Already Dead by Charlie Huston

Now this – this! – was fun. Since I finished “The Book of Joby” only yesterday (see the review), I had all but resigned myself with the fact that 2007 wasn’t going out on a high note. That was until I decided to finally give “Already Dead” by Charlie Huston a chance.

This book falls into the “urban fantasy” category due to the fact that it’s set in a “Sin Cityesque” New York and has a vampire named Joe Pitt as its main character. But most of all it’s really a hard boiled crime story filled with action, zombies and gritty characters. What can I say; I loved every second of it, and I think you would too.

Joe Pitt is your average, not too smart, flawed, middle-aged vampire who’ll do anything it takes to survive. If that involves knocking you out and draining you dry, then so be it. New York is a tough neighborhood and especially for a Rogue like Joe with only loose connections to the mob-like vampire clans that rule the streets. Joe takes on the odd job for the Clans to keep everyone happy, but sooner or later shit is going to start raining down, and he’ll be the one holding the bucket. But that’s no sweat; Joe’s been in deep shit before and he knows he can handle it. So when the Coalition, the biggest Clan in town, hires him to kill of some shamblers downtown, he doesn’t think much of it, but he’ll soon wish that brain-eating teenagers were the least of his problems…

The story is told with a first person narrative that works very well for Huston’s purposes. His main character, Joe Pitt, isn’t anything new or original in this genre, nor is the book for that matter, but it’s been a long time since I read such an engaging, action-packed and gritty vampire tale that I’m willing to turn an almost blind eye to such worthless nit-picking. The book is only 277 pages long i paperback and I wasn’t bored a single time during this roller coaster, so the book definitely accomplishes what it sets out to do.

However, aside from Joe Pitt, none of the supporting cast are especially good characters, which is understandable when you know how little screen time they get. I have high hopes for Pitts’ love interest, Evie, though – if Huston manages to evolve that relationship, these books will be very solid indeed.

So all in all I’ll heartily recommend this book to anyone looking for a fast, fun read that offers a nice take on vampires. I certainly enjoyed it immensely and have already laid down an order for “No Dominion”, the next book in series. I can’t wait for it to arrive and see whether or not Huston manages to write something as kick-ass twice in a row. I have every faith he will.

8.0 /10 (weak)