"The Undead Kama Sutra" by Mario Acevedo

I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books by Acevedo starring vampire P.I. Felix Gomez. They were a cross between hard-boiled detective book and wacky-vampire-sex book. I'm glad I read this one, as it points to things to come, but this one was heavier on the hard-boiled aspect. Indeed, there were a few times I thought we might be at the end of a trilogy; I wasn't entirely sure that Felix was going to "live" to see another day.

In the beginning, Felix is charged with a mission to "Find Goodman. Save the Earth women." These are the dying words of an alien passing himself off as human, one Odin. Felix isn't entirely sure what it's all about, but saving women? He's down with that. He finds himself tracking Goodman to a swanky resort where the ex-military operative is moonlighting as a golf pro. There are all sorts of hidden military men and equipment, all of which leads Felix to believe that Goodman is up to no good. There are also mysterious plane crashes, missing passengers, and a woman that's killed by a space blaster. It's all leading Felix to a horrible truth - Goodman is working with the aliens. But which ones? And what for?

The plot is a bit convoluted and not altogether easy to follow. I found myself having trouble remembering what happened to whom and how it lead up to what I was reading now, which might have been OK since I was reading other books at the time. Yes, yes - I know it might be my multiple-book habit that was causing the problem, but I don't think so. I usually don't have any trouble picking up where I left off with something, regardless of what else I'm reading. But this time? Well, this time was hard, which makes me think Acevedo's plot wasn't as tightly woven as before. Oh well. There's a sub-plot with his fellow vamp friend Carmen, a very interesting spider, and some other things thrown in. Overall, it felt a bit busy for my taste, but again, I think this is one of those books that paves the way for a change in direction down the road. I would still recommend Acevedo's work to those that enjoy the strange and unusual, especially men who might be turned off by the glut of paranormal romance glop out there these days.