Review: Pleasantly surprised!  Funny read with a serious side
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 2, 2012
I downloaded this after reading a free sample of the first chapter at the end of another J.R. Rain book.  I'd read and loved Bad Blood which is also by Rain and Nicholson along with H.T. Night, and I love the Samantha Moon series by Rain.This book is clearly intended to be a comedy, but I was surprised and truthfully a little moved when it became more.  One reviewer who disliked the book described the humor as sophomoric.  I can see that at times, because it's a type of humor that ranges from the very witty to slapstick, the occasional bad pun, at times a comedy of errors, at others humor befitting junior high boys.  But I found most of it funny and anything I didn't wasn't so bad it ruined the book for me.  I think we get this mix of humor because we have some intelligent characters capable of wit who are either young (narrator and club members) or young at heart (their professor).  Also, one of the supporting characters is a young Jock and he's not capable of much else.One negative review called the characters immature.  Some are.  I think this as well as the examples of low brow humor were intentional.  (Not unlike many B horror movies featuring humor and teenagers)Other negatives from other reviews said there was rambling.  I have to admit at one point I felt a little bogged down in scenes that may have been a bit long or unnecessary but it didn't stop me from enjoying the book or from pushing through to see what played out, and I'm thankful.  The ending could have gone several ways, and I think the authors did well with the one they chose.  Even though I was pulling all along for a different outcome I can't complain.The narrator is a 21 year old nerdy vampire lover, who leads the Vampire Club and has a major unfulfilled crush on the only female member.  He was a law student at another college before learning of the Vampire Studies program at Western Virginia University (not West Virginia University as is often pointed out).  He now pursues his love of vampires seriously after having to hide it most of his life from his concerned Christian parents.  He's been obsessed with vampires since he read his first Anne Rice book at eight, and his childhood hero was Cory Haim of the Lost Boys.  You get the picture.  He's really a likeable character who had me rooting for him.Obviously, Vampire Studies is not a normal major, and the world of the book is much like the world of today - vampires are not believed to be real, but people are obsessed with them.  The Vampire Club is a very small group with an elderly professor who believes they are real and is committed to learning all they can about them and one day discovering proof of their existence.  And ultimately, they all wish to be vampires.The club begins a search for a real 'live' vampire who they believe has  been buried in a suspended state of sorts and is ripe for resurrection.  The goal is to find him, resurrect him, and if they're lucky he'll turn them all.  I won't go into anything else about the plot, because I can't say much more without spoilers.  But I will say after pages and pages of all sorts of humor, I was a bit wowed when things took a more serious turn and deeper themes were explored.  I found the authors' descriptions of vampire 'life' to be some of the best I've read as a fan of vampire fiction.The book pokes light, good natured fun at obsessed vampire fans yet pays great homage to the genre while leading the unsuspecting reader to a serious exploration of the themes of immortality, the soul, and what it means to love.  At least that's what I got out of it. ;-D