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[personal profile] katikat
"Bottomfeeder" by B. H. Fingerman is a book about vampires. But it's not your usual action/adventure stuff, it's more of a psychological thriller about a guy who happens to be a vampire and he is bored and lonely until he meets other vampires and then he is bored together with them and it's all raw and dirty and... very disappointing.

Phil Merman has been a vampire for 27 years. He was turned at the age of 27 but he doesn't know how or why. He feeds of the low-life in the slums, he kills them and simply "lives" from one night to another. He has a rather boring job - he transfers photographs from paper to the electronic form - and he especially loves the murder victims pictures (that are described in vivid details). There is only one guy that he still stays in touch with from the days of his youth, Shelley, but this little guy is getting on his nerves night after night. And then he meets another vampire who brings him into this little vampire circle, all upper ten thousand, and he goes hunting with him, suddenly killing with fervor. Until said vampire is killed by one of his victims and Phil makes a startling discovery...

Okay, my opinion? Boring with a capital B. If you love vampire books with humor, action, adventure etc., you know, the usual vampire books, don't buy this one. "Bottomfeeder" strains too much to be a psychological something, but comes out empty. For dozens and dozens of pages, literally nothing happens, there is no suspense, no real action, just the description of Phil's boring life. Page after page. In the end, I started skipping not only paragraphs but whole pages.

Phil is an un-likable hero, all grey around the edges, there is nothing special about him at all - and maybe that was author's intention, to make him just your normal John in the crowd. But when I read a book, I want to be entertained, not smacked in the face with boredom.

The only interesting thing about this book is the discovery of Phil's vampire origin and the sorta twisted gay romance. But even that wasn't enough to hold my interest. I give it one star out of five, a thing I've never done before. But it's been a long time since I yawned my way through a book like this.

Date: 2007-05-05 08:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xtrek.livejournal.com
hmm, once I read 'book about vampires' I was immediately interested. Too bad that this book doesn't look very readable according to your review. And I was looking for a nice vampire novel to read. But maybe you know of a better book to recommend?

Date: 2007-05-06 01:32 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] katikat.livejournal.com
That depends. Do you want gay vampires or het vampires or no vampires at all? :D [livejournal.com profile] exlibris76 has great vampire recs because she is really into vampires generally :D

Date: 2007-05-06 02:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xtrek.livejournal.com
I was just thinking about vampires in general but gay vampires would be nice bonus. *g* For the time being I'll just work my way though the amazing reviews of [livejournal.com profile] exlibris76 and see what I come across. Thanks a lot for the link to her journal that really makes searching for a good book a lot easier.

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don't be dull, be fannish

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