Book Review: Time for Death

Title: Time for Death

Author: Christie Silvers

Date: 2021

Quote: "We always have fun when we go out to Fosters Cemetery."

Canonical vampire stories are about amoral people, but show them bound by a strict moral code, even if they ignore it. Rick, the boyfriend who says the line quoted above to Liz, the protagonist, is pretty much a lawful good character. It's only Liz's chaotic allure that inspires him to take her to the cemetery to have sex on strangers' graves. 

That's where they meet the vampire who seduces Liz and injures Rick, after building his strength by killing a couple of their friends.

Liz is, to stay within this web site's contract, a piece of work and a half. The B word will probably come to readers' minds. It's not just that she describes, in detail, doing what would make babies if she were fully human with three different men in this story. It's the way she cheerfully lets Rick and also Chad, and would let Susan if it came to that, be hurt so that she can fully enjoy Marcus the vampire. The enjoyment of a canonical vampire, as distinct from a tamed Twilight-type vampire, includes killing him--if you can. 

For those who want to read more about that kind of character, yes, there's a series. Liz will roll on, hurting more people, in more books. Vampires will be reduced to sludge after humans are slaughtered in each story. The sacred act of bringing a new life into the world will be profaned. Repeatedly. And Liz will "love" and kill additional men, besides Rick and Chad.

It's the sort of fantasy Freud liked, because he understood it: For readers who feel that they have no power, it may be gratifying to imagine having exaggerated,  unnatural kinds and amounts of power, and using it in ways they know are wrong, thereby justifying their powerlessness in real life.