The Last Casket and Kiss & Hell by Jack WallenAuthor Jack Wallen is a visionary, teacher of the arts and all around awesome dude. There's a reason they call him the zombie king, He's pinned a string of books and short stories of the zombie genre and hasn't shown any signs of slowing down.. While stalking one of his social media pages I came across a book that caught my attention simply because the cover looked so flipping cool. Don't go acting like you never judge a book by it's cover. Call me a lire if his cover art doesn't rock. I knew I had to read it. Rock N Roll and zombies, how can a girl resist? Partway through I was sure that I was going to read the sequel, so I figured what the hell, let's make it two for one, so it's my pleasure to recommend The Last Casket and Kiss & Hell. The Last Casket
The plot here was pretty straight forward. Kitty in a Casket is a band that just made it big in the onset of the apocalypse, they roam the desolate streets living out of their pimped out tour van and playing to venues of the dead before they slaughter them. On their journey they find a half-dead club called (Ironically) The Last Casket, with a pitiful bunch of patrons being entertained by a piano and old jukebox, where the owner is as much in need of entertainment as they are to entertain. It's a match made in zompoc heaven. The initial conflict comes in the form of a rival club called Z-Pox that is competing for the same costumers. I won't be posting any spoilers, but things go left between the clubs, way left. Things really kick into high gear in chapter nine. The internal conflict Tuque (The owner of The Last Casket) experiences over the idea of betraying a friend in the worse possible way had my full attention. This book starts off with a bang and continues full throttle pretty much the whole way through. The one place I thought this tale could use a bit of work was the character development. I know this may come as a shock because they come off very likable, but that's the reason I wanted to know more. I'm not asking to go into some deep psychological backstories that reveal their inner most fears of abandonment or breakdown anytime one of them sees the color red or anything like that,I just would like to have some idea how the apocalypse may have had an affect on them as individuals. I was lacking a full grasp on their personalities, everything kind of seemed to be a group consensus. Same slap-stick sense of humor and for the most part agreeing on how to handle most obstacles. It wasn't a dealbreaker, but I'm sure it would have made me a bit more invested in the outcome. Wallen has a beautiful use of words and that's something that will get me every time. A terrific story is meaningless if you can't get a good visualization of it. His descriptions paint a clear and concise picture of each scene. I could smell the rot and taste the food, and the fast paced fight sequences that can become somewhat murky in these kinds of books was spot on. Weapon choices in a zompoc book are as important as the tools of a sergeant, you must chose well or your audience will end up on life support... from boredom. Well never you worry, there'll be no dying today, not when your heroes have a tendency to use their instruments as zombie killing tools. Ever see a "Z" get nailed with a drum symbol? It. Is. Awesome. Lastly, I loved that it was unpredictable. I didn't know what this guy was going to throw at me next and that makes me a very happy gal. Four Skulls \m/Kiss & HellKitty in a Casket is back to rock the dead into their graves with a devil horned solute. Okay I'm just going to say it now... Kiss & Hell did what any respectable sequel should do, it out shined it's predecessor. It kicks off with a shocking event that changes everything for Kitty and friends, and that kind of sets the tone for the book as darker. For me a story can never be too dark. I want to feel depressed about it and wake up thinking about it in the middle of the night. Well this wasn't quite that dark, but it did pull the shade. This story provided multiple conflicts and delivered stomach twisting tension that let me know straight up, I'm invested in these characters now. Our heroes want nothing more in life than to have a good time and rock the stage, but people just wont let them be. This time Hell comes from two directions. a fast food kingpin named Victor , who's introduction at the restaurant is hilarious, and a crazed sort of super fan that turns out to be much more than a fan by the name of Mud. He was down right frightening. Toque, who's name was Tuque in the first book turned out to be a very interesting character, far more that meets the eye. I'm actually going to go as far as to say my favorite. When he steps out of his shell it's like a game changer. And then there was the "Zombeef" I think I died two or three times. {"What are you doing Toque, feeding us zombies?" Toque stared forward not saying a word. "Toque? Billy prodded. "Now's not the best time to give us the silent treatment. Please tell us that meat back there is on the up and up." Silence. Billy punched the ceiling of the truck cab. "oh fuck me square in the face."} Moments like that made this book so much fun to read and not put down, because you just don't know what's around the next turn.
Five SkullsHope you enjoyed my recommendation. Disagree? Post a comment and let me know how you feel about it. Until we meet again, stay hungry my friends.
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