Where the Dead go to Die @AaronDries & @MarkAGunnells #Horror #Suspense #Zombies

The Plot:

There are monsters in this world. And they used to be us. Now it’s time to euthanize to survive in a hospice where Emily, a woman haunted by her past, only wants to do her job and be the best mother possible.

Euthanize to survive

Post-infection Chicago. Christmas.

Inside The Hospice, Emily and her fellow nurses do their rounds. Here, men and women live out their final days in comfort, segregated from society, and are then humanely terminated before fate turns them into marrow-craving monsters known as ‘Smilers.’ Outside these imposing walls, rabid protesters swarm with signs, caught up in the heat of their hatred.

Emily, a woman haunted by her past, only wants to do her job and be the best mother possible. But in a world where mortality means nothing, where guns are drawn in fear and nobody seems safe anymore—at what cost will this pursuit come? And through it all, the soon-to be-dead remain silent, ever smiling. Such is their curse.

This emotional, political novel comes from two of horror’s freshest voices, and puts a new spin on an eternal topic: the undead. In the spirit of George A Romero meets Jack Ketchum, Where the Dead Go to Die it is an unforgettable epilogue to the zombie genre, one that will leave you shaken and questioning right from wrong…even when it’s the only right left.

It won’t be long before that snow-speckled ground will be salted by blood.

Aaron Dries

Raised in a small New South Wales town in Australia, the former video store clerk, pizza delivery boy, retail specialist, aged-care nurse, document scanner, video editor, commissioned artist, and amateur filmmaker always had a strong interest in creating stories. Were it hand-drawn X-Files comic books or home-made movies starring himself and his family (the best of which had Aaron running over a friend with a lawnmower, followed closely by a remake of Scream starring his brother as Drew Barrymore), there was always something in the works.

Aaron graduated from the University of Newcastle with a Bachelor of Communications under his wing, majoring in creative writing and video production. As a filmmaker, he won a number of awards for his short films at home and abroad, including Best Film at the Newcastle Film Festival for Placebo, coinciding with the publication of his earliest stories in literary magazines.

His first novel, House Of Sighs, was originally written under the title Disunity for the Leisure Books/Rue Morgue/Chizine Publications Fresh Blood Contest. The premise of the novel stemmed back to a local murder that took place in Aaron’s adolescence. A mother on his pizza delivery route shot and murdered her husband and children before turning the gun upon herself. As was the case with everyone who read about the incident, Aaron’s mind churned with questions of morality. Why do bad things happen to good people? What is the origin of evil? What makes apparently sane people do insane acts? These questions would become the genesis for House Of Sighs some years later.

When he is not writing, Aaron Dries is thinking about writing, or upcoming film projects. He is also an avid traveler. The first draft of his debut was written over a three month period on a borrowed semi-functional laptop whilst living in overseas hostels.

Mark Allan Gunnells:

Mark Allan Gunnells has been writing since he was ten years old. His first book, A Laymon Kind of Night, was published by Sideshow Press in 2009. Since then he has put out three more books with Sideshow: the two-novella Whisonant/Creatures of the Light combo, a short story collection entitled Tales from the Midnight Shift Vol. I, and the Halloween themed Dark Treats. He also has put out the novella Asylum with The Zombie Feed, and a digital collection entitled Ghosts in the Attic with Bad Moon Books. He recently released his first published novel, The Quarry, with Evil Jester Press. He still lives in his hometown of Gaffney, SC.

Review:

Horror is not my cup of tea, so I probably should have turned down Where the Dead Go to Die when the authors’ publisher asked me to review it. I accepted it for two reasons: the zombies were infected by a disease, and I somehow convinced myself someone would find a cure. Which part of horror did you not get, Weber? And it took place in my hometown, Chicago.

So, okay. It’s horror. Spoiler alert. There isn’t going to be a cure. It’s not going to have a feel-good ending. That’s not why I’m giving it a three-rose rating. Chicago is.

It is possible to write about a place you’ve never been to, but it helps to at least study maps of the place so you can build a believable world there. Apparently neither author ever spent much time here, nor did they really study the Chicagoland Area. Where the Dead Go to Die had no real local references. Where was The Hospice? In Streeterville near the Northwest Memorial complex? On the South Side near the University of Chicago? The West Side near the University of Illinois Medical Center, Rush Medical, somewhere up on the Northwest Side? Old Irving Park? Logan Square? What are the cross-streets? State and Chicago? Irving and Cicero? Why does everyone have a Russian accent? I have a few neighbors from Eastern Europe and Chicago has a large Polish population, but most Polish families immigrated here decades ago and everyone speaks English except a few very elderly grandparents.

If you’re world-building in a place that already exists, you need to do your research, or explain why it doesn’t resemble itself at all. Otherwise, you’ll lose the respect of natives/residents like me. I did cry at the end. That's why I gave it three roses, but I would only recommend this book if you’ve never been to Chicago and you don’t know any better. Oh, and if you like horror.

Author Websites: 

Aaron Dries:  http://aarondries.com/

Mark Allan Gunnells:  https://www.amazon.com/Mark-Allan-Gunnells/e/B005C18L7Q

Warnings:  Violence, Gore

Length:  197 Pages

Digital Price:  $4.99

Buy Link:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N1LYOGP

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Plague by Buzz Bernard

Blurb:

In only a matter of days, 9/11 and the destruction of the Twin Towers will be rivaled by a lone-wolf terrorist attack on America. Atlanta is targeted as Ground Zero for the most horrifying plague in modern times.

