Blood, Sweat and Tears

Title: Vamped
Author: David Sosnowski
Publisher: Free Press
Rating: A-

When I first read about this book, I was initially turned off. A book about vampires? Not really my thing. I'll leave that for the fantasy gurus and geeks. But the review was intriguing, delving into the book's quirky plot of the world's ratio of mortals to vampires flipped around, with a father-daughter story to boot.

This story has all the ingredients for a real page-turner. Sex, violence, humor and tenderness. The main character is a vampire named Marty who is fed up with eternity. This is a common feeling among vampires in the New World Order that's been created. On a night when Marty was feeling especially low, circumstances drive him to stumble upon a little girl named Isuzu, whose mother has just been killed by vampires. Isuzu is a rarity; her mother and her had escaped from one of the government's "farms," where mortals are raised so they can be sold to the highest vampire bidder.

What ensues is a tale about how a little mortal can warm a vampire's heart, giving him something to live for. Marty adopts little Isuzu as his own. Sosnoski does an excellent job developing the relationship between the two characters. Marty goes through all the problems most parents do, but with the added components of housing a human being in a world of vampires. The chemistry is very real for such a surreal story.

Sosnoski does an excellent job of using humor in his character development as well. Marty is the narrator and has a very cynical, sarcastic way of describing the world that he helped create. But not all the images are funny or tender. Sosnoski juxtaposes these qualities with just as much sadness and violence.

Another great aspect of this book are the themes of materialism and voyerism. Sosnoski gives a view of American culture through a blood-red magnifying glass. Everything from pederast priests to child stars are touched upon with humor and candidness in the world the author creates. There's an underlying commentary going on in this book that makes it a real treasure.

Overall, this book is a great read. Despite the too happy ending, I highly recommend it.