Category: Zombie

REVIEW: Outpost by Ann Aguirre

5/27/2016

Title: Outpost

Series: Razorland #2 - NOT stand alone

Author: Ann Aguirre

Genre: Young Adult, Futuristic, horror (kind of)

Length: Novel - PURCHASED BY REVIEWER

TBR Reviewer: Christine K.

Rating: 4 Stars - Recommended Read!

Welcome back to the Razorland trilogy. Deuce, Fade, Tegan and Stalker have survived the infested cities and are now in a small town called Salvation. It’s protected by large walls that have kept the muties/freaks out but they’re getting smarter…

I love this world and the characters. There so much dark and it’s peppered with so much hope. The beginning is kind of slow moving for me. I found Deuce losing herself within the school of Salvation and it just doesn’t feel like her character. The flashbacks are also strange. They are just passages from the first book and don’t move the story along. Once Deuce joins the patrol to protect the fields things are filled with action. I love the fight scenes. Deuce is so graceful and awesome when she fights with her daggers. The romance issue between her and stalker and fade is perfectly done. It makes sense that she doesn’t understand the boys because she’s lived her whole life underground. Then we learn more about the muties/freaks and the whole ‘eat me’ thing is so freaking creepy! The ending is perfect. It gave closure to this book and set up a quest for the third and final book. I can’t wait to read it!

Outpost is another amazing book in the Razorland Trilogy.

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REVIEW: Married With Zombies by Jesse Petersen

5/16/2016

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Title: Married with Zombies

Author: Jesse Petersen

Length: Novel - purchased by reviewer

Genre: Zombie, Comedy

TBR Reviewer: Christine K.

Rating: 5 stars - A Must Read

Couples therapy is murder especially during the zombie apocalypse. Sarah and David are days away from giving up on their life together. Then a plague breaks out. Between toilet seat etiquette, they have to chop off a few heads. But as the saying goes - the couple that slays together, stays together.

Zombies and snarky couple humor go great together! So do Sarah and David. This reminded me of that movie Zombieland but the focus being an unhappy couple. I'm not one for domestic books, I much prefer aliens to drama. But this book is really entertaining and I am surprised by just how fast I read it. It isn't all humor, there's action and a few sad scenes. It's hard having to kill your zombified friends and family. The death by toilet set scene was my favorite, I think.

Married with zombies is a humorous start to this undead series!

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REVIEW: Kick at The Darkness by Keira Andrews

8/28/2015

Title: Kick at The Darkness

Author: Keira Andrews

Length: Novel

Genre: Zombie, Apocalypse, Gay, Shifter, paranormal,

Rating: 5 Stars - A Must Read!

Heat: 5/5 - Orgasmic!

Sometimes I don’t want to write a review, I just want to scream out loud about how much I loved a book. This was that kind of book. Okay, so I’m going to try for full sentences without too many exclamation points...

A C-minus in an easy college class, that’s how Parker meets Adam. Then the entire world is infected by some kind of virus and they look a lot like zombies. Keep the lights off, the world just got a whole lot meaner. While Parker and Adam try to survive, Adam keeps a dangerous secret: He’s a werewolf.

Hey, it’s good to have a werewolf during the zombie apocalypse. Just saying. This book is fabulous, scary, sexy, amazing, humorous...full sentences, right. Oh, one more word. Epic! Parker is a sweet guy who thinks of himself as a loser. Adam is sexy, muscular and brave. Their chemistry is perfect. The action is intense. The pace is balanced between romance and plot. Even when Adam’s secret is revealed it is completely believable. I could not stop reading! The sex is extremely hot. Yup, I’m blushing. There are a few questions at the end that I hear are going to be in a sequel! Do they find a cure? What about the other werewolf who I shall not name and ruin the surprise? What about Parker’s brother overseas?

What a ride! If you’re going to read one book this year, it HAS TO BE Kick at the Darkness by Keira Andrews!

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Review: Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton

10/19/2014

Guilty Pleasures

By Laurell K. Hamilton

Genre: Paranormal, Vampire, Shifter, Zombie,

Length: novel (Paperback purchased)

TBR Reviewer: Christine K.

Rating: 4 Stars - Recommended Read!

I loved Ms. Hamilton's Merry Gentry Series. Anita Blake is her newest and on going series. At the moment it's 25 books long so I started with book one, Guilty Pleasures. We meet Anita, animator of the dead. Vampire killer. General badass. She's thrust in the middle of a vampire serial killer mystery and is forced to help by Master Vampire of the City. There we meet Jean-Claude. The only vampire she's ever been attracted too.

