Undead and Unemployed
by Mary Janice Davidson
Paperback - 294 pages
Berkley - August 2004
Started: September 22, 2004
Finished: September 22, 2004
It's always a pleasure to read a sequel that actually improves upon the original, and Davidson has managed to do just that with the second book in the Betsy, Queen of the Undead series (the first book being Undead and Unwed). The first was a good mix of humor and romance, set in a world where a secret vampire society exists, but the proportions of each element didn't quite join as seamlessly as might be wished. The second book overcomes this slight problem, focusing more on the characters and the humor and just a little less on the romance, making for a fun ride through one of the worst weeks in Betsy short undead life. Davidson plays effectivley with the many cliches of vampire literature and movies and Betsy snappy attitude provides many laughs during the book.
The only caveat for Undead and Unemployed might be that newcomers to the series will be a bit put off by the lack of background material that is provided. This is one of the cases where reading the first book will definitely heighten the enjoyment of the second. In fact, having read the first one, I was glad that the amount of "recap" was small; such repetition is tiresome when you've read the previous books -- especially within the last couple of months. Overall this is a quick and fun read.