Rosie’s #BookReview Team #RBRT The Old Man At The End Of The World by @AKSilversmith #Zombies

Today’s team review is from Teri, she blogs at http://teripolen.com/

Teri has been reading The Old Man At The End Of The World: Bite 1 by A.K. Silversmith

 

This was such an entertaining read!  Gerald is in no way prepared for the zombie apocalypse, and is even oblivious to the fact that it’s happening around him as he works in his garden.  The banter between Gerald and his neighbor, Ham, had me laughing out loud more than once as they beat the odds and fumbled their way through several precarious situations.

Being American, I missed some of the British references, but didn’t feel it detracted from this well-written novella.  This is a humorous take on the ‘zompocalypse’ that isn’t filled with doom, gloom, gore, and body parts (well, not many).  I’ll definitely be looking forward to the second bite.

I received a copy of this book through Rosie’s Book Review Team.

Book Description

Gerald Stockwell-Poulter couldn’t help but feel it was extraordinary just how quickly his life had changed. One moment he was earthing up leeks in the West Sussex sunshine and the next he was rooted to the spot as Rodney Timmins from the end allotment ambled towards him, arms outstretched, blood pouring from a hole in his neck and a look in his eye which suggested that he was less after help and more after a helping of Gerald. 

Now, as Gerald’s life takes a quick turn for the worse, he must do things he has never done before. After 87 largely well-behaved years as a model citizen, less than four hours into the ‘zompocalypse’ and he has already killed a neighbour, rescued a moody millenial drug dealer and forged an unlikely allegiance with a giant ginger Scotsman. And it isn’t even tea time. 

Join Gerald as he and his newfound allies navigate the post-apocalyptic English countryside in their hilarious bid to stay off the menu. 

The first installment of the Old Man at the End of the World Series. A novella of 20,000 words.

About the author

AK Silversmith is the author of The Old Man at the End of the World; a series of zombie apocalypse Bites centering on the world of 87-year-old Gerald Stockwell-Poulter.

Bite 2 is coming soon…

She was born in Tasmania in 1983 and now lives in western Ireland where the weather is similar but the zombies are still absent.

Goodreads | AmazonUK | AmazonUS | Twitter

Would You BUY or PASS? #FridayFiveChallenge THE DEAD DETECTIVE by @jr_rain

Welcome to my Friday Five Challenge

Get yourself a cuppa and give yourself 5 minutes. (Use your own pic or copy mine or anything else like a clock/ stopwatch etc)

In today’s online shopping age, readers often base their buying decisions from small postage stamp size book covers (Thumb-nails), a quick glance at the book description and the review. How much time do they really spend making that buying decision?

AUTHORS – You often only have seconds to get a reader to buy your book, is your book cover and book bio up to it?

My Friday Five Challenge is this….. IN ONLY FIVE MINUTES….

1) Go to any online book supplier,

2) Randomly choose a category,

3) Speed through the book covers, choose one which has instantly appealed to your eye,

4) Read the book Bio/ Description for this book,

5) If there are reviews, check out a couple,

6) Make an instant decision, would you BUY or PASS?

(then write a little analysis about your decision)

This week I’ve been checking out book covers from Amazon’s list of books they’d “Recommend” to me from my browsing history.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Book Description

Medical-school-dropout police detective Richelle Dadd is… well, dead. But that won’t stop her from trying to hold on to her house in a divorce battle with a bitter husband. Or keep her from digging into her own murder, to discover who put the bullet into her heart. Or from coming to terms with her Gypsy heritage. And it certainly won’t stand in the way of finding out the reason she’s been reanimated as a zombie assassin, no longer in control of her life.
Richelle will face off against Romani shamans, double-crossing ghosts, a partner she can’t trust, and her own undead nature in a journey into the depths of the occult world and out the other side without losing her sense of humor – or humanity – along the way.
It’s a good thing her deductive skills – and her aim – are still up to par.

Total Pages; 272

Price; £3.59 or $5.52

Number of reviews; 13 Amazon.UK, or 157 Amazon.US. Of the Uk reviews 12 were 4 or 5 stars, and 1 x 1*. I checked out the 1* and the comment said they hadn’t read the book yet. How ridiculous that they then left a 1* rating – that really does give reviewer writers a bad name.