Deep in the secret recesses of a Cold War lab, the Russians created tons of deadly bio-weapons. Now, decades later, a protégé of that Russian research is about to release weaponized Ebola into the heart of the South’s most iconic city: Atlanta, where the symbols of American “decadence” range from a happily diverse population to the Coca-Cola museum and CNN building.

A preliminary test of the horrifying virus demonstrates the unspeakable suffering of its victims—and alerts the Centers for Disease Control that a terrible pandemic is in the making. CDC Virologist Dr. Dwight Butler begins a frantic effort to track down the source before it’s too late.

For new BioDawn CEO Richard Wainwright, it quickly becomes clear that the “accidental” plane crash that killed the pharmaceutical company’s entire executive hierarchy may have some connection to the evolving threat. Suddenly Richard is being stalked by a hit woman. He and Butler join forces to find the lone terrorist at the center of a plan that could unleash a modern Black Plague on the western world.

About the Author:

H.W. “Buzz” Bernard is an Air Force veteran and retired Weather Channel meteorologist. His 2010 hurricane thriller, Eyewall, became a number one bestseller in e-book. Visit him at http://www.buzzbernard.com.

Review:

I like a good thriller, especially by an author who does his/her homework, as Mr. Bernard obviously has done. While Dr. Butler is a colorful character, he takes his job seriously, and is uniquely able to track down the bug that is plaguing the people of Atlanta. Richard Wainwright comes out of retirement to take over direction of BioDawn when the entire Board is killed in a plane crash. He’s only an interim boss until someone permanent can be found, but he still wants to know what’s going on in the guarded building the even he’s kept out of, and why funding for that research doesn’t show up on the company’s books. Even when a hit woman tells him to mind his own business. Especially then.

Mr. Bernard kept me on the edge of my seat from the first page of Plague until I finally finished it. Again, carve out a block of time before you pick up Plague. You won’t want to put it down once you do.

Author Website:  http://www.buzzbernard.com

Warnings:  Graphic Descriptions of Hemorrhagic Fever Symptoms

Length:  232 Pages

Prices:

Print:  $13.91

Digital:  $5.38

Buy Link:  https://smile.amazon.com/Plague-H-W-Buzz-Bernard-ebook/dp/B009CD14NI

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The Last One by Alexandra Oliva

Blurb:

Survival is the name of the game as the line blurs between reality TV and reality itself in Alexandra Oliva’s fast-paced novel of suspense.

She wanted an adventure. She never imagined it would go this far.

It begins with a reality TV show. Twelve contestants are sent into the woods to face challenges that will test the limits of their endurance. While they are out there, something terrible happens—but how widespread is the destruction, and has it occurred naturally or is it man-made? Cut off from society, the contestants know nothing of it. When one of them—a young woman the show’s producers call Zoo—stumbles across the devastation, she can imagine only that it is part of the game.

Alone and disoriented, Zoo is heavy with doubt regarding the life—and husband—she left behind, but she refuses to quit. Staggering countless miles across unfamiliar territory, Zoo must summon all her survival skills—and learn new ones as she goes.

But as her emotional and physical reserves dwindle, she grasps that the real world might have been altered in terrifying ways—and her ability to parse the charade will be either her triumph or her undoing.

About the Author:

Alexandra Oliva was born and raised in upstate New York. She has a BA in history from Yale University and an MFA in creative writing from The New School. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband. The Last One is her first novel.

Review:

When you mostly review romance novels, they can get kind of boring. You know when you pick up the book the couple will have a happily-ever-after, and you pretty much know from page-to-page what’s going to happen next. Sometimes I want to write, “It’s a romance. You know how it goes,” and just award roses based on the quality (or lack thereof) of the editing. Rarely does a book come along that is completely different. That surprises you. Knocks your socks off. Horrifies you. And fascinates you.

“Zoo” is a veterinarian participating in a survivalist reality program. I avoid these shows. For one thing, my idea of roughing it is a hotel with no Jacuzzi. For another, I hate programs where people get voted off. At least on Zoo’s show, people are eliminated by being the last ones to complete various “challenges.” But even Zoo and the members of her team challenge are disgusted when the “lost and injured hiker” they’ve been tracking stumbles over the side of a cliff when they get there because they were ten minutes late. The sexy bimbo (thrown in by the producers for eye candy) stubbed her toe and spent fifteen minutes sitting on a rock crying. What the viewers don’t know is that the team can see a cable secured from the top of the cliff and the battered and bloody dead body at the bottom is a dummy. The “brains” are cottage cheese and food coloring, and the “blood” is colored corn syrup.

So when Zoo finds herself alone on a challenge and comes across a house with balloons in her signature blue color with a mat that says “Home Sweet Home,” it’s easy to delude herself into believing the challenge is to make her way home following the rules of the game. And to believe the dead bodies in the house are more props. As are the rest of the ones she encounters on her journey.

I’m not normally drawn to apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic books, but Zoo’s journey—her absolute inability to accept reality, the way she rationalizes the things that happen to her, made The Last One truly one of the most fascinating books I’ve read in quite awhile. You have to read it yourself.

Author Website:  http://www.alexandraoliva.com

Heat Rating:  R—Graphic Violence

Length:  305 Pages

Prices:

Digital:  $12.99

Hardcover:  $18.25

Audible:  28.46

Buy Link:  https://www.amazon.com/Last-One-Novel-Alexandra-Oliva-ebook/dp/B016TG5RKG

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