X-Rated Blood Suckers
X-Rated Blood Suckers
Mario Acevedo

Reviewed by Sabrina Williams

In 2006, Mario Acevedo introduced us to Felix Gomez, soldier vampire turned private investigator, in The Nymphos of Rocky Flats.  Felix solved the mystery of the nymphos using his supernatural powers, and in 2007, he returns in X-Rated Blood Suckers, the sequel.  

Still a private investigator, Felix’s services have been sought out by porn actress Katz Meow.  Katz needs Felix to find the murderer of her friend and fellow porn star, Roxy Bronze, and she’s willing to pay a hefty fee if he’ll take the case.  When he realizes he has personal ties to Roxy, his interest in the case is piqued.  When the governing body of vampires, the Araneum, lets him know--in no uncertain terms--that he will take the case because they suspect vampire-human collusion, he hops on a plane for Los Angeles.  

When Felix arrives, he discovers that Katz Meow has disappeared.  According to her employer, porn producer Cragnow Vissoom, she never showed up for work, which is out of character for Katz.  Vissoom is also the leader of the Los Angeles vampire nidus and is the main suspect the Araneum sent Felix to investigate.  Felix knows there is more to the story than Vissoom is revealing.  

As Felix begins interviewing suspects, it becomes evident that Roxy had plenty of enemies with motives for murder.  The suspect list keeps getting longer and the bodies are piling up.  Crime lords, politicians, doctors, porn kings, evangelists, chalices—everyone he encounters seems to be linked to one another and have ties to Roxy.  It’s baffling, even for the most experienced of supernatural detectives.   

The story of X-Rated Blood Suckers is possibly more intricate than The Nymphos of Rocky Flats.  Acevedo manages to introduce a host of characters without convoluting the plot and distracting the reader.  A love interest provides some inner turmoil for Felix as he wrestles back his human emotions because of his damnation into the world of blood suckers.  

Possibly the most delightful aspect is the addition of Felix’s partner-in-crime, Coyote.  Coyote is an elusive ancient vampire with a penchant for rat meat.  With his mysterious talents, he darts in and out of Felix’s life with privileged information that helps the investigation.  Despite his irritation, Felix becomes quite attached to his friend.  Coyote could be characterized as the comic relief, but the whole of the novel is hilarious on its own.  Together, the two friends face the most dangerous adversary of all: humans.  

X-Rated Blood Suckers is Mario Acevedo’s second novel.
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Author Interview:
You are an artist as well as an author.  Do you find any similarities between the process of writing and the process of painting?
They tap complementary creative recesses in my brain.  One day soon, I’d like to devote time to a project involving both.
What are the titles of some of the books on your own bookshelf?   
Who Are You People? (Caudron), The Watchman (Crais), The Lincoln Lawyer (Connelly), Shooting Gallery (Lind), Wicked Break (Shelby), The Becoming (Stein), Hammerhead Ranch Motel (Dorsey), My Backwards Life (Myers), Riding With The Queen (Shortridge), Flight to Arras (Saint Exupéry).  Some art books to include: Pulp Art (Lesser), Visions of Adventure (Dell)  

Is there a particular genre you prefer to read?  
Since I write mystery and humor, I like to read other writers’ work so I can burn with jealousy at how good they are.  

What influenced you to begin writing?  
I convinced myself that I could write and publish a novel.  Seventeen short years later I was able to do it.  

In The Nymphos of Rocky Flats, Felix solved the mystery of a community of sex-crazed nymphomaniacs.  In X-Rated Blood Suckers, his primary case involves workers in the porn industry.  Will Felix’ cases always possess a sexual overtone?  
Always, and more.  In future books I plan to add scratch-n-sniff inserts.  

Why did you choose to begin Felix’s story as a soldier in present day Iraq as opposed to the historically cliched image of a cape clad, castle dwelling vampire?
I know about soldiers.  I don’t know much about castles. 

Felix seems to long for companionship, whether it is from a romantic interest like Veronica or an eccentric friend like Coyote.  Being that this seems to be more characteristic of a human than a vampire, do you think Felix is content as a vampire or would he take the opportunity to become human again if it was presented to him?
In my story world, a vampire can never be a human again.  One of the drawbacks of immortality is that you outlive your family and friends and that you’re doomed to be alone.  Even God felt this, which is why he created Adam. 

Did your own military service influence your decision to portray Felix as a soldier? 
Yes, but Felix was a hard-working enlisted man while I was an officer.  We ate bonbons and sipped brandy while the soldiers filled sandbags and strung up the barbed wire. 

I read on your blog that there is a third and possibly fourth Felix Gomez novel in the works.  Do you think you will eventually create a finale for Felix or will Felix survive as long as readers demand him? 
Book three, Kama Sutra for the Undead, is with my editor.  I’m working on book four and hoping it’ll find a good home.  As long as Felix is willing to work, I’ll cash the checks he brings home. 

If you could give one person your book to read, who would it be and why? 
There are two, both of whom will never read my books as they passed on before I was published.  I inherited my love of reading from my dad and he would’ve been thrilled to see me in print.  The second is Jad Duwaik, to whose memory I dedicated X-Rated Bloodsuckers.  He and I talked a lot about writing and he passed away a couple of months before my first book came out. 

Thank you again!

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