Review: Domitianus by Nicholas Forristal

Genre: Dark Fantasy/Zombie/Humor

Description:

“Once the Emperor of Rome, he was murdered by his subordinates – only to find himself alive and lost in a world he once knew so well. This is the story of one man’s journey from man to monster; from sanity to sadism. His immortality will take him from ancient Rome to the forgotten Atlantis, while the entrails of his enemies pave the way.”

Author:

“Nicholas Forristal has a B.S. in Psychology (aka a B.S. in BS). With his ‘free’ time, he regularly dislikes house work, remodeling his home and a sordid list of other lousy tasks. When no one is looking, Nicholas works on The Chronicles of M, an ever growing series of fantasy books that range from Historical fiction, to modern day wackiness. He's published some other stuff in the past. For example, a psychological paper on perception, but no one cares about such things. That's for nerds.”

To learn more visit Mr. Forristal’s website or follow him on Facebook.

Appraisal:

This isn’t just another zombie story. It’s a unique tale from the very first zombie, Domitianus, narrating the story of his second life to a man named Charles Uhler who wants to document Dom’s centuries as a zombie. Dom starts his second life as what seems like a typical zombie, a mindless, wandering, eating machine. The twist here is that Dom is not mindless, he is essentially a passenger in his own flesh and is horrified by what he is doing. Mr. Forristal does an exceptional job in conveying Dom’s inner feelings, thoughts, and dialogue as Dom evolves over his long second life.

The ever-changing scenery is well described as Dom wanders around parts of Europe and America. In his later years, Dom has evolved enough to blend with humans somewhat. He has lived long enough that time is irrelevant. His greatest desire is to build an army of zombies to conquer the world. In his demented, arrogant mind, he considers zombies superior beings.

There are many unexpected twists in this book, including the end, which struck me kind of like the ending of The Sixth Sense – forcing you to go back through the book and look for the clues you should have picked up on, but missed because you were enjoying the story. One of my favorite parts was when Kandake/Candace, Dom’s sort of mate, sends him to the market for cumin. They have become civilized enough to start cooking some of their meat to prepare dishes, instead of ripping the meat off the bone and devouring it raw.

Mr. Forristal writes with an intelligent, sharp wit of dark humor, which is woven throughout the whole book. If you enjoy zombie stories with a twisted sense of humor, you will enjoy Domitianus.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Twisted fantasy with a few F-bombs, dark humor, and gore.

Format/Typo Issues:

Small number of proofing errors. None of which threw me out of the story.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Approximate word count: 65-70,000 words

The Complex / J. Rudolph

Note from BigAl: Two and a half years ago ?wazithinkin reviewed this book shortly after it was self-published. The review was mixed. Since then the book was picked up by a small press and went through a "major facelift" and another round of editing. The author asked if we would be willing to read and review the new version. ?wazithinkin (who is much nicer than I am) agreed. :)

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Genre: Zombie/Post-Apocalyptic/Horror

Approximate word count: 70-75,000 words

Availability

Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: YES Smashwords: NO Paper: NO

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

“J. Rudolph is the author of the zombie series The Reanimates, and the young adult paranormal mystery, Hadley's Haunting. Born in 1977, she resides in Southern California with her husband, son, two turtles (who she claims own all rights to her house and allow the people to live there, since only they can open the food jars) and her maniacal bird (who seems to have developed a taste for flesh in its lifetime). As a nurse with over fifteen years of experience, she often incorporates an element of medical training in her stories, offering authenticity to her medically minded characters. She also offers authenticity to her zombie series--she calls herself a living dead girl ever since her spinal reconstruction in 2014.”

To learn more about Ms. Rudolph check out her website or follow her on Facebook.

Description:

“Cali Anglin, RN, had a great life. It may have been nothing special to the rest of the world, but she loved it.

That was on a Wednesday.

By Friday, it was gone forever.

With the government gone, electricity extinguished, and the food supply dwindling, she has to face questions she’s never asked herself before–just how far would she go to save her family, her friends and her rapidly collapsing community? Would she kill for them? Would she die for them?

She’s about to find out.”

Appraisal:

I first read and reviewed this book for BigAl’s Books and Pals in January 2013. I gave it three-stars back then. Ms. Rudolph has since gained a small publisher Winlock Press, an imprint of Permuted Press, and asked if I would re-read The Complex. If you read the original review you will see I had some story-line problems, so I was interested to see how the book had or hadn’t changed.

When a devastating virus, which causes it victims to reanimate after death, hits the U.S. people everywhere start to panic. The Complex is about a small gated apartment complex in southern California and how they deal with the situation. Several families pack their things up as fast as they can and leave. A few families or residents of this complex decide to stay and ride it out for as long as they can. The characters are strongly developed and diverse, each having their own strengths. They quickly fortify their complex to keep the zombies out and gather food, tools, weapons, ammo, and medicines they need to sustain and protect themselves. Things are working out well for them as each challenge is met and dealt with. At least until a band of marauders discover them and their safe haven.

