Bookshots: 'Certain Dark Things' by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Bookshots: Pumping new life into the corpse of the book review

Title:

Certain Dark Things

Who wrote it?

Silvia Moreno-Garcia, author of Signal to Noise and publisher at Innsmouth Free Press.

Plot in a box:

With the help of a young street-kid, a vampire must escape Mexico City before another rival clan of narco-vampires catch up to her.

Invent a new title for this book:

Drink Up

Read this if you like(d):

Christopher Moore’s Bloodsucking Fiends, You Suck, and Bite Me.

Meet the book’s lead(s):

Atl, the descendent of Aztec vampires. Currently on the lam after witnessing her entire family being slaughtered by a rival clan.

Domingo, a street-kid who collects garbage.

Said lead(s) would be portrayed in a movie by:

Atl - Rosario Dawson

Domingo - Ray Santiago

Setting: Would you want to live there?

Mexico City. No, because they have a strict “no vampires allowed” policy, and I find that kind of rude.

What was your favorite sentence?

In the end, we are always our hunger.

The Verdict:

Simply put, this book is fun as hell. Now, let me add a disclaimer: I have no idea how fun hell is, but I imagine it’s not exactly a snooze-fest. Certain Dark Things is the opposite of such an atrocity. Like any good thriller, the chapters are short enough to get you addicted, just the right length to get you telling yourself, “Okay, just one more chapter, then I’ll take a break."

Are you one of those people who like to bitch about vampire lit being too pretty? Then shut your trap and pick this up immediately. You like your vampires bloody and violent? This is what you need. You enjoy clever, immersive world-building? Here you go. You dig noirish narco shoot-outs? You just hit bingo, motherfucker.

Certain Dark Things is a mixture of emotions: terrifying, suspenseful, heartwarming, and humorous. You’re going to deeply care about the characters in this book, and there’s nothing you can do about it. So buckle in and enjoy the ride.