Book: Fangs for Nothing

Fangs for NothingFangs for Nothing by Adrianne Ambrose

Publisher: Amazon Digital Services
Publish Date: June 21, 2011
ASIN: B0057HLL68

Synopsis: Grab some garlic and start sharpening your mother’s wooden spoons because there are vampires living in the most unlikely of places.

I’ve always wanted to meet a vampire. Not to stake some poor bloodsucker as he sleeps in his coffin or have some sexy vampires bite me on the neck, but just to see a creature so rare and infamous. What can I say? Some people want to sail to Easter Island, others want to fling themselves out of an airplane, I want to shake hands with a vampire. Well, maybe I should prioritize getting a girlfriend first, but a vampire sighting is pretty high up on the list. Trust me, a lot of kids my age dream about it. Like my two best friends, Rini and Xander. We spent half the summer searching the most notorious cities in the United States for the undead, but so far, no luck.

That’s why it came as a total shock to discover a living, breathing vampire in our hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. (Okay, so he’s more undead and not breathing, but you get the picture.) At first we were kind of excited, but then pretty freaked because it turns out our new fanged friend has a hold on the city’s teenage population and a specific thirst for their blood. Which, in a word—bites.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have looked for a book with comedic content for a while. With all the different books that I have read, there was a common sadness lurking within the pages. With Adrianne Ambrose’s Fangs for Nothing, I found the opposite.

Herbert “Sherbie” Lehmer has one purpose when he and his friends travel the continent. Hunt for vampires. Alongside with Alexander, “Xander.” and Irene, “Rini,” the three of them scour the different states in hopes of encountering their first vampire.

Fangs for Nothing starts in San Francisco, with Sherbie following clues and strange people to a place rumored to hold vampires. Turns out that it is a club for vampire wannabes and posers. With a disappointed outcome, Sherbie, Xander, and Rini head back to Cleveland only with memories of disgusting smells and unpleasant memories.

Ambrose further brings the characters in an unexpected turn of events that further allows the reader to get to know the three main characters. Sherbie was raised by his grandma, who is constantly secluded to her barka lounger and is a terror in the supermarket. Xander is a wealthy son of absent parents and generously share his riches with his best friends. Rini is “one of the guys,” but is as girly as vampire hunters can get. With this trio of characters, they find themselves amidst a cult of vampires and those who want to become one of them. Do they really have what it takes to take them down? Or will they succumb to the crowd and want to sign a contract of their own?

The witty banter between Sherbie, Xander, and Rini makes for great reading. The comedic punchlines and timing is something for a great cult television show. Ambrose does a great job of inserting comic relief in situations that would otherwise be terrifying. They’re young and scouring the world for vampires? They’re lurking through dark alleys off a hunch from a stranger? No thanks.

I enjoyed the characters and who they were. I enjoyed the plot, although, I wish that the plot came earlier in the story. I felt like most of the book developed the characters themselves and not unraveling the premise of the story. To me, the supporting characters felt like they took center stage, at times, and took the focus away from the main characters.

Fangs for Nothing was an enjoyable, fun, and quick read. I would recommend this to everyone who is looking for a comedy with a bit.

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