X-Rated Bloodsuckers is completely forgettable. The 2nd installment of the Felix Gomez series follows the same pattern of good pacing paired with a lack of characterization and complicated plot with a slapdash ending. On the plus side, I read the first book in the series (Nymphos of Rocky Flats) and thus was not expecting much from this book to begin with, so I can't say I was especially disappointed. Fortunately, I borrowed this from a friend rather than pay full price, and recommend you do the same if you absolutely have to read it. The plot begins with Felix getting called to Los Angeles by porn actress Katz Meow to investigate the murder of her friend and fellow adult-film star Roxy Bronze. Conveniently, the Araneum--the secret society of vampire police--also request Felix's involvement in L.A. to investigate and exterminate anyone connected with a vampire-human collusion, which they believe may be connected to porn king Cragnow Vissoom and leader of the Los Angeles nidus (vampires), who was also Roxy's former producer. Shortly upon Felix's arrival, he is tapped by Coyote, a local vampire who claims to be the reason Felix was summoned to L.A. by Katz Meow. Coyote is a comic foil for Felix, a caricature whose car consistently requires pushing in order to start, eats rat chorizos, and has an aggravating habit of speaking every second line in Español. Spanish--with the appropriate translation provided in English immediately following each line of foreign dialogue. Foreign words used once or twice in a story are colorful, but this gimmicky use of Spanish throughout the novel serves no purpose other that distracting the reader from the story. Plot turns lead Felix to a human chalice club (a club where humans "owned" by vampires willingly serve themselves up as food), to city hall and Councilwoman Venin, a Christian televangelist, a surgeon, a local community humanitarian for whom Felix develops an attraction, and various adult film stars. These multiple suspects mean that no clear-cut evidence exists to leave a trail of bread crumbs for Felix or the reader to solve the mystery. In fact, Felix manages to solve the case through sheer dumb luck when a guilty party confesses his involvement at the end in attempt to save his own life. In addition to the poorly-planned plot, there are several unexplained holes in the logic of the vampire society that exists in the novel: vampires cast no reflection; their skin is translucent; and their eyes contain a tapetum lucidum--a lens animals possess which reflects like back through the retina and makes them appear to shine in the dark. Given these extraordinary traits, the author maintains the logic that an entire society of vampires has remained hidden for thousands of years by the use of make-up and sun-block to hide their complexions, contact lenses, and strategically avoiding mirrors! In one scene, Felix conveniently has the waiter seat himself and a date in a different section of the restaurant to avoid a mirror on the wall. There is no rationale is provided to explain the existence of vampire powers to include levitation, paranormal strength, transformation into animals, and immortality. The author has conveniently selected various tropes from the vampire mythology to fuel the story and made no effort to rework them. So, if you like mindless entertainment, vampires, and the kitschy use of sexy titles to attract readers, then X-Rated Bloodsuckers might be the book for you. If you prefer logic-based fantasy worlds where the vampire mythology is somehow explained or rewritten with a new and interesting spin, then X-Rated Bloodsuckers is definitely not your cup of tea.
It was an open and shut case. A porn star is murdered. Her body is found in an alley with no signs of a struggle. The police quickly close the case. Only it wasn't an open and shut case.Felix Gomez is hired by the starlet's friend to investigate Roxy's death. He peels away layer after layer exposing the dark underbelly of porn, politics, and religion. A powerful porn mogul was angry at Roxy for buying out her contract. A real estate investor was furious at her for getting involved in community action to stop a new multi-million dollar development. A local politician connected to the deal was also mad. And, somehow, a televangelist was connected as well.Like any good P.I. Felix uses his wits, a stubborn streak, and a little muscle to dig out the answers. Unlike other P.I.s, Felix has an ace up his sleeve. He is a vampire. He can use his powers to get the truth out of witnesses and get into places an ordinary man could not. Ordinarily this would be enough to unwrap this mystery. Unfortunately, in this case, the local vampire leader seems to be tied up in Roxy's death as well. To unravel all these loose ends, Felix must dodge bullets and the ruthless undead!A few petty knocks on the story. Sometimes needless sexuality was injected into the story. Felix spends a lot of time admiring the female form - which is fine but it seemed excessive somehow. (To be fair, the title should have been fair warning). Also, there were some parts of the whole vampire thing that I just didn't buy. For example, with a little sunblock and a good set of shades he is able to make it through daylight hours. Without it he would burst into flames. Really? That seems implausible to me. What if he missed just a little spot? I think the author should've bent the rules on vampires somewhat - make them light sensitive rather than vulnerable. Finally, the ending - when everything came together - was a little unbelievable to me. I wasn't buying it. Can't say more without ruining the story.Three and a half stars out of five. The whole story was pretty enjoyable. Worth a read.