This was not a sweet romance. It was raw, gritty, action packed. I liked it a lot. Poor Anita is always stuck at the disadvantage. She's witty, sarcastic and can kiss ass when she has too. I loved her. The book could have used some romance. There was plenty of plot and action.

I recommend beginning this series with Guilty Pleasures. It's the first chance to meet the lead character. I can't wait to start the next book which I already ordered - The Laughing Corpse.

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REVIEW: The Spirit Dragon by Tianna Xander

8/5/2013

The Spirit Dragon
Author: Tianna Xander
Page count: 95
Genres: Paranormal Romance
TBR Reviewer: Victoria
Rating: 3 Stars - A Good Read.
Heat: 1 - Tame

Having reviewed the prior book in the series, The Water Dragon, and thoroughly enjoyed it, I jumped at the chance to review the next book in the series, The Spirit Dragon. I’m happy to announce that much of the book lived up to my expectations, including a very healthy dose of humor.

Jasmine’s witchy gift is bringing things back from the dead. Until recently, it’s been limited to plants, but about a month ago, formerly living creatures have started getting up and walking after her. This includes a rather humorous recitation of one of the zombies shambling after her saying
“Braaaains.” Understandably, she’s a bit tired of that and retreats to a sanctuary provided by Drake, her brother-in-law, where she just has a couple of guards and limited interaction with things that might have once been alive.

Honestly, I never stopped giggling throughout the book. Ms. Xander’s humor was fantastic and I just didn’t get tired of the zombie jokes. Given everything Jasmine had been going through in recent days, you couldn’t blame her for clinging so long to the belief that Ryuu was yet another reanimated body. And, with that in mind, who can blame her for not wanting to be attracted to him or objecting more than she might otherwise at being abducted.

These two made a great pair, their innate gifts (her ability to reanimate the dead and his to pull a spirit back from the afterlife) matching perfectly. I don’t remember the Water Dragon having the same perfect compatibility, but they made a lovely combination.

Anyway, all that said, this got knocked down from a 4-star to a 3 because of some of the issues in the latter pages of the book. Primarily, the utter confusion (in my mind, to the point I actually went back and reread a few pages when I stumbled over the issue as I read) over why exactly Jasmine didn’t want to be with Ryuu (after she finally believed he wasn’t a zombie).

The only other minor problem I had with this was definitely one I hadn’t had with The Water Dragon: the secondary cast. Had I not read the other book, I would have had no clue what they were talking about when they threw in a conversation about finding/rescuing Emily (friend of the heroine who got snatched by a dragon at the end of the book). While it’s always a delicate balance to avoid info-dumping and boring those who are a long-time fan of your series while providing enough information to newcomers, I think this book definitely fell shy of that balance.

Other than these two issues, I loved this book and am eagerly awaiting a chance to get my hands on the next Dragon book.

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CONTEST: Temperature: Bitter Cold by Adam Santo

2/21/2013

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Temperature : Bitter Cold
Author: Adam Santo
Genre: Horror Science Fiction
TBR Reviewers: Shyla
Length: 240
Rating: 5 stars - A Must Read.

The second book in the Temperature series takes on a much darker, sinister tone. I was chilled to the bone, riveted and curious about where Mr. Santos was taking me. Our hero Bo is forced to team up with a witch named Zemra to find Sally, our heroine who's been kidnapped in the
last book; I hate to be a spoiler kind of gal but that's a need to know basis for this review. Mysteries and legends prevalent in society are explained with the wit and whimsy I've come to expect from Santos as Bosnic and his partner trek to find someone who can give them the locations of Sally.

Our heroine, newly raised zombie, Sally is having one hell of a bad year! She's just trying to wrap her mind around what she's become, only to find she has powers none have seen in millennium, be threatened with death and finally kidnapped by a religious group of zombie haters. The torture she endures at the hands of top psycho Demric is enough to turn your stomach. But it forces her to explore just what being a necromancer means. If you have images of vile , half decomposes bodies rising from their grave you're dead on and you know just what makes this book so bad ass. One thing I really love about Sally is she's a save yourself kind of girl. ( The best kind in my opinion.) Bo is there to help her get out of tight spots but he's almost a last resort/mentor.

I could on and on about the plot and its wicked twists but that would be ruining. Suffice to say I highly recommend this dazzling jewel. Santos has a way with descriptions and distorting the everyday knowledge we take at face value that makes you devour each page.

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REVIEW: Tower in the Woods by Tara Quan

2/17/2013

Tower in the Woods by Tara Quan
Genre: Zombie, romance, post-apocalyptic, bdsm
Length: Novella
TBR Reviewer: Brutally Honest
Rating: 4 stars – Recommended Read.
Heat: 4 handcuffs – An erotic Ride.

