novel

World War Z

Book Notes

Having read Mira Grant's Feed Trilogy, er, Newsflesh trilogy, with Feed, Deadline and Blackout, I have to say, I'm enjoying zombie apocalypse books more than I expected to enjoy them. Those three are great, if you want a good zombie series. With the movie World War Z out, I thought, well, hey, let's read the book.

And to my surprise, I enjoyed the book, World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War a lot. More than I was expecting to enjoy it.

The book is a collection of interviews, as told to a reporter who published them when he realized they wouldn't be included in a report about the zombie apocalypse. The interviews go from the first responders for patient zero, through denial and folly of what was happening, through the eventual figuring out how things work, to recovery. The writing style is quick and enjoyable, yet the interviews are in different voices, something often hard to do with a writing structure with many people speaking. I liked how the stories tied in, with some interviews referencing other interviewees and some interviewees reinterviewed years later.

For a quick zombie book, this one is great. Worth all the positive reviews it received.

First Grave on the Right

Book Notes

I'm not sure why I purchased this book. I think I wanted more of the Anita Blake series, but Anita Blake from the first two books, not from the crap that came later in the third through whatever books. This one, The First Grave on the Right, seemed to fit the bill: female protagonist with supernatural powers (can't get more super than being the Grim Reaper) with a bit of mystery or crime drama and plot points. Yeah, sounded like it could work.

Imagine my disappointment when the book opens with a sex scene. I really thought I wouldn't get another vampire crappy erotica book.

Fortunately, this book wasn't all erotica, which was great. Wasn't any vampires either. Yay!

There was a lot of sass, and not the Sass kind, a bit of humour, a number of zinger one-liners, some mystery and an entertaining reader (since I listened to the audiobook). The sass became tiresome a few times, with the main character, Charley Davidson, coming across more as a spoiled, whiny brat than a functioning private investigator with the abilities of not-dying and talking with ghosts. There seemed little unfinished at the end of the book, no tantalizing question that would lure the reader to read another book in the series (and apparently it's an ongoing series, six books).

The King in the Window

Have Read

My bookcrossing.com review reads, "Bought after listening to interview with the author. Slow moving. Was okay."

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