Straight Outta Fangton

By: C. T. Phipps

Narrated by: Cary Hite

Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's Summary

Peter Stone is a poor, black vampire who is wondering where his nightclub, mansion, and sports car is. Instead, he is working a minimum wage job during the night shift, as being a vampire isn't all that impressive in a world where they've come out to mortals.

Exiled from the rich and powerful undead in New Detroit, he is forced to go back when someone dumps a newly-transformed vampire in the bathroom of his gas station's store. This gets him fangs - deep in a plot of vampire hunters, supernatural revolutionaries, and a millennium-old French knight determined to wipe out the supernatural.

Sometimes, it just doesn't pay to get out of the coffin.

©2016 Charles Phipps (P)2017 David N. Wilson

So funny, you'll die!!!

Excellent take on the vampire mythos. Great and enjoyable. The pop culture references alone are worth the listen but the author tells a great story in the meantime. Well crafted, funny, reverent and believable. This is what life would truly be like if Vampires and other supernatural beings were real. The Narrator did an excellent job with the voices and the pace. Great book.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

THATS ONE BAD VAMPIRE!!!!!

Wow!! This book was hilarious. I have not quite read a vampire story like this one. This is Urban Fantasy meets Robyn Peterman(The fashionably dead series). I look forward to more in this series.. The narrator was fantastic!!!! He really brought these characters to life. Great job!! I received this book free in exchange for an honest review.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Hilarious and a Blast of a Book

Being a Vampire must suck... if you get my pun.  Though this book would have you believe that vampires do not suck as much as they slurp since the heart helps push the blood out of the body.  But, being a poor black vampire must be even worse.  Enter the life of Peter Stone who has been exiled from New Detroit (a vampire mecca).  He works a terrible job making terrible money.  That is all until one night he finds a girl in the bathroom of the convenience store he works at in the middle of a transition into a vampire.  Instead of leaving her alone like he should have, he helps her out, throwing him into the crazy underworld of New Detroit. 

I'll state up front that I would never actively seek out a vampire book. They are either too glitzy and glamorous or too bloody and vile.  Straight Outta Fangton got me because it was billed as "comedic vampire story" and I knew I had to take a shot on it.  Boy, am I glad I did. 

Straight Outta Fangton was a really funny story.  Phipps knows how to write a good story and add lots of comedy in it.  The comedic parts did not take away from the story at all but actually added to it.  I found myself laughing throughout but still riveted by the story. 

Stone was such a great character and such a change of pace for me.  Funny, a little nerdy, and seemingly annoyed all the time - he was one of those rare "real" feeling characters.  Especially for a vampire book. I love reading about someone that I can relate to or feel like I know.  Stone was one of those characters. 

Overall, Straight Outta Fangton was a really enjoyable book on a lot of fronts.  Fantasy/Vampire lovers will love the story and the backstory of Stone (and the others around him).  Comedy fans will be laughing throughout at all of the references throughout.  And fiction lovers will love the story that Phipps has created and the world around it.  I felt like I was there and that I actually knew Stone and his friends.  Straight Outta Fangton will be a book that won't disappoint.

Also, Cary Hite does a great job narrating this.  Giving Stone a voice really brought this book to life.  His narration definitely added to an already great story. 

I was provided a free copy of this book. It has not affected my review in any way. If you enjoyed it please consider giving it a thumbs up! If you'd like to see more like it you can check out BriansBookBlog DOT com.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Its pretty good

A good paranormal book, vampires and werewolves and all that. Its sold as a comedy and ya it has an air of humor about it, but its not 'have to stop the book for 5 minutes because your too busy laughing to pay attention' kind of funny. Still a good book though, 10/10, would buy sequel.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Eight awesome hours oh hilarity start to finish.

Its been a while since a book has been able to keep me chuckling through almost the entire book. C. T. Phipps manages to hit just the right glib tone in this book that had me constantly either shaking my head or outright laughing my butt off. The story in and of itself is some weird sort of love child between the Blade series and True blood. The main character is a vampire, shocker I know, but try not to get your hopes up for something too classy as when the book opens he works in a quick stop. As it carries on more characters are added in and while a few are in only a couple scenes I cant really point to any that feel two dimensional. Scattered throughout are a smattering of action scenes which also work well in their own right. The only nitpick I had that bothered me a touch is that there is a moment in the book where a flashback gives some insight to a character, in said flashback a minor character is named, but then afterwards that same character is referred to twice more as someone who the main character never even found out the name to. It was weird but hardly more than a momentary distraction in the scope of the overall book.

All in all I enjoyed the hell out of this book, possibly a bit too much as I ended up bingeing through the entire thing in one go. Then again if that isn't a high recommendation in and of itself I'm not sure how else to hype this book.

I received this book for free in return for an honest review of its contents.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Fun, fast, and funny

What you see is what you get with this book, an easy going, hilarious, vampire adventure. The story is straightforward and unfolds an interesting take on the Urban Fantasy world--there's more here than just jokes and geek references--via likeable, believable characters. The humor is equal parts wry cultural contrast and geek reference points. May not be the book for you if you're tired of sci-fi movie references, but if you enjoy a story that reminds you of people you know, you won't put it down.