What I enjoyed the most about this story were the relationships this small community developed working together to survive. They became family. The way the story is set up now grabs you and draws you into the story with a peek of what is to come. The first chapter walks the reader through how the virus began and we see how it is mutating and spreading out of control. This story is told through the eyes of Cali Anglin, a nurse, a wife, and a mother of a ten year-old son, Drew. She and her husband Trent had always joked about a zombie apocalypse; it was a game they played, ‘what if’. It was never supposed to be real.

The Complex is an interesting post-apocalyptic story with characters I found it easy to feel a connection with. The dialogue is realistic and convincing. The plot moves at a smooth pace with some realistic twists, which could happen. When the marauders come we learn humans are far more dangerous than the zombies could ever be. If you enjoy zombie stories I think you would enjoy this one.

FYI:

The Complex is book 1 of The Reanimates. There are three books in the series so far. Book 2, The Highway, will be released soon and book 3, The Escape, is scheduled for release later this year.

There are three F-bombs dropped along with graphic blood and gore.

Format/Typo Issues:

I found no significant errors in editing or formatting.

Rating: ***** Five stars

Aftermath-Episode 2 / Edwin Stark

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Genre: Zombie / Apocalypse

Approximate word count: 20-25,000 words

Availability Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: YES Smashwords: NO Paper: NO
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Edwin Stark was born in Caracas, Venezuela on the edge of a rain forest in South America. He grew up dreaming crazy tales and eventually started writing them down. English is not his first language. You can read more about him on his blog or Facebook.

Description:

In this second installment of Aftermath, Danny Cargill, his father Andrew, Jessica Ferguson, and Carl Lomax, make their way to Camp Haiberry, after being expelled from Camp McGregor, through zombie infested territory. They were hoping for an uneventful trip. Little did Danny or the others know that along the way they would meet a strange young girl who would change everything.

Appraisal:

As our small group makes their trek to Lomax's home, Camp Hailberry, they encounter small groups of zombies that they easily defeat. After they make it to the broken down truck and are able to make temporary repairs they expect the rest of the trip to be uneventful. Of course the repair doesn't last long and they find themselves hiking and camping the last twenty miles.

During the night Carl and Danny notice zombies are starting to gather, however, they are staying several yards away. In the forefront of these zombies is a young girl that looks dirty but uninfected. Danny tries to communicate with her to no avail. As they make their way on to Camp Hailberry the following day they watch behind them as hordes of other zombies gather to follow the young girl who is following them.

Edwin Stark has twisted his zombie tale somewhat and changed all the rules in this installment. The survivors have already noticed that not all zombie bites infect the living as it has in the past. What happens once the zombie virus mutates? This one seems to have run it course and is leaving its victims changed in a different way. It will be interesting to see where Mr. Stark is going with this theory. So, here I find myself awaiting another zombie book. How did that happen?

FYI:

There was one F-bomb dropped, otherwise the language was clean.

Format/Typo Issues:

There were a few more than a small amount of proofing errors that needed to be fixed. A few missing or extra words however most were wrong word choices because of the language barrier that Mr. Stark deals with.

Rating: **** Four stars

Aftermath and Other Zombie Shorts / Edwin Stark

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Genre: Short Story Collection / Zombie / Horror

Approximate word count: 10-15,000 words

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: YES  Smashwords: YES  Paper: NO

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Edwin Stark was born in Caracas, Venezuela on the edge of a rain forest in South America. He grew up dreaming crazy tales and eventually started writing them down. English is not his first language. You can read more about him on his blog or Facebook.

Description:

Three Short Zombie Tales:

Aftermath: Meet Danny Cargill; he's about to discover if humans are worse than zombies...

Zombie Cab: A creepy yet humorous story about a cabbie and his unexpected ride...

When Zombies Roamed Venezuela: A humorous take on your typical, everyday zombie outbreak tale.

Appraisal:

Edwin Stark is a born story teller, his wit and sarcasm shine through in his stories despite his problem with English sentence structure or occasional wrong word choices.

Aftermath takes a serious look at communities trying to survive in a world inhabited by zombies. We are given a stark look at how their society is structured and their internal hierarchy. The characters are well developed and the dialogue is believable. This is a thought provoking piece told through the eyes of a young man, Danny Cargill, who is forced to face the reality of the people in his community and zombies as well.

In Zombie Cab, Mr. Stark lets loose with a little fun with zombies. It is very short look at a night with a cab driver in a town where zombies are people too. Ewww.

When Zombies Roamed Venezuela is a chronicle where Mr. Stark himself is the reporter relaying news updates to the outside world about a zombie outbreak in Venezuela. He pokes fun at the local government as well as the zombies in this satirical tale. I found it quite unique, entertaining, and comical.

Format/Typo Issues:

English is not Mr. Stark’s first language and as a result, there were some odd turns of phrase used, occasional wrong word usages, and words omitted throughout the book. If these types of errors bother you, then you had best pass on this book.

Rating: *** Three Stars

Braineater Jones / Stephen Kozeniewski

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Genre: Noir Detective / Zombie / Horror / Fantasy

Approximate word count: 65-70,000 words

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: YES  Smashwords: NO  Paper: YES

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

“Stephen Kozeniewski lives with his wife of 9 years and cat of 22 pounds in Pennsylvania, the birthplace of the modern zombie. He was born to the soothing strains of “Boogie With Stu” even though The Who are far superior to Zep, for reasons that he doesn’t even really want to get into right now.

