Christopher Moore: You Suck

• ISBN-13: 9780060590307
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Publication date: 1/8/2008
• Pages: 352

Being undead sucks. Literally.
Just ask C. Thomas Flood. Waking up after a fantastic night unlike anything he's ever experienced, he discovers that his girlfriend, Jody, is a vampire. And surprise! Now he's one, too. For some couples, the whole biting-and-blood thing would have been a deal breaker. But Tommy and Jody are in love, and they vow to work through their issues.
But word has it that the vampire who initially nibbled on Jody wasn't supposed to be recruiting. Even worse, Tommy's erstwhile turkey-bowling pals are out to get him, at the urging of a blue-dyed Las Vegas call girl named (duh) Blue. 
And that really sucks. 

 Oh, Christopher Moore. You brilliant problem child.
 I found this installment of his vampire trilogy to be funnier than the first, for whatever reason. I think it was the more adept incorporation of additional characters. Most of the characters were old acquaintances, and in this volume they were more fleshed out. The Animals took an interesting (re: gross) turn, but they were pulled back on track by the sheer magnitude of their stupidity, so that was a lesson learned. Jody seems to be heading down a path that Tommy had not initially expected, and I foresee that causing problems in the future.
We were introduced to a doofy goth girl who practically worships her vampire overlords, and so she's a weird companion to the Animals. Elijah is back (the vampire that turned Jody) and he has a few other master vampires at his back to help him take care of the mess Jody and Tommy, and by association, he, have unintentionally created. In the end, Jody and Tommy wind up in the same state in which Jody began the novel: as bronzed statues. Spoilers. I won't tell you how they got there, but there is one more novel in this strange series, and we know they're not going to stay that way.
Overall: B+
Weird, funny, and slightly disturbing. Moore's MO. Better than the last one. Still kinda gross.

Christopher Moore: Bloodsucking Fiends

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (March 18, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416558497

Jody never asked to become a vampire. But when she wakes up under an alley Dumpster with a badly burned arm, an aching back, superhuman strength, and a distinctly Nosferatuan thirst, she realizes the decision has been made for her.
 Making the transition from the nine-to-five grind to an eternity of nocturnal prowlings is going to take some doing, however, and that's where C. Thomas Flood fits in. A would-be Kerouac from Incontinence, Indiana, Tommy (to his friends) his biding his time night-clerking and frozen-turkey bowling in a San Francisco Safeway. But all that changes when a beautiful undead redhead walks through the door...and proceeds to rock Tommy's life - and afterlife - in ways he never thought possible. 

 I was at first reluctant to read Christopher Moore. My friend was pushing me to read Lamb, insisting that it was funny and wonderful. I was still hesitant because I wasn't sure it wasn't going to be a scathing degradation of the Christian faith. I can appreciate humor with regard to theology, but I loathe ideological attacks based on nothing but scorn and disbelief. I'm not Buddhist, but I don't knock it. And that applies to everyone and all religions. Now that I've gotten my little rant out...I wasn't sure that Moore was going to be funny but respectful. I was extremely pleasantly surprised. But that's the subject of another review.
 The point of all that is this: Moore is a good author. He's funny and irreverent but not offensively so. Sometimes you're astonished at the things that come out of his brain, but since it's usually pretty funny you can't help but laugh at things like necrophilia. In Bloodsucking Fiends we're dealing with the newly dead, or the newly undead more like. Jody is attacked and turned into a vampire in the dead of night on her way home, and must learn to deal with her new...talents. Enter Tommy Flood, pen-name C. Thomas Flood, an aspiring writer from small town middle America whose father's greatest ambition for him is that he safely join the union. Hijinks ensue as they try to not be framed for murders they did not commit. This is made a little more difficult by Tommy's often stunning naivete.
 Moore is also great at creating a supporting cast that makes you laugh almost as much as the events of the novel. From the Emperor of the city (who appears to others as a mere bum) to the large, angry, gay detective who is determined to lock Tommy up for the murders despite his cute butt, no character is too small for a humor treatment. Well done, Mr. Moore. Touche.
 Overall: A
 Moore's dialogue and writing style is fairly elementary, but he obviously does well with the low-level literary value of his work. You read these books for pure pleasure and laughs, not for any life-changing epiphanies or mind-blowing prose. His characterization is stunning though, and he is not as raunchy as he becomes in his other books. There are times when he crosses into "That's just nasty" territory, but this book has few of those moments, and I greatly appreciate it. This one definitely falls into my top three Moore novels.