Would I BUY or PASS? ……BUY

Analysis

The emerald green cover shouted at me amongst pages of “same old, same old” covers. I liked the title, “The Dead Detective” immediately had me asking questions of the book and it’s title. The book description was upbeat and fun, giving me a feel for the author’s writing style. Throw in paranormal beings and humour and this book is right up my street. As I had been rummaging for a book in books which Amazon recommended to me, this was amongst them because I’ve read others by this author all of which I’ve enjoyed. I like his writing style. The price is quite high for a kindle book, but this is a popular author with a good fan base, who like what they get, so it will be money well spent. It was a good find and a reminder of an author whose work I enjoy and will continue to read.

I’ll be reviewing this book here on the blog on October 20th.

Links to other bloggers taking today’s challenge.

Shelley searched for the “BloodMoon” and found a FREE paranormal murder mystery – http://shelleywilsonauthor.com/2015/10/02/buy-or-pass-the-seventh-sons-fridayfivechallenge/comment-page-1/#comment-823

Barb found a children’s book – http://barbtaub.com/2015/10/02/frustration-and-the-most-magnificent-thing-fridayfivechallenge-from-rosieamber1/

Cathy found a good holiday read set in Pembrokeshire –  http://betweenthelinesbookblog.com/2015/10/02/fridayfivechallenge-paradise-house-by-erica-james-buyorpass/comment-page-1/#comment-2748

Wendy went looking for LOVE – http://booklovercircumspect4.com/2015/10/02/fridayfivechallenge-blow-by-kim-karr-buyorpass-romance/comment-page-1/#comment-345

Alison put her trust in Amazon to recommend a book – https://alisonwilliamswriting.wordpress.com/2015/10/02/fridayfivechallenge-30-days-to-a-clean-and-organized-house-rosieamber1/

Guest Author Jack Croxall

Today our guest is Jack Croxall, author of yesterday’s book “X”. If you missed the review here is a link. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-50O

Let’s find out more about Jack.

Where is your home town?

It’s a tiny little village in Nottinghamshire, England (Winkburn) – it’s so beautiful, I love it!

How long have you been writing?

Since I could hold a pen! I used to make little booklets and magazines when I was a kid (mostly stories about dinosaurs and sharks) but I started ‘seriously writing’ when I was at university. I started writing bits and bobs for student publications, and then began writing fiction. I published my first novel at the beginning of last year.

Where did the idea for “X” come from?

Even though it only came out towards the end of last year, I’d actually been mulling X over in my mind for a very long time – I can’t remember the first bit of work I did on it! The reason I suddenly veered forwards with the story was because I finally worked out the theme, and, with it, X’s real plight. Before that all I really had was a setting and a character; nothing to tie them together in any meaningful way.

What are the “Uglies”?

They’re meant to be the undead, but the undead as I specifically imagine them. I’m writing a full novel set in the same world and I go into far more detail about them in that. In X I guess they’re kind of whatever the reader wants them to be.

Have you considered making the short story longer?

Not really, I think the nature of X’s predicament means the story just can’t be very long. The upcoming novel revolves around four different characters and a different storyline, there will be a few Easter eggs for anyone who’s read X though.

The world of books is so huge that I’ve not come across your work before, what genre or genres to you write in?

I write in the YA genre at the moment, but I always like to try and include elements of other genres too; mystery, horror, historical and thriller are my favourites.

Can you tell us about your “Tethers Trilogy”?

Of course! Tethers is a Victorian fantasy, steampunk-y, YA-y and adventure-y series set in rural England. It follows two teenagers, Karl and Esther, across three books as they become embroiled in a kind of conspiracy involving various otherworldly artefacts and a whole host of sinister characters. The first two books (Tethers and Unwoven) deal with themes of fate, grief and obsession.

What are you working on at the moment?

The final Tethers book and my zombie novel simultaneously – both are coming on well!

Do you have an expected publication date for fans?

Well each Tethers book has come out in February, so I’m aiming for the third to come out in Feb 2015 to follow the trend. As for the zombie novel, I really have no idea!

Where can fans find out more about you and your work?

The best place is my website: www.jackcroxall.co.uk everyone is always welcome!!

Find a copy of X here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Thank you Jack, I look forward to reading more of your work.