Bloodsuckers: A Vampire Runs for President by Michael A. Ventrella

Bloodsuckers: A Vampire Runs for President Reviews

• 
  Daniel A.

  
  Michael A. Ventrella is a good friend and colleague of mine, and I remember when he personalized my copy of
  Bloodsuckers; Mike and I were both at
  Arisia, it may have been just after the 2016 election of He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, and Mike was just beginning to make his regular commentary on social media that the actual events of the upcoming T***p administration would be wholly unbelievable were they fictional, especially given that Norman Mark's politics in Bloodsuckers were not entirely unlike those of
  Bernie Sanders . . . well, except for the vampire part. Now that the T***p administration is thankfully over, I felt like I had the mental bandwidth to finally be able to actually read Bloodsuckers, and it was just as fun as my friends who've read it made it out to be.
  
  One of Mike's more recent efforts at authorship has been the very well-received
  How to Argue the Constitution with a Conservative, and, as befits Mike's background as a civil libertarian, former instructor of constitutional law, and practicing attorney, the political satire in Bloodsuckers is really quite good. Mike punctuates the narrative with transcripts of (fictionalized) actual news shows, pungent with their commentary on what the state of running for political office (and, for that matter, reporting on the state of running for office) entails in post-2000 neoliberal United States of America, and between the plot itself and the moments in which Mike's own political beliefs bleed into the narrative, Bloodsuckers is both well-executed and clever. Add to that that Mike knows the value of where to insert actual, laugh-out-loud humor, and that most of the narrative moves relatively smoothly, and Bloodsuckers is a success.
  
  Bloodsuckers isn't 100% perfect—it takes Mike ever-so-slightly too long to delve into the meat of the plot, and the climax and resolution feels ever-so-slightly too pat—but for by far the most part, it really is a lot of fun. Mike clearly had a great time writing the novel, and since I had a great time reading it, I suppose we're even.
• 
  Daniel

  Michael Ventrella knows his politics - and his vampires. A socialist Democrat who happens to be a vampire (this was written in 2014) survives an assassination attempt, and the reporter who is set up as the patsy for the crime is on the run. It's a quick read with some knowing takes about our political and media culture. Lots of fun.
• 
  Helen

  Crisp, suspenseful thriller with a bloodthirsty twist.
• 
  Firstname Lastname

  Tight, funny, well-written, and smart.
  
  I will start with, I read this because Ventrella. I do not consume vampires, or for the most part, male authors. But consarnit Ventrella really is -that good-. This is a tightly written yarn, that keeps the action moving. There's a lot of action to move. Elevator pitch is "What if vampires exist, and one runs for major office?"
  
  The attributes of vampires are mostly true to pop culture, and not played for spooky, or all-powerful. The fun part is that while I expected a twist or two, the twists have twists. I was genuinely surprised by several things that happen near and at the end of the book, which rarely happens to me.
  
  The sardonic wit of the author shines right through the text, and is a relief after slogging through a slush pile. I think I'll be using the rest of his oeuvre as palate cleansers e.g. "When I am tired of bad writing, I will be refreshed by 200 pages of Michael's writing". I did expect to like this, I did not expect to like it -this much-. Read it, you'll see what I mean.
• 
  Grace

  "Bloodsuckers: A Vampire Runs for President" is a fun read - part political thriller, part paranormal, part mystery. There is something for everyone in Michael A. Ventrella's novel.
• 
  Dennis

  A fun story, well written with some amusing dialog and definitely a couple good twists.
  
  Definitely worth the read.
• 
  Charlayne

  Governor Randolph Brunswick is running for the presidency of the United States, right up until he steps off the balcony of the Hilton hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts and takes a swan dive into the payment in front of the reporters covering him. As he falls, someone sees a bird, or a bat, or something else fly out off the balcony.
  
  Steven Edwards, a fallen big-time journalist trying to rebuild his career and his life at a minor paper, writes a story about vampires and how they have taken over politics, including the new Democrat front-runner, Norman Mark. The group he interviewed, their unofficial name was “the Batties” are convinced that not only do vampires exists, one is running for president. After the story is printed, he comes to the attention of not only his boss but some very important people, the vampires.
  Norman Mark, successful businessman has been running against Brunswick and his death gives Mark the chance to be the main Democratic nominee. Right up until someone shoots him at a rally. The assassin, Karl Weaver, masquerading as Collin Babcock, owner of the Diamond where the rally is occurring, shoots Mark and then takes off, literally, changing into a bat and flying out of the stadium, pinning the assassination attempt on Steve.
  
  Steve is rescued by a mysterious woman named Hannah, who is one of the Batties and she hides him, taking him to another Battie’s house. The Secret Service, the FBI, and the vampires are all looking for him and Hannah keeps him safe, right up until he gets into a convoluted plan with a woman Hannah trusted right up until she finds out that Asia is a vampire. And Asia’s plans may just get him killed.
  I really didn’t know what to make of Bloodsuckers at first. I’m pretty versed in politics and it was amusing to see how author Michael A. Ventrella wove the politics around the story of vampires, the Stregoli, who are divided about whether or not Norman Mark should be calling attention to himself or whether having a vampire as president might be a good thing.
  
  I did enjoy the book. He has masterfully taken a lot of very public people who are actual newscasters and other current items, writing them into the yarn. I could see the whole thing unfold as a movie before me as I read. The pacing was very well done and it didn’t drag as the story moved along with Steve and his rescuers.
  
  And the twist at the end was not expected, at least not in the names and history that it took advantage of.
  
  I could tell which side of the political spectrum the author was by several of the comments in the book. I had to smile, I don’t think this was entirely intentional on his part but for a reader with political news experience, it was amusing.
  
  It’s not fabulous literature, it’s not a discussion on the state of politics, Bloodsuckers is really just a fun and funny book that makes the reader wonder, “Is that candidate a human, or a vampire.” Good job.
  
  Charlayne Elizabeth Denney
  Paranormal Romance Guild