This book, with a very long title, is the first book in the Fred, the Vampire Accountant series written by Drew Hayes. The book was published 2014 by REUTS publications, LLC and the audiobook, with a full cast, was published by Graphic Audio. The book itself is a paranormal comedy with a bit of mystery added on top.
The story follows Fred, a accountant born boring and weak. Until one day when he gets attacked and wakes up by a dumpster, finding out that he has been transformed into a vampire. What does he do with his new life? Continue on like nothing has ever happen. Realizing that his life is just too boring considering that he has become a member of the paranormal world he decided to be adventurous… and goes to the class reunion. Well, there he meets a former classmate who has become thin and sexy, and a secret agent of the government meant to keep paranormals in line. Fred is pulled into one problem after another as he meets more and more people, and slowly getting settled into a new life.
The story is divided into smaller parts, and is there forth more like five smaller story, made into one book but I couldn’t find any evidence of this being smaller novels in the beginning and seems to be just how the book is shaped. I have noticed that some people disliked this and considered it amateurish. I didn’t mind since I thought the author ties the story together well, and this format makes it easy to slowly get into the world building and the lore.
Now it comes with problems though, one is that most things are just introduced and then pushed past, such as the “romance” between Fred and Crystal is pretty much nonexistence. About twenty minutes after they meet, Crystal asks him out on a date, then vanishes only to come back and they are magically together like they had the romance of the century despite having spend time with each other for less than a day. Another is the introduction of Crystals friend, a werepony, who is gay and has a crush on Fred. Only for it never to come up again. All these are most likely symptoms of the book only being 300 pages long and then divided into smaller parts.
The characters are funny, I liked Fred, him being very relatable but still pulls his head out of his ass to try and save strangers, often to fail but he still tries. Crystal is a tough agent, I thought that she was a bit overpowered to be a human in the book, but… Well, we get to know why she is at the end so I have to take it back. She is a bit stereotypical though, being fat in her youth only to miraculous turning into a babe and a badass female agent and then being in love with what is suppose to be the boring Fred. We have the ugly duckling, badass female and the nerd falling in love with the good-looking woman, often popular, tropes. All wrapped up in one character. I liked the side characters though I wished they had more traits than being sidekick. They are currently very flat, but considering that the main characters are as well because of the structure of the book, I guess it makes sense.
I am a bit bothered by the book keep claiming that Fred is a coward but he shows constantly being courageous and trying to save people. The author is telling us one thing but shows another. It also shifts constantly. It goes from having two stories where Crystal comes out of nowhere and saves Fred, which many seemed to be bothered by. A woman stealing the show from the main character is never acceptable apparently, only to make Crystal useless in the two later parts and make Fred save her. Well, more or less. Crystals powers goes from being overpowering to useless in a second. I understand Fred’s power, him being strong but him having no idea how to use it, it is consistent throughout the story but Crystals powers are not.
Now, a large part if you are going to like this or not depends on if you like the characters and the humor. If you don’t then this book will not be for you. If you don’t find the main character being forced to enter a jousting game to save Crystal, riding in on a pony and defeating his opponent by using the lance as a baseball bat then this might not be for you, but if you do then this book has some interesting lore, filled with wacky characters and creatures for you to be entertained by.
It is a lighthearted story, not meant to be analyzed to much and is perfect for those who wants a series where you can read one book but not be pressured to read another. You might want it though, but not because the story forces you to do so. I would rate it a 7 out of ten. Removing three points because of the problems with the writing, such as it being repetitious, having flat characters and the lack of consistency. I enjoyed the book though it was not a masterpiece, but it is a book I most likely will read again when I want something lighthearted and fast paced on a rainy day to lighten my mood.
With Kind Regards
Senefer.
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