Book Review: Zombies take Manhattan! by Marina Bridges

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I purchased this book on a whim and because it was recommended by one of my favourite Twitter buddies JW Manus, who also just happens to be the 'Obsessanator' on the subject of ebooks and who coincidentally also happened to be the editor of the book...... Having said all that, while I am a huge fan of George Romero I have yet to actually see any other Zombie movie or TV show that has lived up to the high expectations that he gave to us all those years ago, and, I don't think I have actually read any Zombie literature, prior to this one.  So, all in all it was a leap of faith on my part.....

Was it a leap that ended in an agonising fall, no, not really. It was a leap into the unexpected that left me amused and glad that I had taken the chance.

The book, as you can see from the cover opposite is billed as, 'short stories' by Marina, but I would argue that it is one story and not 5 as billed.  Probably a minor disagreement between me, the author and editor on what is a novel and what is a a collection of short stories.  I suppose in one sense that as the 'story' progressed from it's starting point in Coney Island into the city and Manhattan and then finally back to Coney Island at it's conclusion and that new characters were introduced in 'chapters 1 through three, I would call it a novella and not a collection of shorts, but who am I to argue with the author and the editor?

I suppose, as each 'chapter' had it's own title and was therefore a 'short'  this might explain my one 'big' gripe with the book.    Wheel of Wonder Chapter one takes up 17% of the book, That's almost a quarter of it, and my gripe, well, it was just one long never ending chapter with no natural breaks or pauses to rest.   You just had to keep going and going and going and it almost seemed never ending.  I really don't care how well a book is written or how engaging the story is, you need to have natural breaks, if for no other reason than to rest your eyes, rest your mind, go to the loo, make a cup of coffee and grab a couple of digestive biscuits to dunk in said coffee; but alas there were none.  Same with Chapter 2 , 17% through to 35% no breaks, no pauses, but then we got three in chapter 3 and then no more.......  It may just be me  and I may be the only one to have picked up on this, if so, sorry, but then this is my review and I have to call it as I see it.

But, the story,  I LOVED IT!  It was quirky, it was funny, it was harrowing.

----------------some spoilers----------------

Pitkin an ex NYC Cop now a rent-a-cop on Coney Island finds trouble on his first day as a Zombie outbreak hits the amusement park. After taking refuge in the Wheel of Wonder with two of the parks finest 'attractions' the bearded lady being one it looks as if he might escape the carnage as the wheel keeps sending him up to view the carnage taking place all around.  As the operator is attacked by Zombies and the Wheel is going at a fair lick any blue hue'd Zombies getting in the way are bowled over but weight of numbers begin to tell.

As the outbreak spreads we find ourselves in Times Square   where locals and tourists are soon hemmed in by the Army and the Police and from there on in it is a roller coaster of a ride as a few hardy and disparate locals try and survive the carnage. bringing out the best and worst, as one would expect in these circumstances, in the survivors.

I don't want to give too much away and as I said it is not my usual reading fayre, and apart from my gripe about the breaks I did find it engaging. Pitkin, you wanted to see dying horribly, Chris, sweet Chris well you just want her to survive, I thought about that movie with Edward Norton and the kerb stone and the boot on the back of the neck, oh dear.   T-Bird, needed a slap a really big time slap and Parker you just knew was going to be an anti hero....  Moira, if I was her husband I would have thrown her to the Zombies at the beginning along with 'the baby' Chrissie.....   and as for that tit Steve, well what goes around comes around

This book is so cheap, it is a steal go on get it, you know you want to ...... oh and as a bonus there is a wee short story from Jaye Manus, The devil His Due, tagged on at the end about one of the Devils 'Soul Collectors' that had a twist in the tale which was funny and intriguing , so 'two' books for the price of one.....

Editing for Kindle: 4 out 5
Reading Enjoyment: 3 out of 5 see gripe above
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5
No of Pages: 143
Chapters: 5

A Dreary Day

It's quarter to five on Sunday afternoon on the 4th November 2012. I'm sitting in the kitchen and the beef casserole I prepared earlier with chunky vegetables, carrots, swede and parsnips with a couple of chopped onions has been in the oven for an hour and a half on a slow peep. It has about another hour to go and then I shall serve it up for Ishbel and I with some creamy mashed potatoes, but not to many potatoes.

It's already pitch black outside and the wind is still blowing and more rain seems to be threatening to add to the constant downpour we had for most of the morning.

What leaves are still left on the trees that surround us, seem to be clinging on as if they really don't want to be dislodged from their branches probably just as we would prefer not to be dislodged from our warm homes and comfortable lives.

