The Undead Kama Sutra by Mario Acevedo will be on sale March 11th!
Recently I had the opportunity to read a review copy of Mario Acevedo’s new novel: The Undead Kama Sutra. This is the third book in a series about Felix Gomez, ex-soldier and current vampire PI. Following The Nymphos of Rocky Flats and X-Rated Bloodsuckers, Kama Sutra is a somewhat chaotic adventure. In the interest of full disclosure, I want to say that I have not read the first two volumes in this series.
In this installment, Felix Gomez has traveled to the Florida Keys in search of the mysterious manuscript called The Undead Kama Sutra. This volume supposedly instructs the undead in giving their psychic and healing abilities a boost through various sexual positions. Felix thinks fellow vampire (and sexual Olympian) Carmen may have a clue to finding a few pages of the book. Distracted from his quest by the murder of an alien hidden within the body of an old friend, Felix begins to put together the pieces of the mystery: two plane crashes, three missing women, a golf resort, and the sinister retired Army Colonel Goodman.
Given the title, there’s a surprising lack of sex in this book. Felix seems to stumble from one dilemma to another without having a real plan for solving the mystery. He doesn’t appear to know how to be a hero, managing to get one woman killed and another kidnapped without having any idea of how to protect them. One could expect a vampire to be self-centered, but a supposedly higher being such as Felix shouldn’t be so damned ineffective.
There are a lot of details to Mr. Acevedo’s world. There are aliens, vampires, nymphomaniacs, and evil government officials. It’s an intriguing mix of genres. He makes a fine comment on the indifference and near outright malice of the American government toward it’s citizens. That aspect translates well to the real world. However the reader never has the opportunity to root for Felix. There’s too much else going on. He doesn’t seem like a bad guy, but neither does he go out of his way to make us love him either. Perhaps we were intended to fall in love with him in a previous volume.
The scene where Felix wastes his time wondering why one tryst only wanted a one-night stand when he merely wanted her for dinner anyway was a bit annoying. Did you forget, Mr. Gomez, that there are women missing? Or is your fragile vampire ego too important? That scene made for a great deal of frustration. I kept hoping for a spectacular finale in which Felix could heroically save the day with all his vampiric powers blazing. That didn’t happen. I wasn’t satisfied with the ending, but that may just fuel my interest in purchasing the next volume.
I read this novel in less than a day, and may pick up the first two novels in the series to see if they’re more engrossing than this third installment. The lack of sex scenes, despite the title, was rather refreshing. This book is great fluff-reading;there’s not much there to force you to think. Acevedo didn’t make my list of must-have authors with this one, but this series would be great for those sick-in-bed-with-a-cold days.
[xrr rating=1.5/5]