Stephen Huh's Book Blog Review | Already Dead: A Novel

Explosive start, but trails off. | Already Dead: A Novel | Charlie Huston

books:


	• Already Dead: A Novel Charlie Huston Del Rey, 2005 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 56 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Kindle Specific Review

General Comments:

Already Dead is a dark but enjoyable take on the vampire story wrapped in a pretty competent mystery. Joe Pitt our "hero" is enlisted by one of the many vampire clans to take care of a zombie but complications ensue when the daughter of a bio-med company's CEO gets into the mix. To resolve the mystery Joe has to navigate the intersecting politics of rival vampire clans and resolve some of his personal demons.

I really enjoyed the story and Mr. Huston goes into a great deal of detail on both Joe's personal backstory but also how the various clans fit into NY scene. He also gives an interesting take on the vampire tale and the logistics of living with vampirism in a modern world.

All in all a very solid effort that will reward fans of the genre. However, some caution is advised in that there are some fairly mature themes so this might not be a great next step for those looking to venture out from the popular "Twilight" series. Also, the author has a non-standard way of punctuating (or really not punctuating) dialog that really bothered me at beginning of the book but wasn't really a big deal in the end. Download the sample and you'll see what I mean.

Kindle Specifics:

Topaz - NO
Formatting - oddly there were no chapters and no transition markers between scene changes so sometimes reading this was a little disorienting. Other than that it was fine.
Cover art and maps are included.

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Stephen Huh's Book Blog Review

I chose Already Dead by Charlie Huston to read because of its front cover. The cover is very twisted. What I first saw was an unattractive blood-colored cover. As I examined the front cover a little more, I then saw a very bright and busy city along with a man smoking a cigarette. The cover still didn't tell me much and I didn't feel that the book was a "must-read." I scanned the cover once more and I saw a very sharp tooth sticking out of the man's mouth. After thinking about the tooth I decided to take the book and read it. I predicted that the story would be about humans that are actually vampires and live in the cities. My prediction was very close. I guess you can judge a book by its cover. The five-star story Already Dead, takes place in modern Manhattan, New York with Joe Pitt, a Vampyre rogue. Vampyres are those who have been infected by the Vyrus. It will make you faster, stronger, bigger but not better. Joe Pitt is not happy about having the Vyrus. Besides having to get enough blood to feed the Vyrus, he needs to do tasks for the Coalition and the Society, two very different gangs. His latest tasks are causing him much trouble. He needs to find Amanda Horde, the runaway daughter of the powerful Hordes family and bring down the foolish brain-infected person who is blowing the Vampyres' cover. These two tasks are a lot harder than they seem, Joe Pitt has to overcome many different obstacles and complete the tasks before the Coalition brings the whip down. This vampire mystery thriller will keep your eyes on the book until you are done. Charlie Huston will bring you new feelings every time you read Already Dead. When I put the book down I wondered about how many major secrets there are that normal people do not know anything about. I love this book because right from the beginning until the end it will twist your mind. The book starts off with Joe chasing a zombie and ends with threats from the Coalition. Another reason why this book is great is because the book will give you no peace. In no part of the book will you ever feel relaxed. I strongly suggest this book to all mature readers and any person who likes thrillers.

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Explosive start, but trails off.

Already Dead begins well enough, with tough-guy Joe Pitt tracking down someone called "The Carrier" in the seedy underbelly of a vampire-ridden New York City.

Huston sets the scene splendidly, quickly bringing the reader into Pitt's world and the inner workings of the vampire underground. Factions are at war while the vampires involved in those factions teeter on the edge of revealing their curse, here called "Vyrus" to the public at large. The world Huston conjures in this book isn't the most unique thing in the world, but it is a nice fantasy look at the traditional organized crime turf wars that permeate thousands of books.

The story screams along at a breakneck pace for the first three quarters or so, with Pitt trying to locate a missing girl, Amanda Horde, while simultaneously attempting to find The Carrier and also trying to stay in the good graces of all the vampire factions in the city.
But after the three quarters point, the book seriously loses steam. The last thirty pages or so are dedicated almost entirely to lengthy monologues as the characters explain more or less everything that happened during the preceding book. The monologues drag on, and while a good deal of hidden information is revealed, it just becomes too much at a certain point.

I also had a few problems with a couple more things in the book. Firstly, I don't really understand why so many crime writers are so fixated on incest subplots...and Already Dead is no exception. Huston writes about all the gory details of an incestuous encounter, which I frankly just skipped over once I saw that it was going to happen. The incest didn't really help the story out at all, and the only reason I can really see why it was put in there was because Huston wanted to shock people. This isn't Chinatown, where an incestuous affair is a key to unraveling the story, in Already Dead it's just a device to gross out and shock the reader.

Another thing that bothered me about the book was Huston's handling of a certain teenage character in the book (I won't reveal who it is, it would be a spoiler). The character sounds like she came directly out of a bad 1980s movie set in Los Angeles. Her dialogue is filled with "as ifs", "lame" and weirdly italicized words to show odd inflection. No teenager speaks like this anymore, and perhaps Huston simply hasn't listened to any teenagers talk in the past twenty years, but it certainly takes you out of the moment as you read the terribly forced dialogue.

Overall, the book is alright. If you're into vampire fiction, maybe add a half-star, if you're really into dark, nihilistic noir, add another half. It's a pretty swift tale, and some of the things that bothered me may not in fact bother other readers, so I would suggest at least giving it a try if you want a good down and dirty vampire tale.

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Vampire tales for a nihilistic world

Great book. Joe Pitt is a fantastic character. The writing is first rate. The plot moves along nicely. My only complaint (and its not big enough to knock the book off the five star rating) is that it is too short! Still, the author seems to put out sequels on such a regular basis that it doesn't really matter.
If you like your vampire stories to be relevant and contemporary, then look no further.

Liked it, but didn't love it!!

The idea of organized groups of vampires, living only for the sake of being vampire struck me as problematic. No doubt Charlie Huston is a fine and accomplished writer, but this left me a little flat. I liked the main character, his outsider status even amongst the outsiders themselves, these Manhatten clans. Plausible plausibility: the ability to get the reader to believe that in the right combinations of circumstances what they are reading CAN happen.....just couldn't see it.PILATE: A Brutal Bible Tale

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Those stories you hear? The ones about things that only come out at night? Things that feed on blood, feed on us? Got news for you: they?re true. Only it?s not like the movies or old man Stoker?s storybook. It?s worse. Especially if you happen to be one of them. Just ask Joe Pitt.

There?s a shambler on the loose. Some fool who got himself infected with a flesh-eating bacteria is lurching around, trying to munch on folks? brains. Joe hates shamblers, but he?s still the one who has to deal with them. That?s just the kind of life he has. Except afterlife might be better word.

From the Battery to the Bronx, and from river to river, Manhattan is crawling with Vampyres. Joe is one of them, and he?s not happy about it. Yeah, he gets to be stronger and faster than you, and he?s tough as nails and hard to kill. But spending his nights trying to score a pint of blood to feed the Vyrus that?s eating at him isn?t his idea of a good time. And Joe doesn?t make it any easier on himself. Going his own way, refusing to ally with the Clans that run the undead underside of Manhattan?it ain?t easy. It?s worse once he gets mixed up with the Coalition?the city?s most powerful Clan?and finds himself searching for a poor little rich girl who?s gone missing in Alphabet City.

Now the Coalition and the girl?s high-society parents are breathing down his neck, anarchist Vampyres are pushing him around, and a crazy Vampyre cult is stalking him. No time to complain, though. Got to find that girl and kill that shambler before the whip comes down . . . and before the sun comes up.

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