Review: American Vampire by Jennifer Armintrout

Release date: February 22, 2011
Synopsis (via Goodreads):

HE'S THE GOOD KIND OF VAMPIRE. SORT OF.

Buried in the Heartland is a town that no one enters or leaves. Graf McDonald somehow becomes its first visitor in more than five years…and he was only looking for a good party. Unfortunately, Penance, Ohio, is not that place. And after having been isolated for so long, they do not like strangers at all.

Jessa's the only one to even remotely trust him, and she's desperate for the kind of protection that only a vampire like Graf can provide. Supplies are low, the locals are ornery for a sacrifice and there's a monster more powerful than Graf lurking in the woods. New men are hard to come by in this lonesome town, and this handsome stranger might be Jessa's only hope for salvation.

Even if she has to die first…

My Thoughts:  Oh, I had fun reading this book.  Graf was not at all the cuddly, non-killing type of vampire that seems to be the norm lately.  He kills people.  He doesn't have any regrets about it.  It is what it is.  How refreshing!

Jessa's also not the normal type of heroine.  She might possibly have a bit of a reputation.  She might possibly completely deserve it.  She has attitude.  She's downright nasty to Graf after their first run-in and in fact wants nothing to do with him.  She's had a crappy five years and it's wearing on her.  Yet despite the buckets of attitude she's carrying around, she's likable.

I have a bit of a soft spot for stories where the city/town/world setting is broken and crumbling.  I liked that I got my raggedy edges without the world being on the brink of destruction and/or already destroyed.  It was different.  Geez.  Looking back on it, the whole book was just enough off center to make it feel fresh and new.  Let's see, non-standard hero, non-standard heroine, and non-standard setting.  It's like my non-standard love took book form and birthed itself.

And the line from the opening paragraph that made me laugh out loud and clued me in that this was going to be a fun ride:

Steering his car - a black 1974 De Tomaso Pantera L, a total snatch magnet - with one hand, he jabbed at the tiny screen of his TomTom GPS thingie and said words his mother would have made him eat soap for speaking.

Snatch magnet!  Ha!  I love it!

I picked this book up looking for something fun that I could get lost in.  And, oh, it delivered.  I didn't want to put it down.  I feel like I've hit the jackpot of good books recently and this one just kept that streak alive.

More books by Jennifer Armintrout

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