Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story (Paperback)

by Christopher Moore (Author)
Key Phrases: new cashier, Troy Lee, Madame Natasha, Thomas Flood (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Here's something different: a vampire novel that's light, funny, and not at all hackneyed. Between scenes of punks bowling frozen turkeys on the graveyard shift in a supermarket, or snapping turtles loose in a loft and gnawing on designer shoes, this novel has comic charm to spare. But it also packs an appealingly downbeat message about the consumer culture: Becoming a vampire has given the twentysomething heroine "a crampless case of rattlesnake PMS"--a grumpy mood in which she realizes that she can dress to the nines as a "Donner Party Barbie" and still end up disillusioned and unhappy, just another slacker doing her own laundry and watching sucky TV 'til the sun rises. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
A young man falls in love with a beautiful vampire in Moore's offbeat comic novel.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (March 18, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416558497
• ISBN-13: 978-1416558491
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (154 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,697 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kept me up nights..., September 25, 2003

By	Stephen Cords (Brockton, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Bloodsucking Fiends (Hardcover)

Quick personal note; My wife and I have twin 18 month old boys. I stay home with them during the day and work until 1:30 AM. Time is at a premium in my life right now. There's not much to spare and whatever spare time I can get a hold of would most likely be better spent sleeping. That being said, Christopher Moore's Blood Sucking Fiends hooked me the first night I opened the cover and kept me up until nearly 4AM.

I am a long time fan of horror and it would take quite some book to unnerve me to the point of insomnia. It wasn't a late night case of the heeby-jeebies that kept me up. It was the laughter and engaging characters. Moore has a relaxed witty style that translates to a very fast read. All of the characters in Fiends are incredibly likeable (save one) and the story is humorous and engaging. This fresh take on the joys and advantages of being a vampire set in San Franscisco made me want to walk the city and see the sites. I longed to meet a vivacious red-headed blood sucker who would set me up in an apartment and treat me like a cross between Stoker's Renfield and one of Cher's boy toys. I wanted to take the emperor to lunch with his dogs and become engaged to seven Chinese brothers so they could get their green cards. I wanted to work late nights stocking shelves in a supermarket and go bowling with frozen turkeys. (Oh, wait a sec. I have worked in a supermarket overnight and Moore knows exactly what goes on there.)

Christopher Moore weaves all of the above seamlessly and with great humor and affection to create one of the most enjoyable reads of recent memory. More Moore is on it's way to my house as we speak and I can't wait to read his advice on "Practical Demonkeeping" and see what happens in his world when a giant reptile is awakened by radioactive waste in "The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove". I may have a new favorite author.

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the funniest books I have ever read., January 31, 2002

By	David J. Gannon (San Antonio, TX USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story (Paperback)

This book should come with a warning label: Read this book alone! Constant chuckling and laughing out loud in public will lead people to think you are crazy!

Ostensibly, this is a spoof of a "vampire" tale. That's like saying Gone with the Wind was about farm life in the south. It utterly fails to convey the substance of the novel.

That substance is derived from the characters--the usual well defined and full blown whackos that inhabit all of Moore's novels. As with all of Moore's novels the locale is a major character as well, and while most of his work is set in small, quirky towns, this one is set in San Francisco, lending an additional element of urban wackiness to the whole thing.

The thing with Moore that most astounds is his characters are cartoons in many ways-but have no cartoonish sense about them. Instead, they remind you of all your best friends, and, like your best friends, you care about these people. That makes the story compelling and, interestingly, the humor more intense.

Make no mistake--this is light, recreational reading. But is it light, recreational reading of the highest order.

I have read all of Moore's books (save the one just issued) and while all are humorous and enjoyable, this one is his best by far.

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Love Bites., December 19, 2005

By	Steven R. McEvoy "MCWPP" (Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story (Paperback)

Christopher Moore wanted to write horror books; he dreamed of being the next Stephen King. Unfortunately for him but fortunately for us, people laughed when they read what he wrote. Thus was born a humorist of the caliber of Dave Barry or Christopher Buckley and some have gone so far as to say he is the next Kurt Vonnegut. Now that we know a bit about our Author, what about the book?
Bloodsucking Fiends is a glorious romp through the night. We have an office worker, Jodi, who has a 9-to-5 dead-end office job in San Francisco, and wakes up one morning under a dumpster and the sun burns her and she has super human strength. She has never watched vampire movies or read the books, so she doesn't know what to do or how to do it. She is on the hunt for the man/creature who turned her.
This is where C. Thomas Flood comes in, a beatnik author from Indiana, who works midnights at the Safeway. He falls in love with Jodi immediately, and realizes that there is something strange about his love.
Follow the humorous journey through the night, the underworld, the streets and alleys of San Francisco as Thomas tries to find a way to be with the woman he loves even if she is undead. And Jodi tries to find out what being undead is all about. Can this love survive? And if you've enjoyed this one, check out his other writings: Island of the Sequined Love Nun, or The Lusty Lizard of Melancholy Cove.