Nocturnal Pods

A woman in fear of the way the country transforms under the Trump administration goes in search of vampires...

Unfortunately, I found this one to be a bit of miss, which is a shame because of how much I've been enjoyed the short stories from the author so far. It just seemed he wanted to use this political setup and just shoehorned in it one that leads to a vampire tale. Everything about that subject was done so well in Don't Bury Me, and here it doesn't lead to anything or feel authentic, even though I do agree with the message and worries.

The Pods are found extremely quickly, I know it's a short story but it didn't seem conveyed well that it took months of searching online to find them to me, I only know that from the description on the store page.

What I did like was her character outside the politics stuff, and her dealing with her brother. It's a poorly kept secret they aren't blood-related, and he has fallen in love with her. It's not reciprocated by her, but she does use him to get by. It's an interesting dynamic and keeps the story from being too bad.

And lastly, she is in search of vampires for the reason you'd expect. She's worried about rape culture, but yet seeks out a creature that's often used in literature and other entertainment as the ultimate rapist? Is this the point of the story or did I miss something? Oh well...