During his time as a Field Artillery officer, he served for three years in Oklahoma and one in Iraq, where due to what he assumes was a clerical error, he was awarded the Bronze Star. The depiction of addiction in his fiction is strongly informed by the three years he spent working at a substance abuse clinic, an experience which also ensures that he employs strict moderation when enjoying the occasional highball of Old Crow.”

Description:

“Braineater Jones wakes up face down in a swimming pool with no memory of his former life, how he died, or why he’s now a zombie. With a smart-aleck severed head as a partner, Jones descends into the undead ghetto to solve his own murder.

But Jones’s investigation is complicated by his crippling addiction to human flesh. Like all walking corpses, he discovers that only a stiff drink can soothe his cravings. Unfortunately, finding liquor during Prohibition is costly and dangerous. From his Mason jar, the cantankerous Old Man rules the only speakeasy in the city that caters to the postmortem crowd.

As the booze, blood, and clues coagulate, Jones gets closer to discovering the identity of his killer and the secrets behind the city’s stranglehold on liquid spirits. Death couldn’t stop him, but if the liquor dries up, the entire city will be plunged into an orgy of cannibalism.

Cracking this case is a tall order. Braineater Jones won’t get out alive, but if he plays his cards right, he might manage to salvage the last scraps of his humanity.”

Appraisal:

This story is narrated by Braineater Jones, we get to see his undead life through his eyes as we join him on his mission to find answers to his growing list of questions. Who is he? Who murdered him and why? Kozeniewski has invented his own brand of zombies in this story. There is no explaining who will reanimate after death and who will not. To keep their undead selves functioning and their “brain wheels” turning they must have liquor. This is a real problem during Prohibition since without alcohol they will turn into a true brain eating zombie.

Jones becomes a private eye of sorts for the undead community as he works his way through mysteries of his own undead life. I enjoyed reading the author’s noir style of storytelling. Here is a sample of Kozeniewski’s writing when a client comes through Jones’s door. 

It was a dame of course. She had legs up to her eyeballs. Literally. She was carrying a pair of legs, one over each shoulder… “Pawn shop’s downstairs. Not sure if they take drumsticks but never hurts to check.” “I’m here for you, Mr. Jones,” she said… She threw the getaway sticks down on my desk. The toes were clenching, and the feet kept arching and flattening…Her brother was still controlling his legs remotely, kicking to let her know he was still alive. Undead. Whatever. It was a signal, a distress call, an S-O-S by L-E-G.

The plot has a good pace and the storylines intertwine into a complex web of deceit, fantastical probabilities, and a touch of sci-fi. The scenes are well depicted and the characters are unique and unlike any I have met before. This was a creative story that will draw you in and keep you guessing. If you like noir detective stories you will likely enjoy this story despite the zombie theme. I found it entertaining and hope Braineater Jones can keep himself from decomposing long enough to make this a long series.   

FYI:

Stephen Kozeniewski places this warning at the beginning of his story. “This book contains the sort of racist, sexist, and bigoted characters that were commonplace to the era in which it takes place.”

It also contains other adult language that may be offensive to some.

There is a glossary at the end of the book for the slang and jargon used from the 1930s, which I appreciated because I really didn’t have a clue what ginchy meant.

Format/Typo Issues:

I found no significant errors

Rating: **** Four stars

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The Complex / J. Rudolph

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Genre: Horror/Zombie/Post Apocalyptic

Approximate word count: 70-75,000 words

Availability   

Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: NO Smashwords: NO Paper: YES

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

J. Rudolph lives in Southern California with her family and thinks way too much about zombies. The Complex is her debut novel.

Description:

A devastating virus has gone out of control that reanimates the dead. This is the story of a small group of survivors that have found refuge in their small, gated apartment complex.

Appraisal:

This story is told through the eyes of Cali, a nurse, a wife, and a mother of a ten year-old son. She and her husband Trent had always joked about a zombie apocalypse; it was a game they played, ‘what if’. It was never supposed to be real. They have banded together with their neighbors who stayed and succeeded in building a small fortress for their protection from the zombies. It is an interesting character study. The characters are well developed and I became invested in their future. The narrative descriptions were well done and the conversations between all the players were realistic. I felt that the plot had a nice pace and the twists were interesting and unexpected. I am not a zombie aficionado, nor do I ever expect to be, it is not my usual genre preference.

The weakest part of the whole story is the preface. I understand why it is there but I felt like it may have been better handled as a flashback perhaps. The beginning of a story is suppose to grab the reader and not let go, I don’t think the preface did that. It is interesting to know how the virus got so out of control so fast though. There are also several small editing errors mostly extra or missing words or letters, they were a minor irritant that made some sentences read clunky.

I enjoyed the story and was glad there was not a cliffhanger ending, although it is evident there will be a sequel. I am anxious to see how things develop for this small band of survivors.

FYI:

There are three F-bombs dropped and graphic gore.

Format/Typo Issues:

There are a small number of proofing errors.

Rating: *** Three stars