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mad_about_books's review
5.0
One does not usually think of a murder mystery as a fun book, but BITE CLUB will surely change your mind. Hal Bodner has a way with a story that will suck you into the action then deliver a right cross to your funny bone. Oh yes, and get your mind out of the gutter. This is not gay pornography; it is a character driven tale that provides very human insight into alternate lifestyles, including those of some alternate species.
WeHo has a serial killer. The bodies are piling up. The mayor is a straddle-the-fence, please everybody politician. The city manager is the other side of 60, opinionated, foul-mouthed, and with the fashion sense of a blind drag queen. The chief of police works at not pissing off the city manager. The coroner eats junk food with one hand while examining the dead body with the other. Can you see where this is going? What about the bite? That would be telling.
Here is a tale that will keep you turning the pages to see who is going to come out on top. It's not quite a roller coaster, but you may find yourself biting your nails, then welling up with emotion, and last, but not least, laughing out loud at the antics of this diverse cast of characters.
Read and enjoy!
WeHo has a serial killer. The bodies are piling up. The mayor is a straddle-the-fence, please everybody politician. The city manager is the other side of 60, opinionated, foul-mouthed, and with the fashion sense of a blind drag queen. The chief of police works at not pissing off the city manager. The coroner eats junk food with one hand while examining the dead body with the other. Can you see where this is going? What about the bite? That would be telling.
Here is a tale that will keep you turning the pages to see who is going to come out on top. It's not quite a roller coaster, but you may find yourself biting your nails, then welling up with emotion, and last, but not least, laughing out loud at the antics of this diverse cast of characters.
Read and enjoy!
see_sadie_read's review against another edition
3.0
I don't always consider a book being cheesy as a bad thing. There have been plenty of cheesy stories I've really enjoyed laughing along with. Bite Club is unabashedly cheesy, purposefully camped up and totally over the top, and I mostly enjoyed that about it. I liked the fat, Jewish heroine. I liked that the rest of the cast was diverse. Mechanically the writing is fine and the narration by Kitty, that I listened to, is well done.
However, there is a thin line between having characters play up to and with their stereotypes and writing a stereotype. On several occasions I felt Bodner crossed the line into making fun, whether purposeful or not. I cringed more than once.
But my biggest problem with this book, and if I'm honest it barely made 3 stars because of this, is that Bodner frequently goes off on long, descriptive histories of characters that divert the plot. If a character is being introduced for the sole purpose of dying immediately, I don't need 15 pages of their life story. I certainly don't need that for a dozen or so victims that play no active part in the book, plus all the actual characters. It broke the story up into small chunks between long sections of unneeded exposition, making it feel very jagged.
All in all, I'll call this an all right read, not bad but not too good either.
However, there is a thin line between having characters play up to and with their stereotypes and writing a stereotype. On several occasions I felt Bodner crossed the line into making fun, whether purposeful or not. I cringed more than once.
But my biggest problem with this book, and if I'm honest it barely made 3 stars because of this, is that Bodner frequently goes off on long, descriptive histories of characters that divert the plot. If a character is being introduced for the sole purpose of dying immediately, I don't need 15 pages of their life story. I certainly don't need that for a dozen or so victims that play no active part in the book, plus all the actual characters. It broke the story up into small chunks between long sections of unneeded exposition, making it feel very jagged.
All in all, I'll call this an all right read, not bad but not too good either.
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