Review: Vampire Hookers? Admit it, you're intrigued.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 13, 2013
So Joe's back and the book's tagline of "Even if you live forever, you'll have to grow up sometime" is very appropriate to this story. While the first book was coming to terms with being a vampire, The Afterlife asks, "What now?"Without giving away any major plot points. We learn about how Joe's relationship with Chloe has played out. We learn how Joe and Hube's music aspirations are progressing. And Joe's still punching buttons at work with his Vampire Godmother.The worst thing you could do is discount this book as a "vampire story." It could just as well be a coming of age story. If you can believe it there is an awful lot of "real life" in this fiction. It's hard to say too much without giving any major plot points away but let's just say that Joe wants what most folks his age want. And Chloe wants what most folks her age want. I'll let Mr. Luna tell you whether or not those wants will bring those two together or move them opposite directions.When I reviewed the first Joe Vampire book I was a little critical of the blog format saying that the book suffered from the same problems a regular blog does; I can only take so much me, me, me before I need to walk away and revisit later. Too much of a good thing, I concluded, was still too much. However, this time around Mr. Luna found a way to fix whatever it was that pushed me away after a couple of "posts". I absolutely tore through The Afterlife after I had a moment to really sit down and get into it.For a vampire with no beating heart, Joe sure has a big one. Heart that is. Not the other thing. Again, as with Joe Vampire, I found myself believing that there could be vampires because Joe is just so believable. It was nice to catch up with the dude vampire again. Sarcasm and profanity is back, but there is so much more to Joe than that.I'm not sure if it's worth a mention or not but there is one whole post, and a long one at that, that is basically an advertisement for Mr. Luna's publisher Booktrope. The story slams on the brakes while Joe interviews various other authors in the group's author list for a job at his company. While the post is humorous, and well written, and I'm sure incredibly flattering for the authors mentioned, it did make me feel as if I was being advertised to. It just seemed as if that particular post was tacked on.And since I don't like ending things on a negative note, I do want to point out one very cool feature of this ebook and that is... easter eggs. Well, they aren't necessarily hidden but there are a couple of links in the books that link to sites owned by Mr. Luna with exclusive Joe content that, as far as I know, isn't available elsewhere. I won't spoil that content, but be sure you check out those links.In closing, if you liked Joe Vampire, you'll love The Afterlife. It's everything you loved about the first book made better. Mr. Luna has taken a step forward as a writer to be sure. Will there be a Joe 3? I am sure hoping so.