Review | American Vampire, Vol.3 by Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque and Sean Murphy

American Vampire, Vol.3

by Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque and Sean Murphy

My Rating:

In the Pacific, Pearl's husband Henry joins a clandestine group on a secret mission to Japan to hunt a new breed of bloodsucker. Meanwhile, Skinner Sweet has plans of his own...

And in Europe, vampire hunters Felicia Book and Cash McCogan go behind enemy lines in Nazi-occupied Romania in search of a rumored vampire cure. 

I'm so glad I decided to carry on with this series because if I hadn't I wouldn't have read this, which has definitely been my favourite volume of the series so far.

I continue to be very fond of Pearl who, when faced with some difficult choices, still managed to do the right thing even when it was hard. What I love most about Pearl's story arc is that this is the story of an immortal woman and a human man in a relationship, rather than the other way around as it so often is. Even more so, she isn't overtly sexualised or treated like a no-good temptress; Pearl may be a vampire, but she's still a woman who loves her husband, and it was a nice change to see the man of the relationship struggle with the idea that his wife will stay young forever while he continues to age. 

This story included more Skinner Sweet, too, who is a favourite of mine; he's just such fun to follow even though he's basically a terrible person, and I loved the glimpse into his past we were given through his reunion with his old flame, Kitty.

What surprised me most about this volume, however, was how much I enjoyed the story involving Felicia and Cash, who we meet properly in Volume 2. (I say 'properly' because we get a glimpse of Felicia at the end of Volume 1). I enjoyed their story in Volume 2 but I didn't think it was particularly spectacular, this story I loved. Felicia is on her way to becoming one of my favourite characters - there's something about her that reminds me a little of Tanya Huff's Vicki Nelson or Suzanne Collins's Johanna Mason, both of whom I love - and her chemistry with Cash was wonderful. I'd happily watch a crime caper drama starring the two of them playing good cop/bad cop.

I was surprised by how much I did enjoy their story because I've always been rather wary of stories that combine the supernatural with Nazi Germany. I don't know why I dislike that combination so much; I don't know whether it has something to do with implying the supernatural cheapens the horrifying events that actually happened during this period of our history. For whatever reason, though, it didn't bother me here at all - possibly because Hitler himself doesn't make an appearance, and Snyder has combined vampirism with history so flawlessly throughout the series that it doesn't feel like vampires have been thoughtlessly tacked on to Nazi Germany.

I really enjoyed this volume, and I'm looking forward to continuing the series!