Bloodletter: C.E. Lutzke
Reviewed By Simon Paul Wilson
Last year, I received a bunch of gift cards for my birthday. Mighty pleased I was, as it meant I could blow the lot on books. After hearing quite a lot of good things about Chad Lutzke, I decided to buy The Pale White and The Same Deep Water As You. Both of them blew me away. If you’ve not read either of those books then you really need to fix that, as they are utterly wonderful slices of dark fiction. And yeah, both of them had me sobbing.
Anyway, it’s now May 2021 and time for another birthday. This year, I only got one voucher, but I did receive a nice birthday book haul that included four more Chad Lutzke novellas. I decided to go for Bloodletter first.
Bloodletter: The Hemato Pages: Book 1 was a hit for me. I read the whole thing in one sitting and am very much looking forward to more in this series. While this book didn’t kick me in the heart and face as The Pale White did, Bloodletter was certainly my cup of tea.
Obviously, this particular story is where we get introduced to the main characters and a little world-building is done. I liked Lutzke’s take on the vampire mythos and I’m interested to see where he takes things in further volumes.
As for characters, I liked them all, the good guys, and the bad. The best, of course, is the star of the show and vigilante vampire, Brielyn. The tale is told through her POV and it is hard not to like her. This recently turned vampire is smart, funny, and has high morals. She’s also a super successful tattooist to boot. How she goes about quenching her vampiric thirst is very clever. Jared, a defence attorney and her best friend, tips her off about bad folk who need to be taught a lesson or two. I won’t say what she does to these unsavoury types, but I thought it was a pretty cool and clever idea.
As I said earlier in this review, I really enjoyed this book. Once I started reading, I just kept turning pages until the bloody end. Excellent stuff, indeed.
To sum up, Bloodletter is a fast-paced read, with a main character that kicks arse/ass, and a nice new spin on vampires. It’s also a lot of bloody fun.
More, please!
Bloodletter
Last year, Brielyn led a normal life in Los Angeles as a tattoo artist.
Now, thanks to her estranged father, she’s a vampire with a lust for blood.
With no one to mentor her, she stumbles through this new way of life, trying desperately to follow a moral compass that has her snacking on society’s dregs only.
Thankfully, her best friend Jared, a defense attorney, points her toward potential meals. But when the two disagree on her next victim, it’s up to Brielyn to find out if the target is deserving.
You can buy Bloodletter from Amazon UK & Amazon US
Simon Paul Wilson
Simon Paul Wilson is a U.K. based writer of horror and science fiction.
He is currently writing a cyberpunk horror trilogy, the first of which is GhostCityGirl and was published by Not A Pipe publishing in 2020.
Click this link for more info: Ghost City Girl
There now follows a list of writers who have influenced his reading tastes and writing style:
James Herbert. Stephen King, Shaun Hutson, Clive Barker, China Mieville, Haruki Murakami, Carlton Mellick III, Brian Keene, and Adam Nevill.
Simon lives somewhere in the middle of England with his wonderful family. He likes to listen to post-rock and progressive rock at loud volumes. He also plays a mean air bass.
Follow him on Twitter: @spwzen
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