Jailbait Zombie by Mario Acevedo

Publisher: EOS / Harper Collins Publisher
Pages: 353

(all cover art and blurbs can be found at Harper Collins)

Book One in the Felix Gomez Series

From the Cover: The first and only vampire book to be declassified

by the federal government . . .

Felix Gomez went to Iraq a soldier. He came back a vampire.

Now he finds himself pulled into a web of intrigue when an old friend prompts him to investigate an outbreak of nymphomania at the secret government facilities in Rocky Flats. He'll find out the cause of all these horny women or die trying! But first he must contend with shadowy government agents, Eastern European vampire hunters, and women who just want his body . . .




Book Two in the Felix Gomez Series

From the Cover: Felix has survived Operation Iraqi Freedom, being turned into a vampire, and a ravenous horde of nymphomaniacs.

Now he faces his toughest task ever—navigating the corrupt world of Los Angeles politics to solve the murder of a distinguished young surgeon turned porn star.


But both human and vampire alike have reasons to want the secret to stay buried. . .





Book Three in the Felix Gomez Series

From the Cover: Felix Gomez returned from the war in Iraq a changed man—once a soldier, now forever a vampire.

So the undead underworld put his skills to work as a private detective, specializing in the sordid, the sexy, and the supernatural.

After surviving aliens, nymphomaniacs, and x-rated bloodsuckers, it's high time for a vacation. Now the aliens are back in a fiendish conspiracy with the U.S. government, and only Felix stands between them and the Earth women they covet. But when an army hit man attacks Felix and the bodacious vampire sexpert, Carmen, not even the astonishing erotic powers of the Kama Sutra for the Undead may be able to save them. . .




Book Four in the Felix Gomez Series

From the Cover: Vampires versus Zombies, round one . . .

Vampire detective Felix Gomez has seen a lot of weird things since becoming one of the undead—nymphomaniacs, aliens, and X-rated bloodsuckers, just to name a few—but now he comes face-to-face with the worst sort of undead.

To stop a ravenous army of zombies, Gomez must team up with a precocious teen with clairvoyant powers whose cooperation comes at a price: she won't help unless Felix makes her a vampire . . . if the zombies don't get her first.

Felix Gomez has done it all, seen it all, lived it all, until now.

When Felix was in the Iraq war, fighting the good fight - for what, he's no longer sure - he and his squad shot and killed an Iraqi family. Did he want to? No. Did he mean to? No. Did it happen? Yes, to Felix's horror, it did, including a young Iraqi girl who has haunted his dreams since. As his punishment and salvation, Felix was turned for his crime during the war after suffering a mortal injury. As he lie dying on the battlefield, his maker made him what he is today, vampire.

Felix Gomez, supernatural bounty hunter and private detective, has been contacted by the ancient ones and governing body of the vampire, Araneum (where he is required to do pro-bono work that could lead to his death). After the last debacle where he lost Carmen to space aliens, he can't afford another mistake (if truth be told, it wasn't actually his mistake). The Araneum have been known to torture, skin, and kill the disobedient of their species, and use the skin for parchment. Felix would like to keep his skin where he likes it best, on his body.

It would seem there has been a disturbance in near by Morada, just outside of Felix's home base of Denver, Colorado. Felix has already had one run in with a zombie and he'd really like to avoid future zombie exposure. But the Aranuem suspect a reanimator, how and where the zombies have come from is a mystery. It will be up to Felix to sort this mess out and find the source of the zombies, the reanimator. The Araneum have offered help in the form of Jolie, one time lover to both Felix and Carmen, but can he handle the help?

Felix has another problem, hallucinations of the Iraqi girl whose life he took by mistake. The Araneum doesn't believe it's hallucinations, but psychic abilities being used against one of their top agents. Felix will also need to solve this puzzle if he's going to find and kill the zombies, stopping them from running amok looking for their favorite side dish, human brains.

As Felix gets closer to Morada, the hallucinations become stronger, changing to take a new face, calling his name, inside his brain, demanding his attention. He has little choice but to follow the voice, to try to stop it from splitting him apart. Upon arriving in Morada, Phaedra Cavaglogo makes contact with him and he discovers the tiny teenager is the face behind the voice in his head. Phaedra's suffering from Huntington's disease and wants him to turn her, but Felix has taken a vow never to do to another human what has been done to him. She can live if only for a few brief years.

The Araneum have notified Felix that he is to kill Phaedra, but can he kill her or will he turn her? Zombie attacks have started to reek havoc on small Morada... where are these zombies coming from? Who is the reanimator? Why would anyone want to create zombies, they can't think, they smell like garbage, and personal hygiene is something forgotten at death. Of what value can they be? Felix definitely has his hands full with this one.

Jailbait Zombie, Book Four in the Felix Gomez Series by Mario Acevedo is a new author for me. I found his writing style to be reminiscent of the old Hollywood movie genre, Film Noir. Felix is a gritty gumshoe that just happens to be a vampire, and his language, attitude, and way of life reflect this genre. Acevedo's books are paranormal in subject matter, but it's urban fantasy as well. The supernatural community resides not along side humanity, but inside the human society, co-existing in secret. Any human that comes across facts leading to the belief in vampires, shifters (which vampires can do in the novels), aliens, or zombies must be dealt with swiftly. The last thing the Araneums want is to be put on display, hunted down in fear, what humans do to everything they don't understand. At first the language of the novel threw me off, I wasn't sure I was going to finish the book. I was a little lost and I had to search for a little background information about the previous books. Acevedo gives plenty of information throughout the novel, but this series is best read in order. It's definitely a mystery with a twist, but it's the twist that keeps you turning pages. Phaedra, the teenage psychic in the book, is a little bit of a nymphomaniac, trying to live her life before it's over and Felix and Jolie are re-united as lovers, but there is no real romantic element, other than the Noir quality. This series of novels would make an excellent graphic novel series. I can only hope that Harper Collins realizes this potential. As graphic novels, this series would be excellent YA reading. As it stands, a YA audience would still find it appealing and acceptable, but adults may enjoy the series more. If murder, mayhem, and madness are your cup of tea, then Mario Acevedo's Felix Gomez Series is for you. If your looking for romance, please look elsewhere, but that's just my opinion. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, I only wish I had read the series in order. For more information about the series Mario Acevedo has an excellent site. EOS Books and Harper Collins also has great information on all of his books.

Here's an incredibility funny book trailer for Jailbait Zombie.


(This book trailer was one of the reasons I picked up the book, too funny.  I knew the humor and snark would keep me reading, and it did.)