One of the hot new authors I have been wanting to read for some time is Grady Hendrix. And now that I have read his bestselling horror novel The Southern Book Club's Guide To Slaying Vampires (2020) I have things to say but first a summary of the plot.
The Southern Book Club's Guide To Slaying Vampires takes place in the 1990's and the setting is Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. Patricia Campbell is one of the residents of Mt. Pleasant. She is also the heroine of this story.
And when the novel begins Patricia has alot to deal with. She is a mother of two surly teenagers. Her husband Carter a busy doctor is rarely home. Patricia is also taking care of her mother-in-law Mary who lives with them and cannot take care of herself. And in addition to all this Patricia belongs to a local book club with a few of the other neighborhood women.
Their book group focuses on true crime. Each month these women get together to read "the classics": Helter Skelter, In Cold Blood, Zodiac, The Stranger Beside Me. Patricia loves this group. The books they discuss are fascinating and the women form a friendship and a bond. Finally Patricia has something for herself.
And things are going well until a stranger, James Harris, moves into the neighborhood. James is handsome and mysterious. Patricia is quite taken with him at first. James listens to her, he's charming, he's attentive. But when children in another part of town start dying Patricia begins to suspect that James isn't who he says he is and James is on to the fact that she knows. But how can Patricia save her family, her neighbors and her book club from James when no one will believe her?
Thoughts - I have never read a book quite like this. The Southern Book Club's Guide To Slaying Vampires is funny, tells a good story and at the center is the heroine Patricia Campbell who is sympathetic and brave. Readers will root for her as she discovers a strength she never knew she had.
But oh boy, the last 30% of this book. Wow! I mean I knew The Southern Book Club's Guide To Slaying Vampires was a horror novel. No doubt about that after chapter twelve which comes earlier in the story. But why wasn't chapter twelve enough? We already know what a monster James Harris is and so why not spend the final chapters of the book focusing on how Patricia and her friends try to stop him?
And the Southern Book Club's Guide To Slaying Vampires does focus on how the book club members band together to take care of James. But in the last third of the book Grady Hendrix also turns the horror spigot on full blast. James is a vampire, a psycopath, a rapist, a child molester and we are spared nothing in terms of the violence he commits. And I found this over the top violence gratuitous. And yet it's a measure of Grady Hendrix's talent that despite all this I couldn't put the book down. I had to know how it would all end.
And so if you still want to read The Southern Book Club's Guide To Slaying Vampires, proceed with caution.
I read this last year and couldn't agree more with your review. It was unputdownable but too much in the last few chapters. I don't know if his books are usually like this. 'Proceed with caution' indeed!
ReplyDeleteHi Cath, my apologies. I wrote my response to you thinking I was responding to Lark. You are right. It's a page turner and it didn't need the level of horror he poured on at the end. A part of me might want to try one more book from him but I'll probably move on to other writers.
DeleteHi Lark. Agree and I am not opposed to horror novels. I love haunted house novels and the gothic. Grady Hendrix is a very talented writer. He doesn't need all this blood and gory stuff. My hope is that he has toned himself down in his other novels
ReplyDeleteI didn't know the violence and horror in this one got so graphic. Especially against women and children. That does give me pause. Though I do like Grady Hendrix, especially his books Horrorstor and The Final Girl Support Group.
ReplyDeleteI like him too but I am a little cautious now. But I have heard good things about The Final Girl Support Group and he has a new book coming out about witches that I am curious about.
DeleteWell, it sounds like this book has lots of good qualities but the ending chapters are definitely not something I want to read. Too bad, it really does sound interesting.
ReplyDeleteVery true. The book has alot of good qualities and has important things to say. It's funny and well written. But the level of horror, particularly, as Lark says, against women and children, at the end of the book was disturbing.
DeleteWow you have branched out into all genres -- now with horror too! The premise seems alluring -- I like the book club aspect and this mysterious bad stranger that they must stop. Patricia seems like a good character. Maybe the violence is too much for me. Too bad the author went overboard with it -- as a little less might have been better.
ReplyDeleteHi Susan, I want to give horror a try and have read a few books in this genre. I particularly like Darcy Coates and have just finished a novel White Horse also very good by Erika Wurth. And what I have found is that alot of horror is somewhat mild, it's more about ghosts and haunted houses which I love. But the Southern Book Club is extreme and unnecessary because Grady Hendrix is very talented.
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