Reviewed: Blood Crimes by Dave Zeltserman

Title: Blood Crimes
Author: Dave Zeltserman
Genre: Crime/Paranormal horror
Purchase at: http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Crimes-Book-One-ebook/dp/B004HO5J56

The basic gist: Vampire Jim travels across the country with his human girlfriend Carol, the two of them surviving through theft and luring predators for Jim's dinner. Hot on their heels is Jim's coldhearted ex, Serena, who is in turn kept watch over by Metcalf, a sociopathic killer who conducts experiments on his own kind in the hopes of easing the inconveniences that come with vampirism. Intense chases, drug wars, and violent battles abound.

My thoughts:

Whoa.

WHOA.

Okay. Let's see if I can explain this. Take today's typical vampire fiction, shove it into Bedlam House and whip it with a cat-o'-ninetails to force it to breed with your grittiest crime thriller. That's what you'll get when you open up this book.

Blood Crimes is fast. It's visceral. It's definitely not your fourteen-year-old sister's dreamy vampire fantasy. This book grabs you by the guttiwuts, wrenches hard, and doesn't let go.

But don't get me wrong, this isn't your run-of-the-mill shock literature. Zeltserman weaves a disturbing noir with a passionate craftsman's hand over his characters. He handles point-of-view in a way so you sympathize with the vantage point--and not just when he's switching between Jim and Carol. Frighteningly enough, he managed to get me behind the motives of the sociopathic, amoral Metcalf as well. You definitely know who the villains are, but at times it can become difficult not to like them because they're so dang cool!

All in all, I give this book a 5 over 5. It'll have you speedreading through it, and, by the ending, desperately wondering what happens in the next book!