Knuckle Supper

RJ Reynolds is head of a vampire gang called the Knucklers addicted to heroin. They, and all the other vampire gangs, are under the rule of King Cobra, who sets all of the boundaries and jobs in LA. Dez, one of RJ's underlings, has an idea when they find a huge amount of unexpected heroine to sell it and undermine King Cobra. At the same time, a human girl named Bait latches herself to RJ, making him care for the first time about something other than drugs. Can RJ keep this scheme from the other gangs and keep control of his own while caring for a human child?

Knuckle Supper is a brutal disgusting book with heart. These creatures aren't the angsty Twilight vampires or the beautifully tragic vampires of The Vampire Chronicles. All of the vampires are photophobic, have superhuman strength and fast healing, and need to drink blood to survive. They are also addicted to some form of drug, forcing them to either mix the drug with blood or have a person ingest it before drinking from them. Most vampire lore is false like the effect of mirrors, anything religious, and fangs. Their origin is fascinating, twisted, and deeply topical to today's politics.

The cast of characters is an odd bunch. RJ Reynolds is a reprehensible person who thinks nothing of tearing people apart, stealing, or treating his own gang like garbage. His past is a blank as he only remembers scavenging in the streets as a teen. When Bait comes on the scene, he immediately refuses to kill her, an odd choice for him. Over time, he grows to really care about her and treat her better than he's pretty much ever treated anyone. Bait herself is a 12 year old runaway and sex worker who is attention seeking and kind of annoying. RJ keeps trying to show her how horrible his life is, but she's only amused and delighted. They have kind of a brother/sister relationship that brings RJ to really look at his life.

Knuckle Supper is a fun novel that isn't afraid to go to extremes. Bodily fluids are spewed on many a page in cartoonish quantities, so it's definitely not for the faint of heart. The only problem I had was how the one of the gangs were portrayed. This particular gang has members that are transgender, but are described by many other inaccurate terms, played for laughs, and all killed brutally. In the current climate when transpeople are the target of disproportionate violence and intolerance, this portrayal is tonedeaf. I get that it's from RJ's point of view, not the most sensitive person, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. Other than that, Knuckle Supper is a bold start to a new vampire series.

My rating: 4/5 fishmuffins