American Vampire by Scott Snyder

If you're of the school of thought that vampires should be neither sparkly nor mushy-hearted toward humans — that they should be depicted, instead, as stone-cold killers with moral compasses of dubious quality, then Scott Snyder's American Vampire graphic novel series may be right up your blood-stained alley.

Volume 1, which is in our fiction section, follows two separate storylines linked by one Skinner Sweet, a rabble rousing, blood drinking, candy chomping member of Vampire Version 2.0. Skinner belongs to a new breed of vampire forged in the crucible of American history. Unlike his European predecessors, he can walk in the sun without fear of self-combustion. Not surprisingly, old-school vampires are not pleased by this development.

It is this revelation that arises in the first of the two stories: A young woman named Pearl goes to Hollywood in the search of fame and fortune in 1925. Her innocence, however, attracts the wrong kind of attention from a pack of literal blood-suckers who leave her for dead. But Skinner Sweet has other ideas, rousing her from death so Pearl can have a second chance at life. Not to mention revenge.

"Just picture it in automotive terms. Bloch and his kind, they're like old, broken down European clunkers, okay? But you and me, Dolly? We're like shiny new 1926 Fords. Top of the line, just rolled out onto the showroom floor.

"See sometimes, when the blood hits sometime new, from somewhere new it makes something new. With a whole new bag of tricks, get it?"

The other story follows Skinner Sweet during his outlaw days in the Old West. Having robbed a prosperous businessman (who also happens to be an Old World vampire), Sweet finds himself captured. But you and I both know it's just a temporary detour for the wayward hellion.

Skinner Sweet makes for a fascinating character because he has no soft spots to him. He's all sly smiling ferocity who does what he wants, no matter the rules and what's right. He kills without seeming conscience. He holds a grudge like nobody's business. He's wily, unpredictable, and a whole lot of fun.

Pearl is no shrinking violet either, particularly once her fangs come in. Because she's newly turned, through her eyes we get to see her confusion and fear as she realizes what's become of her, and how easily her predatory instincts click in. Yet she retains her humanity through her relationship with Henry, a romantic interest from before her change who chooses to remain by her side afterward.

American Vampire earned the Will Eisner Comic Industry Award in 2011 for Best New Series, which should give you some idea of how well-regarded it is by the comic book world. Volume 1, which Snyder co-wrote with bestselling author Stephen King, is lavishly illustrated by Rafael Albuquerque.

If you've not yet tried graphic novels or are looking for a different kind of vampire, I recommend you give this book a try.

Something To Do With Death

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C'era Una Volta Il West (Once Upon a Time in the West) DVD (1968) / w/ Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Jason Robards & Claudia Cardinale; a film by Sergio Leone

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Jill: "You saved his life."

Harmonica: "I didn't let them kill him . . . that's not the same thing."

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In an era of change and transition in a land far from civilized, one man bids for his portion of the American dream while another helps try to preserve it and still others aim to obliterate any chance could have. An outlaw fugitive shoots his way out of captivity only to find new enemies at the next turn, a bigger bounty on his head, more battles to be waged. A woman from the east seeking a new life arrives to find her fiance murdered, his children slain alongside him. All the while as ruthless ambitions are collectively played out, a solitary "man with no name" deliberates his own purpose-filled agenda, one not indifferent to morality yet still wrought with necessary evils. It is Once Upon a Time in the West, a time of order and civility striving to overcome violence and corruption, of progress and development in the face of lawlessness as a way of life.

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The Western to top all Westerns, Sergio Leone's masterpiece is not only a staple of the genre, it's widely considered to be one of the greatest movies ever made. The cinematography itself--symbolic imagery, visual aesthetics and soundtrack--warrants instant appeal: barren landscapes as worn and desolate as the figures and faces which inhabit it, winds howling across unobstructed terrain mirroring civilization's unencumbered progress, tattered buildings withering under the elements reflecting man's own imperfections, etc. The cast is likewise distinguished. Henry Fonda, in his darkest role, portrays the very essence of evil as the psychopathic Frank, a ruthless mercenary only too obliged to kill on a whim. Bronson is the mysterious "Harmonica", a man bearing the scars from a wounded past consequently linking him to a singular, irreversible fate. Robards and Cardinale complete the leads as the sympathetic outlaw and sturdy heroine, each complemented by a well-positioned supporting cast all helping to lift the movie to its rightful place in film history.

Sons of Texas trilogy / by Elmer Kelton

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Elmer Kelton was raised on a ranch near Andrews, Texas where he was exposed first-hand to life on the range. After graduating from the University of Texas in 1948, he worked as an associate editor for a newspaper prior to beginning his career as a novelist. He has since risen to the pinnacle of the Western genre winning countless accolades for his work. His “Sons of Texas” trilogy is one of his more recent collections of Western classics.

Sons of Texas (2005)
The year is 1816 and Mordecai Lewis leaves his farm in Tennessee for what's intended to be a short trip to Texas to wrangle some wild horses and bring them back to sell. But unbeknownst to Mordecai, his teenage son Michael has secretly joined the party. When the group meets with trouble near the Louisiana border, Michael witnesses the death of his father along with most of the others, barely escaping with his own life. Vowing to settle the score, Michael returns to Texas five years later only to meet up with a young Stephen F. Austin and a new life on the Texas frontier.

The Raiders (2006)
In this second book in the Sons of Texas series, members of the Lewis family resume their hard-scrabble lives in the westward expansion of the American frontier. The elder Michael Lewis is a family man now, keeping a home with his wife Marie and three children even as he himself constantly feels the pull of adventure. Andrew, still a bachelor, remains the reliable one; constant in his devotion to duty and country (and secretly to Marie) amid the forbidding Texas borderlands. Together with other loyal homesteaders, the brothers confront Indian outlaws and Mexican partisans as well as an old Tennessee family they’ve long shared a blood feud with in this riveting tale of early life in the Lone Star state.

The Rebels (2007)
The last book of the Sons of Texas trilogy finds the Lewis brothers still strangers in a foreign land, striving to raise their families and cultivate a living out of the unforgiving terrain near the Texas-Mexico border. Meanwhile race, politics, and outlaws intertwine as both Mexican and American cultures clash in the escalating tensions between the two countries. War arrives soon enough bringing the Lewis boys into the battle for Texas independence. Fictionalized renditions of legends Sam Houston, General Santa Anna, and Jim Bowie are included in this classic western adventure.