Just what I expected: an exciting page-turner with an important message and lots of gore. Splendid!

The plot is a whirlwind of violence and girl power (and a tiny bit too predictable to warrant a better rating). Most of the characters in this book are nuanced enough to make them credible - I suffered with the protagonist when bad things happened, and cheered her on when things went well.

I was surprised at how much gore and violence (including sexualized violence) were part of the story. Besides the obvious vampire, the characters are held back almost as much by sexism and racism - an important lesson for all of us, even when we're not suburban housewives in 1990s South Carolina.

I'm not sure all of the characters would have been needed, and one or two events /plot devices maybe weren't strictly necessary - Miss Mary, the real estate project, several of the book club members and their husbands and their children... Overall however, everything comes together to form a complex image of this Southern suburb with its inhabitants, who just happen to have a vampire among them.

If you like a fast-paced horror novel with a strong female protagonist (who has lots of problems of her own even without the villain next door), you're in for a treat (and a lesson to learn) with this book. I enjoyed it a lot! (Did I mention the incredible amount of gore?)