Harder Better Fatter Stronger

Fat Vampire #4

by Johnny B. Truant

SAVE WITH THE BOX SET! - This book is also available in the "Fat Vampire Big Fat Box Set," which contains all 6 books in the Fat Vampire series at a big discount. Get it here: http://johnnybtruant.com/FVMeal

The story of Reginald -- the world's slowest, weakest, most out-of-shape vampire -- continues in this fourth installment of the FAT VAMPIRE series…

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Following Maurice's near-assassination and the overthrow of the American Vampire Council, Reginald, Maurice, and Nikki have fled to Luxembourg, where they've taken refuge under the protection of Karl Stromm and the EU Council. Things in America have continued towards chaos with no end in sight, ... but then just in time, a new leader appears, ready to restore order, and to avoid the human-vampire war that seems inches from explosion.

Things are soon on the mend, but a dangerous faction seems determined to upset the fragile balance, plunging the world's vampires into a war on two fronts -- with a deadly and prepared human force on one side and the vampires' very creators on the other.

And in the middle, one fat undead guy fights to be a voice of reason, eating blood-soaked pizza all the while.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Johnny B. Truant is the author of "Unicorn Western" and "The Bialy Pimps" and is one of the co-hosts the popular "Better Off Undead" podcast with "Yesterday's Gone" authors Sean Platt and David Wright. Both Better Off Undead and the trio's Self Publishing Podcast are available on iTunes.

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Humor, Horror, Fantasy, Fiction, Vampires, Paranormal

211 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2013

About the author

Johnny B. Truant is an author, blogger, and podcaster who, like the Ramones, was long denied induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame despite having a large cult following. He makes his online home at JohnnyBTruant.com and is the author of the Unicorn Western series, the Fat Vampire series, The Bialy Pimps, and a handful of other properties and growing every week.

You can connect with Johnny on Twitter at @JohnnyBTruant, and you should totally send him an email from JohnnyBTruant.com if the mood strikes you.

Reviews

[Dava Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I still like the series, and though I agree that this installment was even a tad better than the last couple, I do have a mild complaint. I don't mind paying $2.99 for these stories, they are good, and that is not too expensive. But when I found that I could have gotten 1-4 for $5.99 I felt a little punished for having bought the single editions. If I'd found the bundle version first, or had known it was going to be offered, I would have waited because I like the stories and plan to read them all. Now I'm not sure if I should buy #5 when it comes out or wait and see if there will be another bundle.

[Pip · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series has lost a bit of its humor. While still interesting and well-written, I miss the chuckles

[chucklesthescot · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the cover of this book! And it was fun to again catch up with poor Reginald and his friends. The vampires are running wild and Charles seems to have no control over them. So when another vampire steps in to restore order and makes a leadership challenge, he becomes the new favourite to take control. Reginald, Maurice and Karl try to start a summit between humans and vampires to restore peace but Claude, brother of Maurice causes the train to derail, killing most of them and destroying all hopes of a settlement. So when elections begin and Timken and Claude are working together, Reginald realises that both are the enemy and need to be stopped.

Reginald is still trying to deal with his own body image issues and save the world at the same time. The gang flee to the safety of Luxenbourg and are taken in by Karl and his European Vampires. As much as they hate Charles, the gang wonder if they might have to help him win to stop an evil pairing from taking over. Could Claire's new abilities be used to alter the votes on Fangbook? And what will happen if they get caught rigging the election?

I liked the excitement and tension of the train crash sequence with the vampires hunting the train to try and find Reginald's group. It was a welcome piece of action in amongst the planning that Reginald has to do, but I still enjoyed the latest offering. If the vampires would just look beyond Reginald being fat, there is no doubt that he is the smartest vampire and would make the best leader! Bigots with fangs!

Still keen to find out what happens in the final two books.

[Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: I listened to an audio version of this book that isn't currently listed on Goodreads.com so I am placing my review here.

So I just blew through all the "Fat Vampire" books in a couple days and they all get "worth the read". This is partly due to the sense of humor employed by the author in the telling but even more so in a pretty good story told well. These are not perfect stories, in particular the MC has a mind-boggling intelligence and yet gets surprised repeatedly. You'd think a highly intelligent being would consider the possibility the bad guys would betray him before it ever happened, let alone by the fifth time it happens, and yet the MC is surprised every time. This is in part due the author painting himself in a corner, by which I mean the MC is given such great mental powers that the author is forced to have his MC surprised to move the author's chosen story forward. However this is also the problem since the author has given the MC such great mental powers it should be impossible to surprise him.

