REVIEWING “BLOODSUCKERS”: THIS BOOK SUCKS…YOU RIGHT INTO THE STORY

Book Reviewed: Bloodsuckers: A Vampire Runs for President, by Michael A. Ventrella

Genre: vampire novel, political satire

Published By: 1632, Inc. 2019 ($14.99 in paperback)

I would like to first apologize again for the delay in posting. I had finished reading this most recent book a little while ago, but unforeseen life events have kept me from writing about it. But no more delays! Here we are with my latest review, and this one was great.

Michael A. Ventrella’s novel Bloodsuckers was an intriguing, subtly humorous romp through politics using vampire mythos intermixed with a presidential assassination attempt and the conspiracy cover-ups exposed in the aftermath. At the center of this whole mess is disgraced newspaper reporter Steve Edwards, who gets sucked into the world of the Van Helsing Society, a leading group that monitors the vampire phenomenon. The mission? To put a stop to the Presidential candidate who is secretly a vampire. But this is no simple mission, and it is complicated by one nagging question: would a vampire really be worse than the other guy running?

Michael is a talented writer, capable of penning a genre piece that is as entertaining as it is thought-provoking. I had a chance to trade messages back and forth with the author, and he warned me not to take the book too seriously. But I think that he sells himself short, for while the book isn’t “high literature” it is certainly better than most of the shlock books being released these days. What I liked was that it was a political book that didn’t attempt to bash you over the head with its message; Michael clearly has a political leaning (and I happen to lean the same way), but he goes after both sides of the aisle so as to be as even handed as possible.

This was an exciting book, complete with an eye-catching cover. Be sure to check it out!