The Premise
Joe Pitt is a vampire, living on the fringes of vampire society in New York City. He is also a Rogue, and does everything he can to avoid Clan politics while working odd jobs for the major players. It is during one of these errands that he runs into complications, and inadvertently steps into a scheme that isn't open to outsiders - and most definitely not to a smart-ass Rogue.
In Review
The premise may not be all that unique - gumshoe novel meets vampire protagonist - but the execution of this amalgamation is, to employ the vernacular of author Charlie Huston, bitchin.' Already Dead is a genre novel steeped in traditional elements that are so well employed, it's tempting to call it new. Regardless, it's a fun, wicked read that elicits laughter, grins, and at least a few expletives.
Vampire novels are rampant - and there's no indication that their frequent publication will ever wane, nor outright end. There are so many, one could easily relegate them to their own section in a bookstore, and even go so far as to categorize them by type. Romance Vampire stories? Start with Stoker - naturally - then work your way through Rice, Whedon, et al. Action Vampire stories? Grab Matheson, and behold I Am Legend. Name your particulars, and someone probably has written a Vampire novel that fulfills them. For a race of blood-suckers that is supposedly far-flung and mysterious, they sure are easy to find in fiction.
Let us forget all of that for a moment, and focus on the book at hand. Already Dead isn't a book that's "about vampires", so much as it's a novel that has vampires in it - along with zombies, wraiths, gangs, bikers, private detectives, the rich and famous, and Goth culture. One could rightfully compare it to the work of film maker Neil Marshall, who described his first film, Dog Soldiers as "a film about soldiers with werewolves in it." So too does Huston take numerous elements, toss them together, and serve it out in a slim, 250 page novel that never flags, never wanders, and never takes the easy - or obvious - way out.
This is that rare kind of book that is so successful, one wonders just where the writer was before publication. Did he just appear, full grown, from a god's split head? Did he walk on water from some as-yet undiscovered island? Did he manifest from a ray of light sent by an uber-intelligent species that looked down upon the 25 gazillion copies of The Da Vinci Code that are in print, and felt an acute sense of pity?
What makes this novel such a blatant success? First, the prose: Huston employs the first person in present tense, immediately aligning himself with the traditional storytelling format of the gumshoe novel. And it works, very well. His hero, Joe Pitt, talks tough, doesn't bother with nonsense, and knows just enough about how the world works to be cautious most of the time, and arrogant when he can get away with it. He is, in other words, a likeable bad-ass, a wise-guy, a knuckle-busting private dick that witnesses the inchoate nature of humanity, and doesn't care, so long as he gets paid, and is left alone.
Pitt's description of setting, the people he meets, his own actions - everything is delivered in terse sentences that illustrate the necessary particulars of a situation without fuss. His perspective is so confident that it is almost detached, such that he can describe a poor section of town without dwelling upon its obvious tragedy; introduce a street squatter without describing their filth in almost perverse detail; recount a fist fight like a skilled sports commentator, describing each blow dealt in a logical sequence. Everything is described with clarity, in a confident, conversational tone that compels attention.
Another enjoyable aspect of Already Dead is found in the dialog. Huston has an ear for contemporary speech that is equal to that of Liz Williams, Neil Gaiman, China Mieville, and Cormac McCarthy - to name a few heavies that are meant to grab your attention. Every secondary character speaks in a unique tone of voice that adds depth to his or her personality, and elevates them from mere foil to fleshed out, well-realized character. Many of them use flagrant profanity, and while some readers may be put off by this course language, others may find themselves laughing aloud, marking the passage, and showing it to their friends - as I did many times.
Also noteworthy is Huston's application of the numerous mythical archetypes he imports from the horror genre. Every writer of Vampire fiction has his personal take on the mythos, and in Huston's case this can best be described as "realistic." His vision of a contemporary Vampire society is well thought out, believable, and described with just enough detail to give the sense of a larger history. (In fact, the passages wherein Pitt recounts some of this history are so interesting, one wishes he went on further). Pitt's abilities - and limitations - as a vampire are clearly defined, and dictate the direction of the story in a logical fashion.
So too does Huston postulate the existence of zombies with an explanation grounded in basic biology. He doesn't, however, belabor this point, but rather offers it up as a part of the setting - then leaves it alone. This is, perhaps, what makes Huston's take on horror archetypes so successful: he assumes their reality, then writes accordingly. Every archetype that he employs is present for a reason, and the story proceeds as a consequence of its existence. In this sense, Already Dead is a fantastic novel that fully inhabits the real world while applying its unique set of otherworldly rules.
Were Huston to hypothesize a world filled with vampires and zombies that is realistic, but droll, Already Dead would have been little more than an interesting intellectual enterprise. Fortunately, this is far from the truth. Huston claims to write pulp stories that are meant to entertain, and this is exactly what Already Dead accomplishes. The setting has already been described; set against this backdrop of mythical creatures is a story full of violence, gore, and good-old guts-for-glory heroism. The bad guys are terrible, the hero is an honest Joe - literally - who doesn't roll on his friends, and the presence of mythical creatures offers plenty of opportunities for fantastic action, all of which Huston takes full advantage of.
It bears mentioning that Huston not only employs elements of horror in his novel, but also a horrific theme: child molestation. Thankfully, much more is implied than actually shown. Nonetheless, Huston approaches the subject directly, without examining either its cause, or its long-term consequences. Other crime fiction has employed this theme - Connelly's The Poet immediately springs to mind - but Huston treats it like any other crime: it is wrong, and those who commit it must be punished. To his credit, he doesn't use this theme for mere shock value, but ties it in directly with Pitt's disposition for helping out the underdog - and taking out the sick oppressor.
Some readers may have trouble with this content, along with the gore, the language, and a cast of characters that is rife with flaws. But then, these readers do not belong to the audience that Huston is writing for. And what kind of audience might this be? Gorehounds, horror-buffs, crime fiction fans, pulp adherents, anyone who understands what "Grindhouse" refers to - and yes, anyone who likes a good story.
Here is a good litmus test to decide whether or not this book is for you: imagine a Clan of Vampyres that starve themselves into a euphoric state that forces their metabolisms into an adrenalin overdrive, making them incredibly fast and strong for short periods of time. While enduring these deprivations, the Clan meditates upon enlightenment, and practices kung fu in an empty warehouse. They wear all white clothing, and nobody dares to mess with them.
If you think that's intriguing, then you might consider this book; if you think that's so farking cool as to cause an aneurysm - I can relate.
As Already Dead wraps, it is apparent that Huston has set the stage for further novels. Happily, Huston has stated on his website that he plans to do just that. Knowing that there's more to come in this well-crafted, fantastic world, I was able to finish with Already Dead with only a twinge of sadness. For that matter, I just might have to read it one more time, just to get another hit of badness before the next round.
1/2006
Edited 1/21/2007
(Post-script: since the writing of this review, Charlie Huston has completed and published the next Joe Pitt tale, No Dominion. Select the title to read my review. -D.S.)
