Every Last Drop

Rating NR Genre fantasy Author Charlie Huston Publisher Del Rey

In an alternate reality New York City, Joe Pitt is a rogue Vamprye with a penchant for trouble. Every Last Drop (4th episode in the series) opens with Pitt eking out an existence in the Bronx, defending his territory from all comers while trying to stay under the radar of his enemies. Avoiding them proves impossible, though, when the aftermath of a confrontation with four young vamps leaves Pitt bound in barbed wire before Clan boss Dexter Predo.

Predo has a deal for Pitt that the outlaw vamp would be wise to accept. Infiltrate and stop a new Clan with plans to cure the Vyrus. This so-called cure would expose Vampyre kind to the rest of the world and put them all in extreme danger. Knowing he has no choice, Pitt accepts and soon finds in the midst of enemies, former friends and a few others who would gladly take his head or any other body part they can get their hands on.

Vampire noir is the best descriptor for this series. Pitt is a hardboiled, morally ambiguous undead investigator who consistently winds up in over his head, taking on the bloody, nightmarish criminals that inhabit his world. This third installment is even better than the previous two, with higher stakes for Pitt.

The pace is fast and furious, gripping the reader right from the first page and dragging us immediately into Pitt’s grim reality. The violence is gruesomely stylish, never gratuitous and is written with a refreshing, brutal honesty. This book is lit class on acid with macabre, grotesque imagery that flashes in front of the mind’s eye reinforced by edgy, savagely beautiful dialogue. I highly recommend this book and this entire series.