A review of Undeath and taxes by Drew Hayes

 Disclaimer Undeath and taxes is the second book in the series about Fred the vampire accountant and his friends and this review will contain spoilers. I wrote a review about the first book, so read that and maybe the book first. 

Plot

In the last book mild mannered accountant Fred got turned into a vampire. This opens the door to a whole new world of different creatures and people but also friends. 

Having learned that the Parahuman (supernatural) community is rather more organized than he had anticipated. Fred has spent the time between the books learning about the parahuman tax code. Getting his diploma his first job is for Richard Alderson head of the local therians (werecreatures). 

While trying to make sense of the mess that is Richards receipts he is interrupted by kidnappers. They are there for Richards daughter Sally and thinking Fred is her bodyguard they take him as well. Taking advantage of both Richard being in a meeting and Gideon (Sally's ancient dragon playmate) being away Fred is feeling very much out of his depth.

My thoughts

Again this is a collection of short stories the plot section only talks about the first of them. If the first book was about Fred getting friends this one focuses more on world-building. Specifically we learn about the agents. We meet some of Krystal's coworkers and learn some of how it operates. 

Fred acclimatizes to violence and adventure very fast. This is a bit of a double edged sword, the book telling us he avoids confrontation but never shoving it. But I have a preference for active characters so if he had taken the outs he is given and left others to die it would have made for a worse story. 

Though considering this is all written as a memoir by Fred there is the possibilities that this is just him having a negative self image. An image that doesn't necessarily reflect the person he has become but rather the one he was in the beginning of the first book (when he did try to run away and leave people to die). 

If you have read it what did you think? Leave a comment. If you haven't read it you can check it out here Undeath.

The utterly uninteresting and unadventurous tales of Fred the vampire accountant by Drew Hayes

 Plot

 Recently turned vampire Fred Fletcher is disappointed to realize how little how little this changes things. He can no longer go out into the sun or touch silver he is also still socially awkward and scared of any kind of conflict. 
For lack of anything better to do he also keeps his job as a accountant though now freelance since nine to five isn't an option. 
Dismayed by how mundane his unlife is he decides to take a risk and go to his high school reunion.   
The reunion goes bad his former bullies are there and he didn't actually have any friends back then to reconnect with, even fellow former social outcasts Krystal disappears on him after a few minutes of conversation. It's not looking great and then it gets worse as the light cuts out, the doors are looked and the party is attacked by werewolves. 

But this is the start of a whole new unlife for Fred filled with wereponies, LARPing mages and jovial zombies but most importantly friends.

My thoughts.

Written as a memoir by the titular Fred the book contains five chronological stories. The plot part above mostly just describes the first of them the rest is mostly him getting dragged into trouble by mostly Krystal. Forcing him to get out of his shell and be a bit more social.
Sounds harsh but its good for him. 

Although I described him as as scared of conflict he also doesn't back down even when faced with opponents a lot stronger than himself as long as its to help someone. I was going to say to help his friends but its more friends of friends or strangers he just meet. This does help to make him more likable at least for me.

It's a clever book most of the solution to the trouble facing Fred gets solved not by force but by thinking outside the box and being clever, which I like. It's also an interesting mix of the fantastical and the mundane. In a way that's very refreshing, there aren't many uncool vampires in fiction which clearly is a shame. 

The book is a very quick read. This is partially down to it being several short stories. I like stopping at the next chapter and even more so at the end of a story. Also you are never more than 50 pages from a climax so that too helps. 

If you have read it what did you think? Leave a comment. If you haven't read it you can check it out here Utterly.