The Vampire Gaytooth is not your average story about vampires. The main character is Rodger, who aptly calls himself Gaytooth, who has a clever take on his vampirism (fangs) and his sexual preference (guys). He is, in fact, a most unusual vampire. He does not require human blood to feed or need to completely shy away from daylight. This allows for interesting interactions with humans and the ability to hold down a day job. Rodger has the ability to take the form of humans of his choice, and so he varies up his race and religion several times throughout the story.
We follow Rodger’s adventures primarily through his relationship with Jack, a non vampire whom he becomes close friends with. They meet for meals regularly and discuss any topic you could imagine. Jack is an interesting character. He is initially skeptical of Rodger’s legitimacy as a vampire- who wouldn’t be? But a series of tricks Rodger does in front of him convinces him. He is able to match wits and sarcasm with Rodger which makes them an interesting pair whenever they are in a scene together. As a reader, we always get the impression that Rodger is not only one step ahead of Jack, but us as well.
The most important aspect of Rodger’s personality is his need to even the score. If he feels wronged by someone, he will take his revenge. His reasoning for this is, well, they shouldn’t have done what they did. In one of the opening scenes, there is a brief sexual encounter with Rodger and a man that is interrupted due to the fact it takes place in the middle of a mosque. Rodger is livid, though to us, he should not have been engaging in such activities in such a public place. He seeks his revenge on the man in a startling way. Now I was beginning to see Rodger as a selfish, pleasure seeking vampire only out for himself. I was definitely mistaken. As you read this book you will come to see Rodger ultimately as a wayward vampire, empathetic to those around him, vindictive to those who not only hurt him but have plans to hurt others.
Seeing the story through Jack’s point of view was great because he says what we, the readers, are thinking whenever Rodger does something seemingly crazy. And again, Rodger has an answer that suggests he knows more than we actually see on the page.
This story was a fascinating take on your usual vampire lore – it was fresh and new and fun to read. Jack and Rodger are two friends who will make you think about how we are all connected in the world, why things happen the way they do and maybe some things are in fact by design. There are a few highly sexualized scenes for people who aren’t comfortable with that sort of reading. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a fun, quirky read that also makes you think.
