Grady Hendrix | THE SOUTHERN BOOK CLUB'S GUIDE TO SLAYING VAMPIRES

Plot (via Goodreads):

Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias meet Dracula in this Southern-flavored supernatural thriller set in the '90s about a women's book club that must protect its suburban community from a mysterious and handsome stranger who turns out to be a blood-sucking fiend.

Patricia Campbell had always planned for a big life, but after giving up her career as a nurse to marry an ambitious doctor and become a mother, Patricia's life has never felt smaller. The days are long, her kids are ungrateful, her husband is distant, and her to-do list is never really done. The one thing she has to look forward to is her book club, a group of Charleston mothers united only by their love for true-crime and suspenseful fiction. In these meetings, they're more likely to discuss the FBI's recent siege of Waco as much as the ups and downs of marriage and motherhood.

But when an artistic and sensitive stranger moves into the neighborhood, the book club's meetings turn into speculation about the newcomer. Patricia is initially attracted to him, but when some local children go missing, she starts to suspect the newcomer is involved. She begins her own investigation, assuming that he's a Jeffrey Dahmer or Ted Bundy. What she uncovers is far more terrifying, and soon she--and her book club--are the only people standing between the monster they've invited into their homes and their unsuspecting community.

Review:

Where in the hell do I even start with this one? This book has been all over Bookstagram and my curiosity meter went from mildly intrigued to desperate for a copy. When my copy finally came, I completely shut down from social media and dove right in. This story is so fantastic, well written, funny, and incredibly riveting. I could not put it down and I did not want to put it down. I found the horror element to be brilliant and reminiscent of The Lost Boys. I loved the characters so much that while they were being introduced to me and I was getting used to all of their personalities, I kind of had forgotten this was a horror novel as I just loved the witty banter and the strong personalities in these women.

When the novel got to the meat of the story and I realized what was going on, I was a man obsessed. I loved this story. I went from being grossed out during a rather violent attack to laughing hysterically, to being on the edge of my seat within 100 pages and the pacing was brilliant. I really think that what made this story so unique and so great was the characters that led you into the darkness with this one. I loved their obsession with true crime and that just resonated with me as I am a huge true crime junkie and their banter regarding this mysterious stranger in comparison to some serial killers had me not only cackling, but wondering if they actually might be onto something. The combination of these Southern women and a possible vampire walking on their perfectly manicured lawns was perfect. I will say that as much as I laughed during this one, this is still definitely a thriller with major supernatural elements. What I liked about this one was this is a vampire story, but it could have equally been a serial killer story or any other about a really bad man and a group of women that have some very strong feelings regarding his intentions. Hendrix's ability to go from scary to thrilling to gory to comedy was fantastic and there were so many suspenseful scenes that had me holding my breath.

I absolutely loved this story. I found the ending to be emotionally-charged and satisfying, the characters were phenomenal, and the plot was brilliant. I will definitely be reading all Grady Hendrix from here on out.

Rating: 5/5