Do You like book X-Rated Bloodsuckers (2007)?
Much, much, much better than its predecessor. The basic storyline is just as minimal as in Nymphos (someone killed a porn star and our hero goes to LA to investigate), the side story is more interesting than Nymphos (Vamps in LA might be about to break silence and no one knows why), and the character story is fabulous. The real story here is Carlos joining up with the down-at-the-heels, universally disliked-but-tolerated, and proudly barrio-living Hispanic vampire Coyote. Coyote loudly and frequently proclaims himself to be more than he seems (he calls his run-down house in the barrio a castle and his beat-up, push-start car his magic chariot) and everyone agrees that he is; they just don't like him anyway. He's a perfect mentor for Carlos.The story progresses to involve the usual mixed-up land deals, secretly broke and secretly wealthy people, and sudden revelations about relationships that are staples of LA PI stories since Chinatown and they come off quite well. All in all, the detective story (the obvious heart of the book) is more than good enough.The character development is excellent, particularly in the way Carlos influences Coyote as much as Coyote (and others) influence Carlos. There is an interesting surprise towards the end that deprives Carlos of one of his most-used and most-powerful abilities. I hope the author hasn't written himself into the trap of having to explain why Carlos can't just vamp his way out of the problem in every book. It worked nicely this time, but the schtick of explaining why we can't use a known ability gets old.Having said that, the deprivation of the power works really well in this, and it gives a possible insight into how the power works. Overall, great fun.
—Seth
After the first book in this series, I was hesitant to give Acevedo another chance. However, I had purchased the book so I gave it a try. In this book, Acevedo had the same insistent pace and the same coldish point of view. BUT I was happy to have some character development with a new range of emotions, a bit of a romantic relationship and a sense of embracing the "vampire" within... There are still plenty of unanswered questions in the plot and I'm left wanting more. But I'll read the third book! :)
—Betty-Braden
Katz Meow hires vampire private investigator Felix Gomez to investigate the death of fellow porn star, Roxy Bronze. Once Felix informs the Araneum (the vampire council) of the nefarious goings on of the LA vampires, they authorize Felix to infiltrate, find the missing Araneum agents and destroy the nest. Of course it's not that easy. There are many many conspiracies involving politicians, preachers, realtors, surgeons and even a non-profit organization at the heart of it all. Feliz has to dig through all the bull to really find out who killed Roxy and why. This of course is closely tied to the vampire community because apparently vampires are horny buggers.This isn't as bad as the first book but not a series I would continue. It is just too crude for my tastes. Felix is having a conversation with Veronica and thinking thoughts like these: Veronica could nosh on me while I munched her rug. This is not an isolated event either, Felix is just a pig. As a woman I found comments like this offensive and unnecessary to the plot. This is obviously a series written by a sex-crazed man, writing for the male population. With series titles: The Nymphos of Rocky Flatts, X-rated Bloodsuckers, The Undead Kama Sutra and Jailbait Smackdown, I guess you get exactly what is advertised...sex, sex, sex! There is definitely a plot woven within the many sexual encounters but the gratuitous sex has absolutely nothing to do with the plot.
—Barbara ★
