Review: Already Dead by Charlie Huston

Vampire books have gotten a bad wrap of late. I've heard it all. "Oversexed!" they say (as if such a thing were possible). "Under-scary!" "Over exposed!" 


But then a book-- nay a character-- like Joe Pitt comes along and blows that shit out of the water.

BOB Blurb- ( from Amazon) Those stories you hear? The ones about things that only come out at night? Things that feed on blood, feed on us? Got news for you: they’re true. Only it’s not like the movies or old man Stoker’s storybook. It’s worse. Especially if you happen to be one of them. Just ask Joe Pitt.

There’s a shambler on the loose. Some fool who got himself infected with a flesh-eating bacteria is lurching around, trying to munch on folks’ brains. Joe hates shamblers, but he’s still the one who has to deal with them. That’s just the kind of life he has. Except afterlife might be better word.

From the Battery to the Bronx, and from river to river, Manhattan is crawling with Vampyres. Joe is one of them, and he’s not happy about it. Yeah, he gets to be stronger and faster than you, and he’s tough as nails and hard to kill. But spending his nights trying to score a pint of blood to feed the Vyrus that’s eating at him isn’t his idea of a good time. And Joe doesn’t make it any easier on himself. Going his own way, refusing to ally with the Clans that run the undead underside of Manhattan–it ain’t easy. It’s worse once he gets mixed up with the Coalition–the city’s most powerful Clan–and finds himself searching for a poor little rich girl who’s gone missing in Alphabet City.

Now the Coalition and the girl’s high-society parents are breathing down his neck, anarchist Vampyres are pushing him around, and a crazy Vampyre cult is stalking him. No time to complain, though. Got to find that girl and kill that shambler before the whip comes down . . . and before the sun comes up.

This tale is dark and in places brutal, but I devoured it in an evening. If you are a fan of the Sandman Slim series and that type of noir meets paranormal meets punk type book, hie thee to a bookstore.  

I like my boys dirty.... (antiheroes)

Dark, Dirty, Violent, Mean...

No, I'm not talking about my last boyfriend... but my favorite kind of hero. 

Antiheroes.

A dear friend asked what defined an antihero, and I pondered it. What qualities do they share? 

1) The Ends Justify the Means- 

     An Antihero is a True Believer. It doesn't matter particularly what her/his cause is, who they are defending, what they are trying to accomplish. The Antihero attacks their duty with a sort of blind devotion. Anyone or anything that gets in the way is toast.

2)They Aren't Evil, They were Drawn that Way-

    Something happened. Something awful. And When it did, something inside of our hero was broken. Whether she was pushed in front of a Train and lost her legs and fractured her mind or his best friends sent him to Hell alive, something set them on the path they are on.  

3)They Did it THEIIIIIIR Way-

   Righting the wrongs of the world should be heroic type stuff. Golden boy stuff. Not the purview of the dregs of society. But, thing is, *if* an antihero *could* do it the *right* way... they probably wouldn't. But it doesn't much matter, cause our beloved antiheroes have problems that can't be taken to the local constabulary. Things are complicated. The Antihero's answer tends to be simple. Keep going till the wrongs have been righted.

Okay, kids, what are your thoughts? Who are your favorite Antiheroes? Did I miss an important characteristic? 

Yet another Twitter Rant

Twitter friends....
Can we talk?

Look, I know I told that the one rule of Twitter was ~

Frankly, my dears, I was wrong.

Because there is some shit I've noticed, that is seriously annoying and it is being done in the name of anti-assholery. 

First! There is the issue of the #WW, #FF (and they are now bleeding into all the other days of the week.) Thing is... if you have a tweep or five that you have a good reason to toss a shout out to? Go ahead! Scream it to the heavens! Let me know! I <3 Cool People. 

But seriously....if you are just going to list without recommendation or classification Every. Single. Person. You . Follow? 

I'm going to ignore you. Best case scenario your tweets will be zipped for the day. Worst? I unfollow. 

It might *seem* like you are being kind, but it would be like walking into a party and just yelling out the names of every person you knew. 

So, how do you do it right? 

Pick a category or three and pimp them...

Awesome authors that talk to my silly ass- @ChuckWendig @ Richard_Kadrey @NicolePeeler 

@AliceLoweecey @KestrelRising 

Smut writers you should be wacking it to-@ScarlettParrish  @shonrichards @Flying_monkey_ @tiffanyreisz @daisydanger

People who are too nice to know me, but still treat me like a human @VizProd @sirragirl @ Drmattramsey

Are there more people that fit into these categories? Yes. And I apologize if you fit the category and din't get listed in the examples above... but really? It isn't about "I'm leaving u out, cuz I hates your face!" Nope... more like YO! Check out these neato peeps! Yay! 

When I see shout outs done like this, I know if the people listed are the kind of people I would be interested in following. This is helpful. Targeted. 

See.... because sometimes I trust people and I follow someone and then they are....

Well, they weren't awful. They had their audience. *I* am not their audience. 

(this brings me to point 2) 

So I #FF this person and it becomes obvious in a short time that I should not have. My TL is photobombed with unoffensive teen heartthrobs. Very, very young gay men. I had my fag hag days. Those days are over. Lusting over "safe teen sex symbols" was never my gig ( River Phoenix was my first "Teen Beat" crush) 

Nuff Said

So, I unfollowed. No big deal. Not my cuppa. 

But then a message comes through-

This week I was unfollowed by @blah @blahblah @LGwenn & @Blahblahblah

WTF is this assholery? 

Sure, I can see how this might *seem* like a good idea. Call out the followback unfollowers! Triumph against the dicks! 

But seriously? FUCK OFF! 

( There was more.. but I cut it cuz the rant spun out into a bunch of ranty rantiness) 

Am I wrong? Am I an asshole? Tell me!