What a unique idea! At the end of the world, we have zombies! Along with a virgin sniper trapped in a tower, rope made out of zombie hair and some wicked rope bondage. Add that to witty one-lines and extremely well written characters – you have Tower in the woods by Tara Quan

At the beginning, there’s a scene in her POV and then the same scene in his POV. That
was the first hurtle with this book. It slowed down the entire pace and it was redundant. It hurt the book rather than helped. There was a puppy torture reference that I absolutely hated and I nearly put the book down for that single line. It was horribly disturbing and completely unnecessary. There’s also a major hop in the story. They have sex and then jump to a week later, which put a damper on the character’s connection.

Still, after those issues the book comes together quite nicely. The characters were well written and the story itself a solid read. I’ve never read anything that blended a fairytale with zombies. It was a really good idea, the plot was well fleshed out and there were no annoying slow spots. The pace was constantly even. The sex was smoking hot with some bondage. I enjoyed it and would like to read more from this author.

Zombies plus fairytale story plus a talented writer equals a book you must read!

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REVIEW: The Dying of the Light by Jason Kristopher

2/7/2013

The dying of the light: interval by Jason Kristopher
Genre: Horror
Length: novel
Reviewer: Mark
Rating: 3 Stars: It was a good read.

Interval is the second of three books set in the same universe where Zombies or “Walkers” have taken over the planet forcing much of humanity to retreat to underground bunkers until such time as they can repopulate the planet. Though they are the last vestiges of mankind, the separate bunkers find it difficult to co-operate with each other and get along despite being under constant attack and that’s without mentioning the feelings of mass claustrophobia that begins developing amongst the population of Bunker One.

Meanwhile at McMurdo Base, deep in the heart  of Antarctica, one more group of humans struggles to survive in desperate and  dire conditions. There may not be any Walkers but they have their own separate  problems to deal with....

I really enjoyed the first book and the two  short stories I have read that accompany the series so had high hopes for this.  Unfortunately, I felt a little let down and disappointed by this second  installment which, although good, never quite matched the superiority of the
first novel. This was for a number of reasons.

Firstly this book quickly becomes less about  the Zombies and more about the individual pockets of humanity as they struggle  to survive and work together towards a common goal. In fact, the Walkers barely  feature for large chunks of the novel other than in passing. Secondly, the main  plot of the novel jumps around a lot. Not just between McMurdo Base and Bunker
One but also across vast stretches of time. Two years or more can have passed  between chapters and I found this, at times, a little disconcerting and thought  that it broke the story up quite a bit, meaning it didn’t flow as well as  it did in the first book.

It is an interesting take on survival and is a good read because it deals firmly with the practicalities of retreating to an  enclosed space underground for what could end up being decades and looks at the  various problems that could arise in just such a situation. But I just felt that this time around the plot was slightly lacking when compared to the first  book!

Another thing I felt let this down was that  characters from the short story What Ever Happened To Tom Reynolds feature  heavily and if you have not read this, then many fans may feel a little lost as  to what exactly is going on. What Ever Happened To is supposed to represent a
“lost” chapter from the first book and is due to be included in an anthology of  stories to be released once this series is over but without reading it, I just  felt that many people wouldn’t have a clue  who some of these people were or their relevance to the plot! This I thought to
be a major plot error.

Overall, this isn’t bad but don’t expect this  to be quite as gripping as the first book in the series. A big revelation towards the end almost feels like a bit of an excuse to string out
the series to another book and though I am keen to read it to see how this all  ends, still now I feel a bit skeptical about whether it will reach the high  standards set by the first book! Like I say, I didn’t hate this ~ I just felt a  little let down.

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Review: Things to do in Denver When You're Un-dead by Mark Stone

11/15/2011

4 Comments

+Giveaway

Horror, Mystery, Zombies - Novel
TBR reviewer: Shyla

Blurb

For ten years Kal Hakala has been the Bureau of Supernatural Investigation's top man, the longest surviving agent in its blood-soaked history. The World At Large has no idea that The World Under exists. And its vampires, demons, zombies, and mythic monsters are growing
increasingly restless. In all Kal's time with the Bureau, there has been no case he couldn't crack, no monster he couldn't kill. Then a plague of zombies comes to Denver, along with a vicious serial killer dubbed The Organ Donor.A childhood encounter with a legendary monster has left Kal with an endless supply of rage and hatred for all things Supernatural. But now the target is on his forehead, and the Un-Dead don't die easy. The Bureau has a few aces of its own-a few magicians, a cyber-ghost. Unfortunately Kal is a perennial loner ... And the
World Under is wise to his tricks.

