Title: The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires

Author: Grady Hendrix

Publisher: Quirk Books 2020

Genre: Horror

Pages: 408

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Monthly Theme - December

Patricia Campbell’s life has never felt smaller. Her husband is a workaholic, her teenage kids have their own lives, her senile mother-in-law needs constant care, and she’s always a step behind on her endless to-do list. The only thing keeping her sane is her book club, a close-knit group of Charleston women united by their love of true crime. At these meetings they’re as likely to talk about the Manson family as they are about their own families.

One evening after book club, Patricia is viciously attacked by an elderly neighbor, bringing the neighbor's handsome nephew, James Harris, into her life. James is well traveled and well read, and he makes Patricia feel things she hasn’t felt in years. But when children on the other side of town go missing, their deaths written off by local police, Patricia has reason to believe James Harris is more of a Bundy than a Brad Pitt. The real problem? James is a monster of a different kind—and Patricia has already invited him in.

Little by little, James will insinuate himself into Patricia’s life and try to take everything she took for granted—including the book club—but she won’t surrender without a fight in this blood-soaked tale of neighborly kindness gone wrong.

It seems that I am in the minority when it comes to this book. The one good thing that I can see about the book is that Hendrix is amazing at writing tension. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. The book never gets easier and doesn’t slow down. But, the writing cannot save a book filled with terrible characters, white savior complex, misogyny, sexual assault, and overall muddled messages. I hated that none of the men are punished or made to see the error of their ways. I couldn’t stand the fact that all the black characters are victims or ignore nameless faces except for Mrs. Greene, who no one listens to. I just couldn’t get behind any part of this book.

Next up on the TBR pile: