The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires

By: Grady Hendrix

Narrated by: Bahni Turpin

Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias meet Dracula in this Southern-flavored supernatural thriller set in the '90s about a women's book club that must protect its suburban community from a mysterious and handsome stranger who turns out to be a real monster.

Patricia Campbell's life has never felt smaller. Her ambitious husband is too busy to give her a goodbye kiss in the morning, her kids have their own lives, her senile mother-in-law needs constant care, and she's always a step behind on thank-you notes and her endless list of chores. The one thing she has to look forward to is her book club, a close-knit group of Charleston women united by their love of true crime and paperback fiction. At these meetings they're as likely to talk about the Manson family as they are marriage, motherhood, and neighborhood gossip.

This predictable pattern is upended when Patricia meets James Harris, a handsome stranger who moves into the neighborhood to take care of his elderly aunt and ends up joining the book club. James is sensitive and well-read, and he makes Patricia feel things she hasn't felt in 20 years. But there's something off about him. He doesn't have a bank account, he doesn't like going out during the day, and Patricia's mother-in-law insists that she knew him when she was a girl, an impossibility.

When local children go missing, Patricia and the book club members start to suspect James is more of a Bundy than a Beatnik, but no one outside of the book club believes them. Have they read too many true crime books, or have they invited a real monster into their homes?

©2020 Grady Hendrix (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

Not the strong Southern ladies I know

Too long , wimpy portrayal of the women, disappointing stereotypes . Slow speaker did not fit narration

These Men Are Assholes

This book was great. The characters were well written and each showed considerable growth throughout the story. Except the husbands, of course. They were all assholes.

Wow

This was not what I expected it to be. It was so much better! The storyline was amazing. I am so glad I decided to listen to this one.

slow at first, but when it took off...wow!

I almost stopped reading. was vampire a metaphor? no. kept reading and when it started getting good, it stayed good till the end!

$&@! Great story $&@! Great read

I haven’t read a book this good in a long time! My own book club did not choose this book, but I decided to read it anyway and I’m so glad I did! Sometimes infuriating but ultimately satisfying as hell! Bahni Turpin’s reading deserves something made of gold.

What an absolutely fun read!

I loved it. Just an absolutely fun read. I want to read everything by this author now.

Not quite a well-balanced story

On a long trip, I listened to the Bahni Turpin-narrated version of this book. It was great for the trip; the story kept me engaged and the miles drifted by, but I have 2 distinct issues with this audio elements/version. First, the narrator mispronounced a couple of words--Spoleto and Camus (as in Albert) come to mind immediately. Sure, the mispronounciations weren't important to the content of the story, still they took me out of it for a bit. And second, the chapters presented on the audioplayer screen didn't match-up with the audio (i.e the screen said Chapter 20, the narration said Chapter 18) which made it difficult to start where I left off.

As for the book/story, I liked it for the trip, but I'm certain I wouldn't have delved very deeply into the text version.

I lived in Mt Pleasant, SC during the time period of this story, and although the geography doesn't quite match with my memories of the area, I will attest to the attitudes of the 'old guard' ladies' clubs as portrayed by Patricia's first attempt at joining a book club, the diachotomy of public and private relationships, and the rabid local attitudes about The Citadel, Clemson, and USC. (I was surprised that none of the 'polite' party conversation in the book involved the 1993 "Shannon Faulkner/females at The Citadel travesty". It was pervasive.) And it was this detail that led to the authenticity of fundamental story...while at the same time dragging it down. The details encumbered the story at times, yet seemed significant until the passage concluded then they were never addressed again or resolved (e.g. cosigning on the bank account, the van in the storage unit, the rats, Blue's obsession with Nazis, putting mothballs in her pockets). I kept waiting for some of the details to swing back around in an ah-ha moment, but they didn't. Also, from a literary sense I didn't like that Patricia was the sole narrator/point-of-view until it wasn't convenient for the story. If other points of view were intended to be included at convenient moments, that stylistic form should have been introduced earlier, and maintained throughout. That doesn't mean that Patricia couldn't have provided the main point-of-view, but introducing others' points-of-view would have given the story a consistency and balance that I felt it lacked.

All-in-all it was a nice story with a weird meta quality to it.

amazing 👌

this is the best story to get hooked to audible books. try it! you won't stop listening 🤓

My Favorite Book this Year!!!

What on earth did I just read? It’s chock full of horrific things; missing children, death, suicide, gore, and rats, lots and lots of rats! Oh, and I loved every minute of it! I don’t know where to start with this review or how to categorize this book. It was satire and humor mixed with horror and carnage. Darkly disturbing yet laugh out loud funny. This is a book that truly suits this girl’s eccentric personality.

It centers around a Charleston housewife, Patricia Campbell, in the 1990’s. Her doctor husband is obnoxious and condescending and has saddled her with his elderly mother. Her children take her for granted. Her only reprieve is the monthly book club she shares with her friends where they talk books, drink wine and share gripes.

A stranger, James Harris, moves into the neighborhood and things start to get weird. At first Patricia is friendly and helpful but is soon suspicious that he is behind all the strange occurrences. She begins to suspect he is a vampire. Do not mess with this Southern momma as she decides he must be stopped! I won’t divulge any more, you really must read it for yourself, but hang on to your seat!

I have never heard of Grady Hendrix before this book, but now my curiosity is piqued. I must read more of this author! Another listen on Audible and the narrator, Bahni Turpin, was excellent! I give this book five bloody stars!

Excellent

The book was superb, the performance was fantastic, this book far exceeded my expectations. I began this book in a cynical manner and I ended up not just enjoying it, but unable to stop. I purchased the physical book so I could read when I could and listen when I was in my car.