THE SOUTHERN BOOK CLUB'S GUIDE TO SLAYING VAMPIRES

There's an air of disquiet in Bahni Turpin's charming Southern drawl in this edgy story about darkness that lurks where we least expect it. Patricia Campbell is the devoted housewife of a neglectful husband, the mother of ungrateful teenagers, and the tired caretaker of her ailing mother-in-law in a town where her only excitement is her book club. Turpin's narration captures the building chaos in Patricia's subdued and superficial life as Mrs. Savage chews off her ear, (literally); a soft-spoken, unassuming stranger moves into the quiet town; and the genteel members of the book club, called Belles, turn into a sisterhood of vampire slayers. Turpin's delightful rendition of the ensuing gore, crisp expletives, and eerie suspense of this horror story, which touches on themes of gender, class, and race, makes for an enthralling listening experience. M.F. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2020]