This book, as interesting as it is, is definitely not in my running for Book of the Year. It is funny in some parts, has interesting facts about the origin of several vampire myths, but it is definitely NOT the masterpiece I was hoping it would be when I bought it.

While I was browsing the bookstore, the geek in me saw this book and wouldn’t let me put it down. I was thinking to myself what an awesome book this would be. I had no clue how wrong I was.

When I got home, I read it far too quickly (there comes a point where an easy read becomes elementary). Three hours, and that is because every other page had a picture on it that took up half the page. Seriously, is this a book for young adults or is it a book for my 10 year old sister?

The book was funny in small parts, but all in all, I couldn’t figure out why it was so bad. I sometimes like easy reads (The Zombie Survival Guide), and I oftentimes don’t mind books with pictures (The Zombie Survival Guide). I was sitting on my chair, trying to figure out why this book wasn’t good. It had the potential to be amazing, but it fell flat on its face, got back up, and then was hit by a car. Then it hit me like the car that hit the book.

This book tries too much to be like the Zombie Survival Guide. It is like it in almost every aspect of its writing. From its simplicity to its humor and even down to the illustrations, this book tried in every way possible to be a clone of Max Brooks’ masterpiece. Scott Bowen was simply trying to ride the coattail of Max to try and punch a quick ticket to fame and fortune. This book, essentially, was creative plagiarism.

This review may seem completely negative, and it is, for the most part, but what Scott did do that Max didn’t was add in question boxes and random vampire facts. While those were interesting tidbits, they weren’t nearly enough to save this crippled clone.
1/5