Wednesday, February 3, 2010

WEREWOLF SMACKDOWN: A Review


In his latest adventure, Felix Gomez, private detective and vampire, arrives in Charleston, SC
to help thwart a werewolf civil war that threatens to expose The Secret to the world at large. The Secret being the existence of vampires, werewolves and other supernatural creatures. If you're familiar with Felix Gomez all this sounds perfectly plausible. If you're not ... then let's back up.

Felix Gomez went to Iraq as a soldier, returned as a vampire and became a private detective. His first case was to investigate the mysterious outbreak of nymphomania at the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant, detailed in The Nymphos of Rocky Flats. His subsequent adventures -X-Rated Bloodsuckers, The Undead Kama Sutra and Jailbait Zombie - read like a combination of Ann Rice, Robert B. Parker and Carl Hiaasen.

Author Mario Acevedo served in the U.S. Army and flew helicopters. In civilian life he taught art, wrote hard-boiled detective novels and collected a stack of rejection slips. Finally, in a bit of desperation, Acevedo decided to write a novel "about the wackiest thing I could think of. " That idea was the outbreak of nymphomania and Felix Gomez, vampire detective, was created. Five books later, Acevedo looks to have created his own niche in the recent avalanche of paranormal fiction.

Werewolf Smackdown details the turf war between rival werewolf clans in the South Carolina low country. For history buffs, bet you didn't know that Charleston was the site of the first werewolf settlement in colonial America, and that werewolf regiments served on both sides of the War Between the States.

As in all the Gomez books, the pace is furious and the attitude is breezy with more than a bit of tongue-in-cheekiness. Within his first twenty-four hours in the Holy City, Felix survives three attempts on his life and mixes it up with ghosts, werewolves, vampire hit men and creates an uneasy truce with the local vampire leader, a ghetto kingpin named Gullah. Oh, and he has plenty of sexy women (human and otherwise) at his disposal.

The pages in Smackdown disappear in big gulps. Acevedo cleverly writes this series so it feels like a high concept, glossy TV show, which would not be a bad idea. Given the success of the HBO's soft porn True Blood (based on Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse novels), Felix could become an X-Files meets 24 style action show. I'd watch it.

Visit the author's web site: MarioAcevedo.com

Biblio Says: 4. A fun read.

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