Grady Hendrix and I have an on-again off-again relationship. I didn't like Horrorstor, but I appreciated the premise and the book itself in terms of the illustrations included. I enjoyed How to Sell a Haunted House enough that I decided to try The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires and give him another chance. I will give him credit for being an author that I picked a random book from because of name recognition. So there's that working in his favor.
But we are back in a slump, unfortunately. Here's my list of notes during reading:
- All the characters are terrible
- When trying to figure out if James is a predator, all kinds of excuses are offered to let him off the hook, but the fact that Patricia actually SAW him violating a girl is just ignored
- Patricia's husband treats her like a child
- Book relies on coincidences (like a nosy neighbor logging license plates)
- "...it was a white monstrosity painted white..." What color was it again?
- Patricia had a sex assault victim take a shower before going to the hospital (she is a NURSE obsessed with true crime novels)
- Husband upon hearing his daughter has a drug problem "This is from YOUR side of the family" It was just a stupid line, which I get is the point, but it grated on me
- This poignant quote: "...'Mary Ellen!' Mrs. Green shouted, using her first name..."
- The women act like female Peanuts characters (i.e. bitchy, frowny-faced, accusatory children)
- Patricia KNOWS James is a predator and is trying to convince everyone of this, yet it's ok for her son to stay at his house.
- The husbands' solution to the women accusing James of heinous things is to have him join the wives' book club...like, what?
Having said all of that, Hendrix might be turning into a guilty pleasure for me...because I was interested in the story. Even though I hated all the characters and could use the plot to strain spaghetti, I still wanted to know how it ended. And it didn't irk me enough to write off Hendrix forever. By managing my expectations and not taking his books too seriously, I'm in a better headspace to handle the annoyances and let the absurdity wash over me. And I suppose there's a place for that in my reading life, with the right mood and expectations.
