and brought him over.
Dexter Predo, chief of the Coalition's secret police, is a cold-hearted bastard who will happily plan three different ways to ensure your life is screwed. The Coalition is a traditionalist vampire group. If he shows up at your door . . . be afraid, be very afraid.
Terry Bird, a passive-aggressive hippie-type, started up the Society in a slow-moving bid to gather all vampire groups under one umbrella and then come out to the world. Joe spent three years with the Society as Terry's muscle until he realized that was how Terry saw him and would use him so Joe left. Tom Nolan and Lydia Miles are Terry's lieutenants. Tom is the kind of guy/vamp who flies off the handle and wants to kill Joe every other second while Lydia is their PC-obsessed feminist.
The Enclave is another vampire Clan led by Daniel.
Evie tends bar and hangs with Joe. Infected with HIV, she refuses to have sex with Joe, and they spend a lot of time watching horror movies together with Joe sneaking in the occasional Treasure of the Sierra Madre or Miller's Crossing. She doesn't know about Joe's "affliction" and he doesn't want to tell her.
Phillip is a weaselly little Renfield spying for the Coalition.
The Cover and Title
The cover is hysterical! The top half is a nighttime view of New York City covering Joe's head from the nose up leaving us a view of his mouth. Oh yeah, Joe's mouth . . . with its lit cigarette jutting from one corner of his mouth and a glistening fang overhanging his lower lip. A tough guy with attitude!
The title is too true, for Joe is Already Dead.