Monday 24 August 2015

The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant-Drew Hayes

Well with such a mouthful how can you not want to pick up the book and find out more? I was definitely in the mood for a little light comedy and this hit the spot.
Fred's experiences are recorded in his journal which begins with him going to a high school reunion with one significant difference-he is a vampire. However the fact that he is a vampire is the only significant difference. He is still the same boring, timid wallflower that he ever was. At the reunion he meets up with an old school friend Krystal and subsequently learns she is part of the "Agency", keeping parahumans on the straight and narrow. Fred finds the backbone he never knew he had and together they plough into mysteries and adventure. New characters like zombies, weresteeds, necromancers, mages and never before heard of species join the party.
Reminiscent of a good Robert Rankin giggle, this book made me while not out and out guffaw, definitely titter. It was refreshing to see a vampire that kept all the human personality quirks and that the author didn't feel the need to turn him into one of those "sparkly vampires".  Each journal entry made for a good short story and kept the thread of it all nicely together. The imagery was hilarious and seriously-the mushroom men? "Squirt squirt" The author has an evil sense of humour.
In saying that, I found the reintroduction of characters in each entry a tad repetitive-can't see how that would happen in a journal. And the use of their instead of there-unforgivable! A couple of editing faux pas but nothing too dreadful.

A rollicking good read. Light hearted and fun with enough story to keep you focussed and entertained, but a good dose of comedy to make it that much more different from other supernatural stories.

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