Audie Award Nominee, Paranormal, 2013
Teenage delinquent Angel Crawford lives with her redneck father in the swamps of southern Louisiana. She's a high school dropout, addicted to drugs and alcohol, and has a police record a mile long. But when she's made into a zombie after a car crash, her addictions disappear, except for her all-consuming need to stay "alive".
©2011 Diana Rowland (P)2012 Audible, Inc.
"Allison McLemore's delicate voice and Southern accent give Angel's first-person narration a humorous kick. McLemore excels at bringing Angel's self-deprecating and sarcastic comments to life. Her brisk pacing suits Angel's personality and draws listeners in from the first chapter, keeping them glued to their earphones as she plays up the book's 'gross factor' with drawling descriptions of gooey brains and crunchy skull cavities. She's also good at giving unique voices and mannerisms to secondary characters." (AudioFile)
QUESTION : DOES LISTENING TO AUDIO BOOKS MAKE YOU SMARTER? If so, I'm. Freakin Genius!
"GET A "LIFE"! Become a Zombie..."
I enjoyed this book. The narration was good and the story was lite, while still keeping my interest throughout the entire audio performance.
My favorite character was Angel. She is a bit of an underdog. And I loved the way she pulled herself up and made the best of a bad situation.
I keep saying that I am done with ZOMBIE BOOKS, but this book had the coolest cover art, and what could one little zombie fix hurt?!!!!??
You know where I'm going with this...
YES. I have already purchased the next book in this series. And as soon as I am done writing this stupid review, I plan on listening to it. Darn it all.
"New Zom spin"
I liked it. Not the dystopian yarn that populates the genre, this is an alternate take on the zombie theme, Rowland writes about drug use in a very open manner that you don't usually see in lite fiction and at the $6.95 sale price it's a worthy listen.
"Light and enjoyable listen"
This is a book about a young woman down on her luck, with self esteem problems, and from the wrong side of the tracks. Normally, this would be depressing, but not the case with this book. Our heroine, Angel doesn't let being turned into a Zombie get her down. She is funny and snarky and she has brain power. Of course, it took some time for me to get use to the brain smoothies.(yuck)
The narrator did an excellent job with all of the characters. This narrator reads this series on par with Amanda Ronconi's reading of the Molly Harper books. However, this series is not as funny.
This book is more of a mystery, police procedual with an under current of romance. The romance is not a big part of the book. No sexually explict scenes. There are some F bombs and other curse words that some may find offensive. The book is defintely targeted at adult reader/listener's. If your in the mood for a light book, this is for you. But be warned, Zombies have some strange dietary requirements. (brains)
Fantasy, adventure, sci-fi, mysteries, and poetry- just a few of my favorite genres.
"I want more and so will you!! *Spoilers*"
I loved how the story was told from Angel's point of view as well as the narrator's excellent job of voicing each character. Despite the fantastic subject matter, the story felt believable and I found the forensic stuff very intriguing. I also immensely enjoyed the narration.
That Diana Rowland gave the zombie genre a new twist. It was a nice change of pace to see something new. It was interesting how that in order to stay 'normal', Angel would need to consume brains in order to not fall into decay, like Zeke. I liked the fact that the zombies would not become mindless unless they were overly active or out of brains. It was also nice to notice they could still eat normal food, as well.
The different voices and attitude of each character. She delivered the pain, anguish, joy and rage of each character excellently.
Yes- I couldn't wait to listen to it again. If I had to put my iPod down to do something important that required concentration, I would pick it back up instantly when I was finished.
Would love it to be made into a television show or movie- it'd be awesome to see something different in theaters than the usual 'run and fight for your life- there are brain-hungry zombies out to get you!' Seriously, though, if you like zombie books and shows like CSI, you will like this enjoyable mash-up of horror and mystery.
Professional puppeteer, audio book narrator, author.
"Who ever thought I'd be rooting for a zombie?"
Diana Rowland is really good at first person narrative. She's created a fairly intimate story about someone getting their act together, while weaving in a mystery and the horrors of a terminal illness. Somehow, she makes all that funny. When you add Allison McLemore's narration, this is a really compelling listen.
Angel, the main character, is wonderful because she's smart -- way smarter than she thinks in fact. At one point she tells someone off by saying, "I'm ignorant, not stupid." And she works hard to stop being ignorant. I also loved Derrel, the death investigator, and his sense of humor
That would involve a spoiler, but it was one between Angel and Dr. Leblanc. When you get a little misty-eyed listening, you'll know you've hit it.
I've enjoyed Diana's other fiction, but had shied away from this because I'm not keen on zombies usually. I am so glad I gave this a try. It is not horror. It's a coming of age, comic mystery in which the main character happens to be a zombie.
"Much better than I expected."
Yes. It was extremely well written and well read. Great story that keeps you engaged from start to finish.
This is one of my first zombie books so I really have nothing to compare it to. I usually don't like zombie stories but a friend recommended this and it was fantastic.
She really captured the emotion of the story and the main character, Angel. Her voice was just perfect for this story.
It did make me laugh in some spots, and it made me really feel sorry for Angel. I was hooked on this story from the opening paragraph.
I'm unashamedly totally addicted to Audible and YA Fiction. Aspiring writer. Workaholic. Used to have stacks of books to plow through but Audible allows me to actually "read" them. "My name is Shanah and I am an Audible Addict." Oh, and I spend way too much money on this stuff, but I don't care!
"Love this listen! Best narrator job ever."
Yes. Yes. Yes. I love this girl and found myself talking like her for fun.
Angel. Too many reasons...
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE HER. Why isn't she narrating more books people? She's pure gold.
Perfect title.
I didn't want to read this at first because I thought it would be glorifying the white trash culture with vulgarity and sleaziness, but she's not white trash at all. Just poor. Big difference. Now, her boyfriend, yes...white trash.
Graphic Designer. Culinary Enthusiast. Mostly User Friendly.
"Fun, even if you don't like zombies!"
I don't like zombies because I don't like gross, but I liked this book anyway. Allison McLemore's narration was great, and maybe it was the Southern accent, but it reminded me a little bit of the Sookie Stackhouse series. This was a fun book to listen to, and although there were definitely gross parts, it wasn't too terribly gory.
"Real Zombie Character Development"
I loved this book, thoughy it didn't have as much romance as I'd hoped. (I read this for Felicia Day's Vaginal Fantasy Book Club, yes that's the name. Lol)
They way they treat the Zombie condition is really fascinating in this book. But what I enjoyed most about this book is the evolution of the main character and how she learns to adapt to her new life. The book explores some dark themes, but it is hopeful and inspiring.
Don't listen while you are eating or drinking though. Ewwww.
- Criminal Justice Graduate - Farrier
"A Great Adult Book"
Funny, Blunt, and Graphic!
Obviously the main character and because she was funny.
Great voice and ability to read out loud.
Ya one part reminded me of my step dad, how he collect every jar when it gets empty. So one day he can can fruits or whatever. In the book a similar scene comes into play!
This book was great and kinda had the feel like the TV show True Blood, but with zombies!