and Flip this Zombie (Living with the Dead, Book 2)
. Enjoy!*****
I like zombies. I’m one of those writers of people and the weird shit
people do in every day life who secretly wants to write an awesome
zombie book. It’ll never happen, and I’m fine with that as long as
other folks keep bringing out some good zombie fiction. Where film has
been flailing with this genre as of late (REC was the last good one,
in my opinion), literature has been vomiting great zombies all over
the place. I’ve recently enjoyed John Joseph Adam’s The Living Dead
anthologies – voodoo zombies, zombie societies, Hurricane Katrina
zombies, and even gross zombie sex make for two fabulous anthologies.
However, zombie fiction itself is becoming more irritating with
everyone and their undead Mom trying their hand at it, recycling the
same crap over and over again.
Also, I’m series phobic. I admit that. In the last few years it’s been
harder to find a series I like. The paranormal/urban fantasy genre is
overflowing with hot chicks hunting sexy demons, and I’m not so much
into steampunk to commit to more than a short story at a time. If
series were a box of chocolates, I’d nibble a little of each and chuck
what I don’t like, then slowly savour the truffles.
Jesse Petersen’s zombie series is a truffle.
Petersen won me over by adding a splash of romantic comedy to her
brain matter. Fear not, zombie fanboys, these are not romances. They
just happen to be about a couple who has to rediscover their trust and
love for one another via saving the world from zombies.
“But I never would have guessed that unlike therapy, unlike the
self-help books that littered out apartment at the time, killing
zombies would save my relationship.”
Told from the perspective of Sarah and beginning with an unpleasant
trip to the marriage doctor, the series hits the ground and runs as
Sarah and her husband, David, walk in on their counsellor nomming on
one of her clients. Here is where Sarah and David learn that, even
though their marriage is a little broken, they still make one hell of
a team as they fight the growing undead horde.
Every chapter begins with a relationship/zombie survival tip. Take
notes. You might need them one day.
"Chapter 12 – Build mutual friendships. Just be ready to end them when
your friends start trying to eat you."
The first book is all about the outbreak, and the second book delves
into the who & how of the zombie outbreak. Both are common tropes in
the zombie genre, but Petersen handles them with a voice that’s
engaging – Sarah, who could be any one of us forced to rise to the
challenge and get over personal bullshit for survival. They act like
real people trying to hold it together, and most of the time they hold
one another up.
Finally, I blurted out, “We had to kill her.”
For a long time, David’s flinch was the only answer. When he spoke,
his voice was strained. “Well, we didn’t kill her in committee or
something. I killed her.”
“David –“ I started, kind of scared by how hollow his voice was. He
sounded really fucked up. The same way he had the day he told me he
was dropping out of school and we had fought for three hours.
The series everything you would expect from a good zombie story with
the added bonus of some killer banter between Sarah and David. The
series has its laugh out loud moments, is suspenseful, angsty, and
bloody gross in spots. With one more book left (so far!) I’m hopeful
that Peterson will write more.
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You can read Annemarie’s non-zombie (but very sexy!) books on your
favourite e-book device. To learn more, visit her website at
www.amhartnett.com – you can also follow her on twitter.
Also, give some love to Jesse Petersen, so she’ll write more books!
