BOOK & BLOG

January 13, 2006

Book of the Week: Half Past Dead: A Novel by Charlie Huston

Charlie Huston’s HALF PAST DEAD: A NOVEL is a hard-boiled detective book that happens to be about a vampire. This tough-guy novel is reminiscent of Andrew Vachhs’s Burke novels and Jon Merz’s Enforcer books, though it’s Huston’s own unique creation. Joe Pitt, trying hard not to be affiliated with any of New York’s very territorial vampire gangs, is treading a fine line between them; employed by at least two gangs for strong-arm work, he is protected by neither.

What are some of Joe Pitt’s activities? Well, he tracks and kills zombies, finds missing heiresses, and admires a bartender named Evie, who is infected with the HIV virus. Evie doesn’t know Joe Pitt’s true nature, and naturally assumes she can infect him with the virus if they have sex. So it’s not your regular hard-boiled detective novel relationship.

Usually, novels written in the present tense really irritate me, and unconventional punctuation does, too. Charlie Huston is such a good writer that I don’t mind the way he constructed this book. HALF PAST DEAD would be a special treat for readers who specialize in books about New York, because it draws completely on the city for its ambience. There’s even a vampire street gang map of Manhattan, which is just a great idea; I wish I had it in poster form. I’d like to point out that I visit New York as seldom as possible, and I loved this book, anyway. It’s well worth a walk on the hard-boiled side.

BLOG

I’ve been reviewing books on this website for weeks now, and you may have noticed that none of the reviews have been unfavorable. It this because I like all the books I read? Is this because I select only books I know I’ll enjoy?

Nope. I’ve read some true stinkers over the past few months, and I’ve read a lot more books that only rated so-so. (I don’t have to add “in my opinion,” right? Because that’s what a blog is; one person’s opinion.) I’ve also read books that I doubted would appeal to the people who read my blog. So why don’t any of these books rate a review?

I’m not by any means a Pollyanna. But I don’t see the point in publicly knocking another writer. If I wrote a review a day for money, I’d be obligated to criticize bad books, but that’s not the case. This is for my own pleasure and the enjoyment of my readers. So I’m just mentioning the books that struck my own fancy, in the hopes that they might strike yours, too.

Making a living by writing is no easy task. For twenty of the twenty-five years I’ve been in the business, my income wouldn’t have supported a single person, but less our family of five. So I like to promote other writers’ sales. I’m happy when I know another writer can make a living from his/her work, even if their books are not my chosen reading material. I’m not going to detract from anyone’s sales by publicly saying I think his/her book is not worth your money (assuming anything I say has any influence at all over the public’s buying habits). Every now and then my tongue runs away with me, and I say something about some icon who is coasting on reputation -- but truly, I try hard not to.

So if you read a book review on my site, you can be sure I read the book, and I really enjoyed it. Furthermore, I believe there’s a good chance you will, too.

Charlaine Harris