I’ve read several of Claire’s books (“Unmasked” is a favorite) and always appreciate her solid, no-frills writing. Her stories usually bring to mind the best of 80s schlocko horror cinema: a bit of sleaze, a bit of comedy, and plenty of spilled blood.

In this case, the story revolves around oddball characters in a small southern town dealing with what may be a vampire infestation, though the bloodthirsty hordes are a particular type of vampire.

The dialogue was great, with one character having an endless supply of goofy country aphorisms. 

A couple of things pushed credulity for me (I’m always turned off by cops who make no effort to maintain their firearms) but nothing I couldn’t live with.

I found enough typos to be annoying, though this might have been an older copy of the book. It’s been sitting on my TBR pile for a while.

All in all, though “Code Red” was plenty of fun and I give it 4 out of 5.