The narrator does first rate character delivery, possibly the perfect voice for the lead. His pacing is a little off at the start with some odd pauses between sentences, but that fades as he finds his stride with the book. All in all, a very enjoyable performance.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

awesome !!

so, I went into this book expecting comedic vampires. you know, the typical fluffy b.s. propagated by "the man"... instead, I've come away with a pop culture gem! With phraseology like "Bye, Alicia," I'd have to be on my very best behavior not to laugh at all of the comedic gold in these pages! The voice actor is a perfect blend of Will Smith and James Earl Jones, combining flighty comedy and the deep, resonant tones of hardcore scyfy. A beautiful blend of current events and popular comedy!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Filled with witty references and comments

Peter Stone is a vampire.  A poor African American vampire who is shunned from New Detroit and has to work night shift in a convenience store to make ends meet.  Stone discovers a freshly turned vampire in the women’s restroom and from there, his troubles are just beginning.  There is a movement to destroy the old ones and a new vampire to step in and take over.  Peter is smack dab in the middle.

Filled with witty references and comments from Blade, Blacula, Vampire in Brooklyn and other pop culture film references, CT Phipps tells the story of Peter Stone.  Light and comedic, it flows well and captures the listener’s attention.  It is not an edge of your seat type of story but it has its moments where the action was non-stop.  I enjoyed the scene where Peter enters a sesame seed bun specialty store to investigate a lead but is compelled to count sesame seeds … hilarious!

The narrator, Cary Hite, added an almost Samuel L. Jackson voice to the main character which made it even more captivating!  Hite was the pièce de résistance that made the book even more entertaining.  The manner in which he voiced the prose was perfect!  Together both Phipps and Hite made the book come to life for me.

If you enjoy pop culture references, vampires, and comedy – this is the book for you!  It was fun, pure and simple.

There were no issues with the production or quality of this audiobook.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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4 of 5 people found this review helpful

One, One Sesame Seed... Ah, ah, ah!

Peter Stone has it hard, living in a trailer and working at a 7-11 knock-off in the outskirts of New Detroit, not exactly the life he imagined when he became a vampire. Hell, he hasn't even been a vampire long enough to fly well, he just sort of hovers. When he finds a newly minted vampire in the ladies room, his life gets progressively worse.

Phipps poses the question:"What would happen if the vampires revealed themselves to the world and financially bailed out the United States?" And the answer requires a ton of sarcasm, a truck load of mystic weapons, and more blood than you can shake a pack of werewolves at.

To be honest, I loved this sarcastic take on vampire lore and Cary Hite was the perfect choice for Stone. Although, I'm not sure it was necessary to tell me it was a comedic vampire story in the sub-title; the title alone sort of gives that away.

If you like dark comedy and vampire stories, you'll enjoy this book.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

HOLY **** THAT WAS FUN!

HILARIOUS! Yes, it's hilarious. And with vampires! Great combo, it works and it's AWESOME.

Life sucks for hard-working vampire Peter Stone. It sucks even worse when he meets a mysterious stranger, and is tossed into the middle of a world of danger and hurt. NOT FUN. That's what you get for helping people, right?

Great story, loved the characters, and the narration was great too. A definite GEM.
Check it out! :)

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Hilarious!

I loved this, Wraith Knight was good, but this is so much better.

It's not your typical vampire story. there's calamity galore. The jokes had me laughing my head off while driving and I must have looked hilarious as there were a couple that had me in tears. So many references that just made this story one of my all time favs!

Charles really knows how to do funny! And Cary was the perfect voice for the characters, especially the MC Peter Stone. Great fn all around and I want more of this one too! well just more of this to be honest.

Thank you for sharing this one.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Another Great Phipps Book!

Would you listen to Straight Outta Fangton again? Why?

Definitely. It was hilarious!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Peter was an easy guy to root for so he was definitely my favourite but he was backed by a good cast of fun secondary characters.

Which character – as performed by Cary Hite – was your favourite?

I felt like Hite gave a good performance of all of the major characters. He did have a couple of bad accents for a few very minor characters but on the whole I thought he was excellent. He got the tone of the story right at all times which was important as this was a dark comedy that balanced the hilarious moments and witty banter with some pretty dark moments.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. I liked the characters and the story was definitely engaging.

Any additional comments?

The whole story was a lot of fun. The banter between Peter, David, and Melissa was hilarious and I do love the fact that Phipps packed the story full of fun pop culture references and jokes. The story turned out to be pretty dark as the vamps were definitely not the fluffy Twilight type but the humour and the witty banter helped keep the story from being to bleak.

I think I own all of Phipps books in audio and outside of his Supervillainy Saga books I think this is his most enjoyable world yet. The world is interesting and I loved how a lot of the stuff in the story was a clever analogy for everyday bigotry in modern society.

Bad narrator

not sure if the story was good or not,the narrator killed the book for me...one of the worse performances I've had the misfortune to listen to :(