Review - Hard Day's Knight (The Black Knight Chronicles, Book 1) by John G. Hartness (4/5 stars)

Reading level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Size: 196 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace
Release Date: October 21, 2010
ISBN-13: 978-1453873250
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Black Knight Chronicles
Source: Bought
Rating: 4/5 stars

I got this book to read for a blog tour sponsered by Bookish Snob Promotions.  It sounded right up my alley and was a very fun read.  Definitely a lot of satire here, a lot of witty (or not so witty) banter, and a lot of action.

Jimmy Black and his buddy Greg are vampires, they aren't very old and they have recently been licensed as private investigators.  When a teenage boy hires them to stop a teenage girl from cursing him and his family the Black Knight investigtors stumble into something much more dangerous than teenage witch.  Suddenly they are being chased by demon possessed children, fighting zombies, and hunting down a real baddie of a demon.

This was a hilarious book.  The book is very satiric and pokes fun at both modern vampire literature (Twilight and others) and traditional vampire myths.  Jimmy has a quip every couple lines and Greg is a pudgy vampires with a penchant for comic books.  They are both hilarious and yet somehow still manage to make the book feel heartfelt at points.

All of the characters are fairly well (if a bit over) characterized.  The action bits are very well done and make the action easy to visualize.  The plot is well put together and engaging as well.  This is a solid humor filled urban fantasy investigation type of story.

Within the book the author diverges from the story a bit, once it's to tell the history of how Jimmy and Greg became undead and another time to talk about the angel Phil's fall from heaven.  These asides were well-done but the transitions felt a bit awkward to me.  At times the story goes to the point of being a little too over the top, but not often and not so horribly that it becomes irritating.  My only other quibble is the world-building here is very loose; we don't get much of idea about anything outside of Jimmy and Greg and their lives.  I would have liked to learn more about the world they live in.

Overall very funny and a well-written light read about vamps and possessed demon children (I know that sounds weird..but...that's what it is).  If you like satire, sarcasm, and laugh a minutes banter then this is the book for you.  It is especially heavy on the vampire satire and there are a lot of pop culture references in here that span many age groups.  Check it out for a good laugh and a tongue-in-cheek investigation and mystery.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- E-book Reading Challenge

- Horror and Urban Fantasy Challenge
- 100+ Reading Challenge

- Zombies! Reading Challenge