Customer Reviews

Bite Club: A West Hollywood Vampire Novel (West Hollywood Vampire Novels)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One of the best genre books on the market today feature homoeroticism. This book had some pretty funny highlights and sexy characters. I thought the comedy was refreshing, another excellent book for sexy supernatural homoeroticism is D.N. Simmons's Desires Unleashed, it's a bit darker and a more erotic and provocative supernatural novel. Poppy Z. Brite is also good if you enjoyed this novel as I have.

I thought this story was pretty funny. I didn't think I'd enjoy it as much as I did, since I'm used to reading vampire novels with a more serious tone and sexier characters such as D.N. Simmons or Laurell K Hamilton, but Hal Brodner's novel was pretty good for the first time. So it's a fun read if you have time to spare on a weekend afternoon.

Bite Club was a moderately fun book that resorted to the use of tired sterotypes to achieve humor. The story involves a gay vampire, his mostly human lover, and their eccentric friends on a mad chase around West Hollywood in search of a rogue vampire. Rather than fully developing his characters, Bodner falls back on a series of cliches to describe them (gay men wearing leather and dressing in drag, overweight people continuously eating at any given moment). Curiously, the most interesting parts of the novel come when the story shifts to a secondary female vampire character across the country helping in the hunt for the rogue vampire. Here the humor is more subtle and feels less forced. Her interactions with other supernatural creatures give the reader much more insight into the world the author attempts to create. This section sadly never comes to any full conclusion however and ends abruptly.

This book was sent to me while we were exiled (from Katrina). Reading it gave me just the kind of relief I needed at a time when it seemed the world was all doom and gloom. The plot was enticing enough to keep me involved, but the light hearted wit and frank shallowness of Troy and Scott brought my spirits up.

There doesn't really appear to be a main character, but with out giving too much of the book away, it appears to be Becky an overweight constantly munching coronor of West Hollywood. The story is about rouge vampire named Rex that goes overboard on his killing rampage of gay men, deriving pleasure from torturing his victims before draining them of their blood. Becky calls on a college collegue, Chris, that she had a crush on, and his lover, Troy, to get some advice. They come to West Hollywood and get involved in trying to get Rex. The story brings in a variety of characters including a werewolfe and a ghoul.

There are no real original thoughts here, but it is a sometimes cute light-hearted read. There are pleanty of quips and one-liners. I would recommend this as a fun read.

I am just about finished the book. Reading it has been a pleasure as it has funny and absurd plot twists and the characters are outrageous. I was afraid it would be too bloody for me but reading the other reviews convinced me it was a funny vampire story. I found myself reading it far too long into the night and giggling at it while reading in my bed. I would like to read more novels like this, it is very entertaining and lighthearted in its own strange way. Death is all cleaned up and not horrible. The characters are memorable and eccentric. A+ and recommend to all.

I'm the type of vampire/shapeshifter fan that likes a little originality in my stories. I did not get that in this novel as I had hoped.

The story would have been much more engrossing had it not been so cliche. The pacing would have been much smoother if page fillers of unnecessary back stories hadn't been written for every single character that was introduced in the novel. The back histories weren't really that interesting and broke the flow of the novel, they felt more like detours.

The characters would have been more interesting if they were more likable or kind. I didn't get the feeling that the two male lovers actually loved each other, but merely tolerated each other. And there were unnecessary harsh words exchanged between characters that should have had a more amicable and loving relationship. I found that their personality descriptions were contradicted by their actions. For example: Becky is supposed to be this top notch pathologist who is extremely attentive to details, but a few paragraphs later, she's an overweight, sloppy junk food eater that leaves crumbs and sugary smudges in her path. A person as meticulous as she is supposed to be would not be so sloppy or easily distracted by food.

There was too much slapstick comedy. Now don't get me wrong, I'm no stranger to slapstick, I'm a fan of slapstick done well! But the comedic pace of this novel seemed off and inappropriate in various situations and I didn't find it at all funny.

I don't know, perhaps this is what Mr. Bodner was going for in his novel and if that's the case, then this just wasn't my type of vampire novel. Also, anyone who has a liking for shapeshifters may not like this author's vision of them.

But my biggest complain is this: If Mr Hal Bodner's idea of humor is to make juvenile fat jokes throughout the span of his novel, I was not amused. It got tired fast within the first 15 pages. Please take into consideration who might be reading your novels (perhaps a big-boned reader or two.). A fat joke or two isn't taboo, but numerous "greedy, sloppy fat people" jokes is ridiculous. Not only is it insulting and annoying to the reader but it's hard to care seriously for a character who happens to be the butt of all jokes. I wanted to like this book, I wanted to love this book, but the characters fell flat to me. I'm sorry.


My honest review...

Picking up this book I was only looking for something that would keep my mind during some boring hours, I never thought I would love this book as much as I did. The mystery and humor bind together leaving a Story I laughed till I cried. Each character seemed to have a story behind them and Hal Bodner gave real life as their lives intertwined together. A must read for those who love a good laugh.

I took Bite Club with me to do my cardio. I got so wrapped up in the story that what was to have been a 45 minute workout turned into 3 hours. In a world wrought with death and destruction, it is such a blessing to have a fun, lite-hearted book in which to escape. The characters are funny and interesting. I can't wait for the next in the series!!!

I had the good fortune of having a friend tout me on to Hal Bodner's Bite Club. Bodner is an exceptionally talented writer who knows satire is the purest form of comedy. Both his scenario and his clever descriptions of his characters' imperfections and foibles make Bite Club an hysterical read. Do yourself a favor and grab a bottle of water, a martini or a glass of red wine and curl up in a big overstuffed chair and have an evening of fun!