Also, I found the first book the most enjoyable because the MC is dealing with his own immediate problems. Then the MC is put in the position of saving or damning the world. While I can enjoy those stories they only have one possible outcome. Still, the author gets quite inventive in those outcomes so the bottom line is:

While not perfect, these are very enjoyable humous stories that are worth the read.

[Bonnie Dale Keck · Rating 5 out of 5]

kindle unlimited

A New Dark Leader Has Emerged. Following Maurice's near-assassination and the overthrow of the American Vampire Council, Reginald, Maurice, and Nikki have fled to Luxembourg, where they've taken refuge under the protection of Karl Stromm and the EU Council. Things in America have continued towards chaos with no end in sight — until a coup shakes the world and a new American leader arrives with promises to restore order and derail the imminent human-vampire war. But things are not as they seem. A dangerous, genocidal faction has arisen to upset the fragile balance. The New World Order in America is not what it seems. And all the while the world's vampires face a war on two fronts: deadly, prepared human forces on one side, and their immortal creators on the other.

Fat Vampire
Fat Vampire 2: Tastes Like Chicken
Fat Vampire 3: All You Can Eat
Fat Vampire 4: Harder Better Fatter Stronger
Fat Vampire 5: Fatpocalypse
Fat Vampire 6: Survival of the Fattest

Fat Vampire #1 Value Meal (Fat Vampire #1-3)
Fat Vampire Value Meal (Fat Vampire #1-4)
Fat Vampire Big Fat Box Set (Fat Vampire #1-6)

[Shahbaz Khan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The vampires are running wild and Charles seems to have no control over them. So when another vampire steps in to restore order and makes a leadership challenge, he becomes the new favourite to take control. Reginald, Maurice and Karl try to start a summit between humans and vampires to restore peace but Claude, brother of Maurice causes the train to derail, killing most of them and destroying all hopes of a settlement. So when elections begin and Timken and Claude are working together, Reginald realises that both are the enemy and need to be stopped.

The gang flee to the safety of Luxenbourg and are taken in by Karl and his European Vampires. As much as they hate Charles, the gang wonder if they might have to help him win to stop an evil pairing from taking over. Could Claire's new abilities be used to alter the votes on Fangbook? And what will happen if they get caught rigging the election?

train crash sequence with the vampires hunting the train to try and find Reginald's group.

[Johnny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book four

Mistakes: none found, but honestly I skipped entire pages.
Plot: what plot? This was a short story full of vampire politics and maneuvering. Even the new bad guy and his faction couldn't liven up this boring so called book.
Characters: No growth and feeling stale. A side character does grow a bit but it didn't help.
4/10

[Paranormal Books R Us · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fat Vampire 4 Review

Another crazy set of circumstances, another race to flee the country, and another bad guy but this one is fooling almost everyone. What's a fat vampire to do? Get into more trouble of course. It was as chaotic and amusing as I was expecting it to be and was worth the read.

[Gritwald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well I enjoyed this book.

The story is evolving nicely and the characters are getting more interesting. I like this take on vampires. I will be reading the next book and i still recommend this series.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reginald is my hero.(Johnny too.)

With the world losing its mind one large vampire still keeps his wits about him. Kudos to Reginald and gang hang in there and being there for us. Can't wait to start the next book.

[Natalie H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Depressed Reggie and the election.

I’d say this was a low point in the series. Mainly focused on fangbook and an election for which vamp will take over. New tricks and enemies. Reggie felt a bit restricted. Favourite character was the little wizard spicing things up.

[Taria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting Take

This series so far has been hilarious yet thought-provoking. You think you know the obvious answers but that’s not where the author goes. It’s far more intelligent than the title indicates. Read the series, you know you want to.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 4 of the series. The keep peace vampire sector is losing ground and the kill 'em and take over the world sector is increasing in power. Reginal gets Claire , with her reality changing powers, to rig the election of the new vampire leader. But he is caught and taken into custody

[Janis · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF.

[DALE PHILLIPS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not your normal vampire book

Awesome!! Goes in-depth into the vampire lore and uses the Bible to support the beginning of vampires.! Bought all six books!

[AJRXII · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the slightly disappointing 2nd one, the last two have picked back up where the first one finished as in .... Good 😉

[Vesperia · Rating 3 out of 5]

He got better as a writer, but it's also less funny. And Niki and Reginald's relationship is kind of abusive.

[Dan Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much Deus Ex Machina

Lots of very convenient things seem to happen. Makes the book less enjoyable when the author has to add something blatant as a plot device

[Jared McCrackin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short for being #4

I feel like this book is the bridge to the rest of the series not alot actually happens but big things happen still.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

this series just gets better and better. you can't and don't want to put this down - you have to get to the next page and see what is going to happen as fast as you can. that is your only option. i am terrified and excited to see where this story will go.

[Suzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been staying up way too late reading this series and book 4 did not disappoint! The story just gets richer and more interesting with each new book and I've already bought Books 5 and 6 so I can see what will happen next! I've really come to care about Reginald and Nikki and Maurice and Claire and I like how they evolve and have to make some difficult choices as the story unfolds and they find themselves in situations that they never anticipated. Going from a mindless job to suddenly have tremendous power and responsibility and stuck with choices that have no easy answers, not to mention the fact that everyone seems to want to kill them and it's hard to know who to trust. Along the way, despite the horror, blood and gore that abounds, this book and all the books in this series so far, have been laugh-out-loud funny! I am really enjoying them and finding it hard to turn off the light and go to sleep. I have no idea what could possibly happen next, but I can't wait to find out!! :-)

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm still very much enjoying the "Fat Vampire" series. By the fourth installment, the characters have become solid and fully-fleshed players in their world, and it's easy to care about what's going to happen to them. Humans are also finally beginning to play a greater role, and for much of this book we are able to pause and take a look at Reginald's thoughts and his insecurities.

My - not complaint - concern? was the plot of this book and the way it was told. It was obviously to set us up for Book 5, to get all of the pieces in place. It was also a whole lot of politics. And for much of this, Reginald is in one place watching everything happen through his computer screen, and consequently, all of the happenings of the world are relayed to us by summary or word-of-mouth.

It wasn't terribly exciting. I wouldn't say "boring". But, not exactly page-turning.

Even so, there is a definite, excellent sense of foreboding. All of Hell is about to break loose, and it's going to happen soon.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Since I opted to give the Fat Vampire series another shot and was met with the no-resolution ending of book three, I had to try book 4. And here's where I realized why I don't like this series. It's all talk. It's full of exposition and explanation with very little action. Much of book four is Reginald thinking and weighing scenarios. A little bit of that is OK, we need to understand what's going on. But it goes on and on. Even an exciting train wreck was dulled by this need to explain and ponder every detail. Ug.

This one ended without any resolution either. The series has gone from stand alone books with a good sense of resolution to a serial that leaves you hanging, without the cliffhanger you can't ignore.

The author also referenced one of his own books (Unicorn Western), taking the opportunity to make fun of it. I haven't decided if that's shameless jack assery or awesome.

[Jim Kratzok · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and different kind of vampire story

So Reginald is not your typical vampire, having been turned while being obese and out of shape. Since his new vampire powers didn't exactly work wonders with his body, he becomes the brightest vampire possibly ever.but is the intelligence enough to find a way for the world to survive the inevitable human-Vampire conflict?

[Crystal Deshaies-Hilbun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reginald continues to be awesome.

Where is Maurice as the story continues? He becomes less and less involved and Reginald is beginning to take over, which isn't necessarily bad, but I would like to see more of Maurice.

I'm also concerned about Reginald and Nikki's relationship. It seems less real as the story progresses. I get that a human/vampire civil war is about to break loose, but relationships are still going to evolve no matter what the state of the world is like.

Otherwise, these books are great! Anyone who enjoys horror novels or even horror comedies is going to love this series!

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The rest of the books following the first were just as well written, but the plot and characters were much more filled out. I started reading this series as a joke, the first book was free and looked funny, so I thought what the heck? I'm so glad I did. I really enjoyed the twists and turns along the way while trying to figure out the underlying mystery. The only I wished was included was a peek into the underground human society, but since the story is told by a fat vampire I guess we can't all get what we want. I am supersized to hear myself say I am sorry to see this series end.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Better than 2 - 3... keeping me reading for the next installment...

Fat Vampire 1 was interesting... the next versions are mixed - seem somewhat juvenile and might benefit from editing, but I keep reading... and there are books that I don't.

Fast reads, interesting premises... I will keep reading.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seems like this just keeps dragging along and revealing minor details to the impending end of the series. I've been keeping along just by the hook of finishing the story.

I do enjoy the plot being unfolded and seeing more to the story, but feel a bit uneasy to how certain characters or details just dropped and it doesn't seem to layover... Maybe it's just me. Cannot wait to finish the series!

[Nihar · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite after the first. The next two books lose a lot of steam, but this book starts the setup so well. I zoomed through this book and wanted to read the next one, which is a pretty good result from a fourth novella. There is not much new content in the world and the humor diminishes with each book so I am glad I found it so enjoyable.