The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black: novel trailer

Matt Boiselle

    Any die-hard e-readers out there looking for that latest book that will make your blood run cold, and give you the feeling as if a hand beyond the grave is assisting you with the turn of each page as you read by candlelight ? The latest novel by Author & Artist E.B. Hudspeth will take you back in time to the year 1870, and put you front and center with Dr. Spencer Black, the son of a "resurrectionist" (fancy title for a grave-robber), and his scientific (and slightly skewed) hypothesis - what if the mythological creatures of yesteryear, such as mermaids, minotaurs & satyrs, were the true evolutionary ancestors of all mankind ?

    This fascinating proposal is split up into two books, while the first is a fictional biography of Dr. Black, the second - entitled The Codex Extinct Animalia, which acts as a sort of reference guide that details all mythological beasts including dragons, centaurs, Pegasus & Cerberus. All are rendered in finely intricate black and white illustrations, which clearly depict the scribblings of a certifiable lunatic. If you are currently weighing whether or not to give this a read, feel free to check out the teaser trailer for the book itself below and click the pic at the top of the article to be taken to QuirkBooks website, it will be available on e-format May 21st for $24.95, and promises to be a head-first dive into the gray matter of a man who should have been locked behind bars long ago simply due to his maniacal thoughts....or should he ? We here at Zombies and Toys will be posting a review of this in the near future so be on the lookout as soon as it is made available.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_6bBAvpzGbY

The Zombie Generation : Book Review

Matt Boiselle

   Let me start off this review by making one thing stone-dead obvious...I am NOT an author, nor do I think that I possess the patience or internal creativity to sit down and pump out 200-300 pages of fresh material for a new novel every year or so ( that's why I write small articles) - now that's out of the way, let me segue into a review of a book that indeed does provide a fresh take on the zombie apocalypse.

  The book I'm writing about is The Zombie Generation by author Drake Vaughn, and it very well could be one of the most intriguing zombie tales that you will pry open your dead eyes for. Our lone character is named Warner, and he has become infected with a zombie virus that takes a VERY long time to deteriorate his condition, and we as the readers, are right there along with him to witness him suffering, both mentally and physically. The premise is without a doubt different, and can be slow in some places, but the tension builds to a certainly unexpected climax that will leave you looking for more print on the books last remaining empty space.

  Warners' undead descent is not without delusion, rage, or agony, and Vaughn conveys every single emotion into tangible form. The action scenes are bloody and intensively descriptive, and the quiet moments are just that...meant to lull you into a placid state, and have you come to grips with how slow acting mental retrogression can..well...make you lose your mind !
 
   In the end this was an enjoyable 229 page read wrought with twists, turns, and plenty of suspense - an absolute must-read if you want to break out of the mundane zombie fare that seems to be plaguing bookshelves these days. Click on the pic to be carted off to Amazon where the book can be purchased either via print or E-Reader format - Happy Reading !!

Area 187: Almost Hell Book Review

By David Brown "In the year 2007 an accident at a clandestine U.S.Government facility in rural West Virginia releases several test subjects infected with a necrotic virus. Within weeks the U.S.
military and the Department of Homeland Security are forced to declare the bulk of the state
under quarantine. Defensive lines are fortified and nothing is allowed in or out, damning those missed in the short period of evacuations to a living hell and locking away the real truth of the virus' creation. The government transfers the responsibility of maintaining the quarantine from the military to the Department of Homeland Security, which christens it "Area 187".
Suits and claims are dismissed under anti-terror legislation as the rest of government scrambles to cover their involvement in the original project, distancing themselves and their re-elections.

Seven years pass.

Homeland Security enforces a total news blackout on all things Area 187, and as with other disasters before it the bulk of America is more than willing to move on. Conspiracies continue
to thrive outside the now-immense defensive wall and fortifications, and mercenaries known as "grave robbers" regularly slip in and out of the Area, stealing valuables and taking contracts to bring back specific items for well-paying customers. Our story follows Josephine
Terrell, a television reporter and John Heath, once an Air Force search-and-rescue team leader that escaped the Area after five years of fruitless searching for his wife, as they risk their lives from both the dead and the living inside Area 187 to rescue a group of survivors.
Josephine is looking for the story of the century, one that will prove living, breathing Americans still await rescue inside the Area and that Homeland has been covering up their existence. Heath joins her mission after he sees what may be his wife, Eileen, in a video message from the survivors. Personal rivalries, government conspiracies, and a simple man's promise weave together with death incarnate to follow their every step as they make their way through a blasted, nightmarish landscape full of the hungering dead. But the peril offered by the mindless corpses behind the wall becomes second to the danger presented by the living beyond it..."

This is the synopsis for Eric R. Lowther's book Area 187: Almost Hell, and let me tell you, if this alone isn't enough to get you excited, then you are not a zombie fan. The book starts out following a new recruit who is tasked to enter the forsaken known as Area 187 in order to fix a tower. Needless to say the talk that his superior, Lieutenant Colson, gives in which he describes the area and its dangers lets you know the action that this book holds. The prologue does a nice job of setting us up for the sense of bleakness that will encompass you as you read.

From here on we follow the aforementioned Josephine Terrell as she searches for John Heath. Upon finding him, she is quickly pushed aside due to her seemingly nonsensical claims until she shows him a video containing a woman that looks like his wife. That is when she finally believed and he chooses to take her into the area to get the story of her life. Wrought with dangers unimagined, she prepares and their journey begins.

I will stop here so I don't ruin anymore of the story but needless to say it is one that keeps you entertained from the first page right up to the last. Lowther has a writing style that exudes forward momentum. You are never at a point where you say to yourself " I wish this was going by quicker." Everything about his style leads you to connect with the characters and as events unfold you will go through their emotional journeys simultaneously. These characters feel like they are people you would see in your life and that lends to a lot of the joy in reading this book, you can really find yourself beside the characters.

With the world as it is today there is no reason to think that conspiracies don't happen all the time (maybe not to this scale). The sense of what if, really shines through here and you want to keep reading to see what will happen as the pages turn. We all want to believe that we will survive an apocalyptic virus or plague like that of zombies, but we must ask a few questions.
What if you woke up and found yourself stranded amongst the dead ? What if you knew the government would never come ? How would you survive ? Who would you reach out to ? Ask yourself all of these questions and then go pick up this book now. You will not regret this read.

If you are interested in winning a copy we here at Zombies and Toys will be giving away one, just send an e-mail with your name and address to area187@zombiesandtoys.com and we will draw a name at random at the end of the month. Good luck !

Escape From Zombie City ( A One Way Out Novel)

Matt Boiselle
Looking for a spine tingling, immersive, edge of your seat thriller through a desperate attempt to stay alive during the zombie apocalypse ? Released on October 18th in both trade paperback and e-book format, The Zombie Feed Press, an imprint of Apex Publications, sends forth Escape From Zombie City ( A One Way Out Novel), written by Ray Wallace. The book drops you smack dab in the middle of a catastrophic outbreak of the undead, and gives you the feel that it is indeed you that has begun the end of days battle to keep yourself alive and safe amongst the recently re-animated. Many obstacles face you now as the city you reside in has been overrun by what the news broadcasts have stated as results of a failed government experiment ( is there any other kind ? ). The mere thought of just trying to move on to safer ground becomes an ever increasing futile attempt that is clouded by psycho survivalists, numerous roadblocks and stonewalled military defenses. This looks like a good read and if you are into the kind of novel that just doesn't paint the picture, but gives you the brush, then grab this book - on sale now at www.apexbookcompany.com/collections/the-zombie-feed