Jim McDoniel’s debut novel, An Unattractive Vampire, is a darkly comic urban fantasy of ancient horrors in suburban cities.
After three centuries trapped underground, thousand-year-old Yulric Bile, also known as The Cursed One, The Devil’s Apprentice, He Who Worships the Slumbering Horrors, awakens only to find that no one believes he is a vampire. Apparently he’s just too ugly. Modern vampires, he soon discovers, are pretty, weak, and, most disturbing of all, good. Determined to reestablish his bloodstained reign, Yulric sets out to correct this disgusting turn of events or, at the very least, murder the person responsible.
With the help of part-vampire wannabe Amanda; Simon, the eight-year-old reincarnation of his greatest foe; and a cadre of ancient and ugly horrors, Yulric prepares to battle the glamorous undead. But who will win the right to determine, once and for all, what it truly means to be a vampire?
Fantastically Hilarious This is one of the best things I’ve read in vampire verse. Take an ancient, powerful vampire and throw him into the modern era where vampires are weak and beautiful. Throw in his nemesis reincarnated into the body of sociopathic eight-year-old boy, and an older sister who is taking zero crap. Shenanigans ensue. It’s the battle of the ugly, ancient, and powerful versus the beautiful, famous, and not-so-bright.Â
Hilarious and Irreverent Jim McDoniel comes out swinging with his first book, with a tale of a surly, Max Schreck-like vampire who awakens in modern times and is horrified to discover vampires are now sexy, brooding, romantic pop culture icons, and becomes determined to restore the status quo. Along for the ride are a terrifyingly competent eight-year-old boy and budding vampire slayer, and his older sister, a nurse and not-so-closet romantic who becomes the vampire’s reluctant assistant.Â
Ok vampire book….if that’s what you are in to. Readable and enjoyable but not as fun as the reviews led me to believe. The opening joke fell flat and basically went on from there. There’s action that is barely explained. I suppose we were to guess that the newer vampires would not like the elder one but for reasons unknown. Maybe I missed something but it could have been written better and carried better.