Those of you with a good memory may remember me saying I had picked up this "little gem" a couple of months ago. Well, I finished it a while back and I thought it deserved a review - not because it is a worthy literary tome, but because I’ve never read anything like it and I still can’t believe I finished it!

Succubus Blues
By Richelle Mead

Succubus (n.) An alluring, shape-shifting demon who seduces and pleasures mortal men.
Pathetic (adj.) A succubus with great shoes and no social life. See: Georgina Kincaid.

Well, that’s that way the back cover blurb starts on this tale of a good natured demon who really wants a date, but can’t get it on with a decent chap because even a kiss is likely to put someone who is pure of heart into a coma.

The story centres on the exploits of the glamorous immortal Georgina Kincaid, book store manager, dance instructor and – as the title suggests - part time succubus. Georgina’s rather hum-drum Seattle based existence is first thrown into chaos by an immortal slaying entity, and then - more importantly for some I suspect - by the arrival on the scene of two potential suitors . . .

Firstly, I must point out that this is not my usual fair, the cover blurb worked in my case not because I liked the sound of the book, but because I just couldn’t see how it could be anything other than a road accident of a novel, and I was frankly curious to see how the hell it got published.

The plot, such as it is, never tries to stretch the imagination - instead it falls back on a safely comfortable series of clichés and, I suspect, a heavy dose of wishful projection on the part of the author. The demonic killer-on-the-loose part of the plot is utterly predictable, and you can see the ending coming from so far away you wonder why the other characters aren’t screaming at Georgina to wake up and smell her white chocolate mocha.

The love interests are also utterly predictable cardboard cut-out characters. Seth - the quite, sensitive and amazingly talented author - and Roman - the dashing, outgoing, salsa dancing Lothario - both give poor Ms. Kincaid plenty of excuses to wring her hands and bemoan a life of eternal beauty and regular shags (and for those of you who want the inside skinny, the sex scenes, when they come (fnarr!), are pretty uninspired soft porn romps that leave you more bored than aroused – indeed, I skipped the last two trysts completely).

The book does have two things going for it though, firstly it is a very easy read and you can have quite a bit of fun predicating the next cliché, and secondly the heroine, Georgina, is actually quite a likeable character (but this, in a way, is also annoying, because you only end up wondering what she would have been like if the book had being written by Joss Whedon).

So, was it worth the time spent on it?

Well, I can honestly say - with hand-on-heart - that this is as terrible a book as it sounds, but at the same time it does have a kind of low level charm that whilst it won’t leave you under any illusions that it is a great read, it will probably leave you moderately satisfied if you like trashy holiday novels.

Oh, and as predictable as the rest of the book, the ending is left wide open for the sequel - Succubus Nights - that is already in the works (a preview of which, that I haven’t read, is included).

A rather generous 2 out of 5.

Succubus Blues is published by Bantam Books for the princely sum of £6.99.

(I’m now off to read something with some literary merit!).