REVIEW: Hmmm….how to describe Mark Henry’s writing style. No holds barred, balls to the wall, anything goes, seems like an apt description. Henry channels his inner modern woman much in the way that Joss Whedon is the master at writing teenage girls. This man knows more about designer clothes and woman’s cosmetics than I ever will.
Book one “Happy Hour Of The Damned” is the first book in the series and sees Amanda getting “the breath” to become a zombie. She may be dead but she still has to maintain a proper skin regimen and look fabulous! This book is kind of like Sex in the City for zombies as she gets used to her new life with new BFF’s - Wendy, a fellow zombie and Gil a gay vampire. You learn a few things you may not want to know…like why zombies have to wear Depends if they still insist on eating human foods or drinking coffee… what happens when you get a craving for human meat while in bed with your lover…..and how to patch up loose zombie skin (with a leather repair kit of course!)Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
Book two “Road Trip Of The Living Dead” has our gang traveling to see Amanda’s dying mom (who she has no problem killing once she gets there – if she’s not dead already) This is my favorite of the series. It’s a fish…uh….zombie out of water story and side splittingly hilarious. Henry adds in murderous werewolves, ghosts and zombie bulimia to the mix. Amanda, Wendy, and Gill are not nice people (zombies/vampires….whatever) but you do root for them anyway.Rating: 4 out of 4 stars…My favorite!
Book three is “Battle of the Network Zombies” (releasing in paperback February 23rd) We find Amanda as a judge on “American Minions”. A kind of supernatural Big Brother / The Bachelor reality show. Amanda is broke and needs the money from the show to keep her job and pay back the reapers (childlike – but evil little creatures that help repair her skin and other body parts if injured…for a price) After the star of the show is murdered, it looks like all is lost until Amanda spins the series into a reality version of Clue - with her as the star of course. There's is a lot of action in this book and a surprisingly touching romance between Amanda and her werewolf boyfriend Scott. Don’t worry – there’s still plenty of gross out humor sure to offend someone, including a rampaging Yeti, and a great shower sex scene between Amanda & Scott. Seems it’s not always easy to avoid a mishap while having supernatural sex. Rating 3.5 out of 4
This is a fun series and Mark Henry obviously loves his characters. This could have come off as a degrading to woman type of book but Amanda is always in charge and is loyal to her friends even as she’ll just as easily eat a homeless teenager. As I said, anything goes and the humor might not be for everyone.
The Save Amanda Feral Campaign!
This is the last scheduled book for the series so Mark and dedicated fans around the blogosphere have started a campaign to get people reading the series so we can have more adventures with our favorite zombie bitch. Check out the Save Amanda button on my sidebar with links to all things Amanda - reviews, contests, blog posts etc. So send me your links to help get the word out!
*Check out Mark Henry's website for a cool offer he has going on. If you order any book from the series (or all of them …hint…hint) from the University Book Store in Washington, Mark will personally sign your books! You can even tell him what you want him to write – he suggests something smutty, but I think it would be funnier to make him write something about sunshine and kittens….children are our future, world peace… you get the idea.….it would make a striking contrast to the actual books contents – don’t ya think?
Buy The Books:
Happy Hour of the Damned
Road Trip of the Living Dead
Battle of the Network Zombies (Amanda Feral, Book 3)
These sounds like interesting books though your line "what happens when you get a craving for human meat while in bed with your lover" kind of creeped me out. I haven't read any zombie books yet but perhaps I'll give these a try.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review!
Very funny and snarky.....but yes they are also raunchy and kind of gross...the first book especially..... but the characters really settle in for the next two books and they are high-freakin-larious!
ReplyDeleteAnother good zombie book is Breathers: A zombies Lament (can't think of the author's name at the moment!) And for YA Zombie Queen of Newbury High by Amanda Ashby.....but save Amanda first :-)!
In the third installment of the Amanda Feral series Amanda is back, dirtier than ever. Her ad agency is on a downward spiral and her expense budget is in the toilet. In order to keep her condo and pay off her debt to the Reapers Amanda says yes to an opportunity to appear on a new reality show.
ReplyDelete