Road Trip Of The Living Dead (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
We are six months after the end of Happy Hour of the Damned, and everyone has pretty much moved on since the zombie outbreaks. Gil has started his own Resurrection business, making money turning people undead. While waiting for a client of Gills, recently deceased wealthy-rich man, to rise from the grave Amanda mentions to Wendy and Gil she received a call from her mothers hospice care nurse saying her mother is in ending stages of stomach cancer. With the rising of the new vampire things start to go seriously wrong. A ghost who hates vampires does something to the newly birthing vampire as he is breaking from the earth. Markham is now pissed (ha ha...) and wants a refund and threatens to kill Gil. But Gil hopes a few days away will calm him to the point of talking and not killing. Leaving town for a road trip to Amanda's mom's, the crew goes ~ some wanting and willing, and one dreading it.Oh this road trip is a tragic comedy of events. But we are with a group of meat eating undead here and there are crazy happenings with the crew as they are chased through the country to Amanda's dieing moms. Fun. As the trip starts off as a way to get away from troubles awaiting in town, the start to think they might be being followed. But then when they think they've lost their stalkers other events take place and we meet new characters that being a new twist to the story and new destination stops in the road trip. All stops end in a wild happening. And the humor like in Happy Hour.We learn more of Amanda's upbringing through her memories of her mom while meeting new characters that fit, and don't fit, into the group. There are new men and women. And each finds their own place here, if they have one. Amanda is the great sassy character I remembered her to be. Wendy seemed to be not as active for me in this book. But we do meet some new characters which I enjoyed, Honey and Scott. I love the connections the feel with a few of the characters. Nice! But, there's a murder mystery too! Not knowing who is doing the murders and working on the suspects. So, who is killing these people? Which ones will end up lunch meat? You'll have to read to find out. Horror reveals to us the dark mirror of our souls. As someone who grew up in Montana--constantly wondering "no really, Butte, what the fuck is that?"--and since moved to Seattle, I'm someone who can appreciate the eastward descent into utter madness these undead cosmopolitans take. Mark Henry accurately depicts I-90 through eastern Washington as the sulfuric desolation it really is, although he does focus on all the worst rednecky and uncivilized parts of eastern Washington and Montana, ignoring the other 2%. Also, this book is really funny. Anyone can gross you out with anatomy and viscera, but Henry does it with a punchy humor that keeps the ichor pumping throughout the book. And that's the reason to read it--it's simply a fun, shocking, and entertaining book.
What do You think about Road Trip Of The Living Dead (2009)?
Hilarious and offensive as always. Good job, Mark. Your footnotes make me laugh out loud, literally.
—Lorraine
