Mario Acevedo

The title is enough to incite giggles, I know. A mix of fantasy, mystery and science fiction, Mario’s Acevedo’s debut novel packs a lot of punch. His style of writing makes for an easy and enjoyable reading experience. The Nymphos of Rocky Flats is about a detective whose most recent assignment is to find out the source of a rash of nymphomania at a government facility in Colorado. As stated on the back of the book, the main character, Felix Gomez, “went to Iraq as a soldier and came back a vampire.” As Felix’s investigation begins, he finds himself and other vampires in the area being the target for vampire hunters. The storyline was unusual and creative. I immediately liked Felix and enjoyed meeting the other characters in Mr. Acevedo’s novel. The book got off to a great start and although the book took an unexpected direction into science fiction, which seemed a bit much, it still somehow worked. I would definitely be willing to read more by this author in the future.… (mer)

Ah, what a crazy book to have read! It was fun, though. Not my typical pick to read but it takes place down the highway from my house so I had to read it.

Rocky Flats is gone now, there's just a highly contaminated site where the weapons plant once stood. This story takes place at the time of the decommissioning about a decade ago.

There's a vampire who is also a veteran and private investigator, aliens (!), nymphomaniacs (!), and evil Ukrainian vampire hunters. The story could have actually done without the nymphos but I suppose it was all part of the craziness. My serious nature being what it is, I could have read this book with just the vampire driving around in his 1962 Polara doing PI stuff and been quite happy. (It's hard to take this book seriously!)

Here's a few fun quotes from a local's perspective:

"I was driving my '62 Dodge Polara north on Highway 93. . . .Past the intersection with Highway 72, I turned right at the first traffic light. . . ." (Now there's a snap shot of my morning commute.)

"Jenny Calhoun lived in Arvada, a bedroom suburb right smack in the center of the radioactive smoke plume should Rocky Flats catch fire, like it has twice before." (I was planning on calling in sick when they did the controlled burn this summer on the former site, but due to negative public reaction, they've canceled it.)

Here's the old view of the site, now gone.



And here's 93 and 72 for all those interested.

… (mer)

I haven’t read the previous three books, so I don’t know much about the side characters. The story is not hard to follow. Mystery series are the best series to skip around in without missing anything. Since I miss some book, I don’t know the set up or the rules for this world.

Felix Gomez may seen a bit cowardly at times but, what happen to him in the past explains why the way he is. There are some funny moments throughout the story. The part with the mad scientist is the best part.

I like what is done with the world, just tossing in all these paranormal creature as well as aliens. Might as well. This remains me of the TV show the X-files. Only the main character is a vampire detective.
… (mer)