Sometimes though we have to wander out, whether we like it or not. I had to go out twice today. Once to take Ishbel to work in the department store she works in, how I hate and detest Sunday trading, there is no need for it and that is not from a religious perspective, just from the perspective that we already work hours through the week and at different times, so we miss each other then too. And I am not particularly commentating on Ishbel and I here either I am talking about lots of family's whose working routines make them miss each other as well.

Then I had to pop out to, also to work, as a building and facility for local people was being closed by the council and people were losing there jobs and losing an amenity. This facility was passing to the company I work for and a new building, but not an amenity, will be built and more jobs will be created, but, it was still a sad affair to watch people who had been employed for years gathering and looking on sadly as the keys were taken from them and the shutters came down for the last time on the place they had invested so much of their own time and effort into over the years, and it is still appropriately dank and dreary on the streets outside covered in their carpet of russet coloured leaves.

Then I learn that one of dearest twitter friends Julia R Barrett, is also going to have to venture out, maybe not in dank and dreary weather, in Northern California, to go visit her parents as she discovers her father has suffered a torn mitral valve in his heart, that news was here, and the dreariness of the day is compounded by the news....

We wish Julia and Oscar her husband and more especially her dad our warmest wishes and hope that those wishes at least bring some warmth to them at this time of family distress.

But all is not dreary with others. Marylin Warner a wonderful blog friend writes the most amazing letters on her blog to her mother who lives a couple of states away in America and who sadly suffers from Alzheimer's and whose memory constantly needs to be jogged. Marylin does this through regular long drives and her blog letters which in all honesty are quite uplifting, as was the one she posted today, read it here,  and then the world didn't seem quite so dank and dreary after all....

And then finally, another dear twitter friend, Jaye Manus, who you can meet here, posted a comment on a blog that our nine year old grand daughter Mollie posted a while back, you can check that out here,  about 'treasuring that child' and wanting to adopt her, bless. We do treasure her and our other Grandchildren Jaye, we really do....And Mollie sent this response back to Jaye " @JWManus Tell Jaye thank u but she can't adopt me because I will miss my mum . Love u and I am having a curry for dinner"

And the day is definitely not so dreary after all as Ishbel has just sent a text to say she is on her way home and I've just turned the tattles on to cook

Hope your day is not to dreary after all......

Book Review: Suite Assumptions by JW Manus

A Romantic Comedy

I know, I know, not what you expect from me.  Although, there was a glimmer of a gruesome murder that perked me up during the reading of this little number.....

So, what's it all about then.  Sandra Campbell was abandoned by her parents as a teenager and was taken in by her uncle Wally who operated a recycling plant.  Everything she does and says is aimed at one thing and one thing only, repaying Uncle Wally for his kindness, for taking her in, for putting her through school and college and for giving her a job in the plant.

She has become an obsessive compulsive within the plant alienating the workforce and colleagues with her demands for changes to systems that clearly would make the plant and life for the workforce much more difficult and the only person (other than uncle Wally) to support her is Martin Stonehouse, the plant engineer.

The only problem with Martin's support is that Sandra is unaware of it and believes that Martin, like the rest of the plant, hates her.  In her eyes he is a philanderer, goes out with a different girl every week and makes fun of her serious ways....

Sandra convinces her uncle that they need more business and that she is capable of taking on the role of 'salesperson' and so she and Martin are sent to Dallas for a pre-arranged meeting.  On arrival they find that the hotel they are booked into, in separate rooms,   can't accommodate them and then arranges for them to be transferred to the only hotel that has one single room left in the whole city, and so they end up in the Glass Garden Hotel's Honeymoon Suite.......

I have to confess I did nearly give up, as this is not my usual read, the last 'romantic novel' I read was by De-Ann Black entitled 'The Bitch Proof Suit' and I persevered with that one as I did with this one and found that I was thoroughly enjoying myself.  There are some funny moments, not laugh out loud moments but smiley moments and chuckle moments when the absurdity of the situations Sandra gets herself into because she keeps making Assumptions and jumping to the wrong conclusions.  It is difficult to tell you any of them here as they would all be spoilers, and, suffice to say that it was an 'assumption' by me that I would probably not like the book and all the misinterpretation that Sandra reads into situations that made this book an enjoyable break from the usual gruesome murder, mayhem, and action that I am used to reading:

The will they or wont they struggles between the two will keep you guessing and there are some sweet and tender moments in amongst the confusion .....

As I read more and more of this short book I kept thinking of Rock Hudson and Doris Day in 'Lover Come Back' where Hudson takes on the 'persona' of a Southern Cowboy' lost in the big city against know it all Day's advertising executive, and this made the book even funnier
 
You can find out more about Jaye here
You can purchase the book at Amazon UK here or at Amazon US here

Editing for Kindle: 5 out of 5
Reading Enjoyment: 5 out of 5
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5