Book Review: Already Dead by Charlie Huston

 Vampires have been done to death, or undeath to be specific, and readers have become tired of the genre and moved elsewhere.  At the beginning of the craze in 2005, a mere two months after Stephanie Myers published Twilight, Chalie Huston put out Already Dead.  The novel is a different spin on vampirism, gone are the traditional themes of vampirism as a monstrous curse or the modern take of vampires as the misunderstood brooding anti-heroes.  Huston puts a Noir spin into things making vampirism and vampires into the true underworld of society. 

     The story centers on a Vampire, called Vampyres in the book, Joe Pitt who lives in modern day Manhattan.  The islands vampyres are controlled by different clans, the most powerful being the Coalition; ultraconservative and wanting to keep vampyres in the shadows.  Another is The Society, the “left” of the vampyre world, who wants eventually to tell the world about them.  Joe has ties the clans and works as an independent fixer for them to do their dirty jobs.  This keeps his supply of blood nice and fresh so the Vyrus, an actual virus that causes vampirism in the books, does not cause Joe to lose control and chew someone’s throat out.  Which is what will happen if the Vyrus does not get fresh blood every now and again, and why Joe takes a job with the Coalition to hunt down a Shambler (aka zombie).  As with the Noir genre, things are never that simple and soon Joe is over his head in trouble.

     This is the vampire novel you hand someone to read who has a bad taste of overproduced vampire literature in his or her mouth.  The Noir genre is on full display here and any one of these characters could have walked off a Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett novel.  Joe Pitt is a no nonsense tough guy in the traditional sense.  He has his own code of ethics and walks his own path, even if that gets him in trouble with the clans and his girlfriend Evie.  There are no good guys in the series, everyone has secrets, dark pasts, and blood on their hands.  The book is the first in a series of five, each successive expanding on the history and world that Joe Pitt inhabits. 

Verdict: 8/10 Dead Bards

Who Would Like This: A fan of vampire stories, pulpy noir tales, urban fantasy, or thrillers.  I would hand this book to someone if they said they did not like silly stories about vampires.           

Who Would Not Like This: Readers who want romance, trashy or otherwise, in their vampire tales.  There is simply not much to be found between the pages.