My Goodreads review: Less Than Human

[ankh_hpl]

Less Than Human by Gary Raisor

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Weird Western meets vampirism meets the X-Files? Yes, with a side order of 1990s splatterpunk to keep things interesting. This may be one of the most unusual vampire novels I've ever read, though the vampire concept has to be stretched to describe what goes on in this one. Some familiarity with Mesoamerican mythology helps, too.

Beautifully but brutally written, Less Than Human combines a thriller plot (think Longmire without Longmire ) with the very real question of humans meeting the utterly inhuman. Bad things happen to bad people. Bad things happen to good people. And, just possibly, some of the good (or less bad?) people can overcome the worst of it, at a high price.

Fans of hard-edged or extreme horror will probably find this a five-star read. I stepped out of my comfort zone -- a well-received group read for Literary Darkness -- & ran into one of my Rather Not Read Abouts (maiming) more than once. If this is you, approach with caution.






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