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The Trouble with Hairy (West Hollywood Vampires, #2)
By Hal Bodner
Published by Macabre Ink, 2014
Four stars

Chris and Troy, the centuries-old vampire and his not-quite-human lover of some 65 years, are settling into West Hollywood—which means they’re moving into a larger apartment. Meanwhile, another series of gory murders is looking uncomfortably similar in the eyes of overweight snack-addict coroner Rebecca O’Brien. It is Becky who has to finally force her work compatriots, the debonair police captain Clive, and the irascible city manager Pamela, to pay attention.

That’s when Chris and Troy come back into the picture.

This story knits the actions of the last book neatly into the world created by Bodner in book one, when the monster on the loose was a rogue vampire. Now it’s the reclusive and inhospitable werewolf world that gets dragged into the shenanigans in the gayest city in America. Clive, Pamela, and Becky are the reluctant humans who have to save the day without causing panic among the mortals.

What’s so fascinating about these two books is that, of all the main characters, only Chris, the vampire, is at all appealing. Clive is the least obnoxious, but he is hardly one’s idea of a best friend. Becky, for all her remarkable intelligence, is frankly repellant. Pamela, whose awful clothing choices compete with her truculent nature for top honors, should be entirely hateful. Troy, the oversexed boy-toy, is a nitwit twink of the first degree, spoiled and undisciplined in every way. And yet, somehow, and especially in this book, we kind of become their friends. There is redemption and there is loyalty in equal measure, which sort of rubs against the general mood of goofball mayhem.

One of the key features of this book that I liked a lot is that the author delves into the hidden personal side of all the main characters—including the murderous one. We learn things we didn’t know, and that helps us get under the characters� skin and understand who they really are.

All in all, Bodner’s West Hollywood books are oddities, and more enjoyable for that. It seems clear there were more books in this series in the author’s mind, and perhaps he will produce them for us someday. But, it seems, life is difficult enough without having to write books to make strangers happy. In the meantime, I enjoy the nostalgic memories that Bodner brings to his beloved West Hollywood, as well as the absurd bloody adventures of the unlikeliest team of crime-stoppers ever to appear in literature.