I LOVED the way this book was set up - the girls in the book club, the weirdness of the neighbor- it all worked so well. Patricia's live-in mother-in-law seems to take an instant dislike to him; seeming to confuse James with someone from her past. It's possibly simply a symptom of her dementia, but there are other things too. The strength of the story here is Grady Hendrix wanting "to pit Dracula against my mom," he writes. "As you'll see, it's not a fair fight." Never underestimate a Mother's magical power called love!!

Patricia is the one person who remains suspicious of her handsome new neighbor despite his friendly and charming exterior. Why do you think she, out of all James Harris’s new friends in their quiet neighborhood, is more prone to considering the possibility of a menace in their midst? I am not sure what the appropriate gesture is to make toward the family of the woman who bit off your ear, but if you felt absolutely compelled, I certainly wouldn’t take food.” Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: James Harris is a handsome, charming seemingly young all-American man whose good looks and charisma hide the fact he's a sadistic vampire who savours killing. In my opinion, no. So this book didn't work for me as satire because Hendrix is only exposing a problem... a problem that the characters in the book seem to be ok with existing or having existed. I really wanted there to be more critique here, but there just wasn't. In every book we read, no one ever thought anything bad was happening until it was too late. This is where we live, it’s where our children live, it’s our home. Don’t you want to do absolutely everything you can to keep it safe?”

Obnoxious In-Laws: Patricia's brothers-in-law and her husband were supposed to take turns watching the senile Miss Mary, but when Caleb takes the first visit, they refuse to take her, meaning Patricia has to take care of her full time, and her senility makes her very rude and difficult to deal with. Later subverted with Miss Mary, who gives Patricia a warning from beyond the grave and watches over her after they finally defeat James. About halfway through, I had to put the book down because I was SO stressed by it. Also - that ending. Perfection. Sheer perfection! This book has a fun mix of satire, humor, and horror. Patricia Campbell and her friends have a classics book club but it’s stuffy and few enjoy it. When a friend gives Patricia a copy of a true crime book, a new club of ‘murderinos’ is formed who read only true crime (if you’re a fan, you will have lots of books to add to the tbr). Patricia, spurred on by the woman who once offered care to her mother-in-law, begins an investigation of her own. She suspects James may be behind the terrible happenings, but will anyone believe her?

Mrs. Greene's character is treated so poorly it is disgusting. Nobody can convince me that Mrs. Greene isn't the true hero of this story. First of all, she had the most likable personality and the most sense out of all the women in this book. Second of all, Mrs. Green is the one who steps up and does all the dirty work at the end while Patricia is basically out of the picture. I get that Hendrix was trying to show off the Steel Magnolia thing that everyone loves. And yes, there are most definitely those women out there. I think a large part of why the satire didn't quite work for me was because the humor in this book fell so flat. And then there were some absurd, gory horror moments that felt cheesy and silly and ridiculous. It just didn't work for me. Patricia Campbell’s life has never felt smaller. Her ambitious husband is too busy to kiss her good-bye in the morning, her kids are wrapped up in their own lives, and she’s always a step behind on thank-you notes and endless chores. The one thing she has to look forward to is her book club, a close-knit group of Charleston women united by their love of true crime and suspenseful fiction.Welcome to 90’s Charleston! The story is narrated by Patricia Campbell, one of the members of the book club. She gave up her career as a nurse and married with extremely workaholic and arrogant husband but at least she has young teenage daughter who disrespects her and younger son who is obsessed with Third Reich! And her mother-in-law moved indefinitely to their house, suffers from dementia and is adamant to turn her life into her. But thankfully the other book club members (also her true friends and confidantes right now!) intervened and find Mrs. Greene to help her take care of her mother-in-law. I will stress, one more time, that while this book has a soft start, which feels like it will be a slow ramp up to desiccated horror fest, it is instead a fireworks display. It lulls you into watching, waiting for the horror, and when it comes it is startling, visceral, disturbing, and hard to read. Like all great fireworks shows, the horror is not easy to predict, and it’s hard to watch without flinching. This isn’t your mother’s vampire story. (Well… maybe not yours.) Dear God, holy protector, is it gay if I scream out "leave him! Murder the vampire, leave your husband, join a coven!!!" Out loud, multiple times, on a crowded train, while reading? But it wasn't just the gore that turned me off. I also found this book to be overwritten. There were moments when it was supposed to be serious, like with the women rallying together or the bad guy taking a last stand, and I just cringed at the cheesy dialog. It sounded so fake to me during what should've been emotionally pivotal moments. I’ve never heard of it,” Marjorie Fretwell said. “So I imagine it falls outside our mandate of reading the great books of the Western world. Anyone else?”