Book Nook Club: Blood Bar by Normal Applegate

June 21, 2009

Blood Bar by Normal Applegate

I was given Blood Bar to review by Pump Up Your Book Promotion and was pretty excited about it when I read the synopsis- "Vampires don't exist....yet, on the brownstone back alley side streets of New York, a vampire dies. Desperate, his lover turns to Kim Bennett, author Norm Applegate's (Into the Basement) quintessential heroine whose passion for S&M led to celebrity status as a hell-and-back murder mystery sleuth who's been there, done that, and then some. This time, Kim finds herself caught between a secret vampire society's attempts to locate The Black Testament (a sacred document written by Jack the Ripper), the modern-day vampire hunters bent on their destruction, and a white-knuckled journey of self-discovery that catapults her into the bowels of hell and the arms of the ultimate vampire.......courtesy of The Haven, New York's ultimate BLOOD BAR... "

If you've ever heard me talk about Twilight, you know I like vampires. But after reading this book I decided that I like nice vegetarian vampires, and the not the human blood-sucking type. Or maybe just not the orgy having, swearing, cut-edge type of vampires. This book was a little rough for me, and I had to just skim through a lot of it because the writing was well I guess really just rough. Not only was the language itself rough, but the writing wasn't great. Every few pages, there was some obscure reference to history or a news article that Applegate would then explain for the readers. This also happened with the characters and trying to explain why the characters made the decisions they did. If characters are developed well in a book, you don't have to explain their every move. You understand why they do the things they do. That was not the case in this book- the whole plot was confusing and never really sucked me in.

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone mostly because of the hard edges to it. The plot could have been interesting, but it was ruined by all of the swearing, sex, and violence that I didn't find necessary or helpful to the story at all. But that's my opinion. Like I said, I like soft-hearted vampires like the Cullens. If you like tough gruesome vampires, this book might be for you. I'll even send you my copy if you'd like to read it. 2 stars- for a good idea carried out poorly.