Review

I started reading Things to Do in Denver When You’re Un- Dead for zombies. Cause everyone knows I love a good story about the undead. What I discovered as a I read was so much more. Mark Stone must be one witty, dark, sarcastic and twisted man.. ( I mean that in the best possible way of course) Because he put all of that, and then into this book! In this tale, the hidden world of supernatural’s referred to as the World Under is policed by BSI, Bureau of Supernatural Investigation.

To say they’re not your average task force would be putting it lightly. We have BSI agents who are ghosts, magicians, and various human bad asses. The average life expectancy of an agent it three to four years tops. However, our hero Agent Kala is an exception to that rule with ten years under his belt and the position to back it. Kal drinks too much, and has a streak of sarcasm that could cut you to the quick if you took him seriously. But in his defense, he’s seen more dead bodies than a mortician. His quirky sense of humor, off the wall style, and clever mind give him a charm that proves to be irresistible. You can’t help but love Agent Kal, even though at times he’s a total train wreck.

The BSI is in Denver to eradicate and investigate a rash of zombie risings when Kal discovers something terrifying. The local serial killer is a supernatural, and more powerful than anything he’s ever encountered. In this world magicians are real. Think Merlin for the 20th century. The serial killer is not just a magician, but a revenant. Yes, I said revenant, as in old Renny from Dracula. The combination is deadly, and when Kal gets a visit from a supped up Ghoul that almost puts him out of commission the caca really hits the fan.

I could tell you more about the story but I don’t want to give everything away. ;).I laughed, gasped, and sat stunned in silence when Mark dropped his plot bombs. If you’re looking for a smart read, with action, depth, and creative use of legends this is spot on. I personally highly recommend this one.

Excerpt

Mondays suck. Always. Standard rule in life. In fact, it might just be rule #3, right after Feces Occurs and Anything That Can Go Wrong Will. Mondays are the days that your boss will hit you with the next Big Thing that the corporate office reckons will change the paradigm of whatever business you find yourself in. It’s also the day that you have to play catch up for whatever might have occurred on the two previous days you were off.

For me it wasn’t the Next Big Thing as much as it was The Next Big Bad Thing That Wants To
Rip Your Damn Fool Head Off, so it was with my usual sense of dread that I parked my blue Honda Accord in my assigned spot and staggered towards the brown brick building that housed the Denver offices of the BSI.

Spyeyes surrounding the building tracked my arrival and the Shape of a ward spell tingled against my feet as I stepped over gray-painted gold wire draped hither and yon over the asphalt walkway.

Working for the Bureau was always interesting, and I mean that in the Chinese curse sort of
way. Don’t get me wrong, the pay is great and I get to wear a gun, which is always fun, but the life expectancy at the Bureau of Supernatural Investigations is usually one to two years. If you’re good, maybe three. If you’re great, maybe between four and six.

I’ve been at the job for ten and the odds were that I’d get my ticket punched any day. I
knew the current Dead Pool was at Thursday before noon. I’d been beating the Pool for years now and figured I would for many more to come.

Jingling through my head, as it did every morning, were the words Robert Frost etched on my mind years and years ago, ones that echoed my own fatigue and bone-weary sense of resignation:

But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

The promises I’d made and the burden of responsibility I shouldered would keep me going and going like the Energizer Bunny until I figured it was time for me to shuffle off my mortal coil. And then, maybe, I could relax, finally ease into that eternal sleep that wasn’t haunted by what I do, what I’d become, and things I’d left undone. Shaking my head, I stuffed these dark, tired thoughts into the back closet of my mind. I hurt too much and my teeth were far too fuzzy to be in such a mood on a Monday morning after a weekend bender. The Bureau had billions of dollars at their disposal and still hadn’t come up with a cure for a hangover.

The front door threw a pale reflection at me I drew near and I noted that my favorite tie
sported a suspicious reddish-brown stain. I hoped it was only blood, the piano keyboard tie was a gift from Mom on my thirtieth. My mind quickly juked towards the business of surviving the next few moments as I passed through the bullet proofed glass and steel door marked ‘McClennan Statistical Analysis’. Nobody ever wants to go to a place marked Statistical Analysis. For the Bureau, it’s blessed anonymity.

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Mr. Stone is also giving away a copy to one lucky winner! Comment below to enter. Contest ends November 18th.

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REVIEW: Outpost by Ann Aguirre

REVIEW: Married With Zombies by Jesse Petersen

REVIEW: Kick at The Darkness by Keira Andrews

Review: Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton

REVIEW: The Spirit Dragon by Tianna Xander

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CONTEST: Temperature: Bitter Cold by Adam Santo

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REVIEW: Tower in the Woods by Tara Quan

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REVIEW: The Dying of the Light by Jason Kristopher

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Review: Things to do in Denver When You're Un-dead by Mark Stone

Blurb

Review

Excerpt

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