After I finished reading Cherie Priest's first Eden Moore book, I had to place an order for the next two. To round out the order, though, I decided to add Mark Henry's Happy Hour of the Damned to the package. Little did I know...Henry and Priest are Seattle buds. And Henry, while very different in style, is equally praised by his writing peers. Note to self, authors have great taste!
So the box arrived and I jumped into Happy Hour, and it was such raunchy fun! I mean, I'm kind of a prude normally and there were definitely some parts that pushed my limit (not hard). I couldn't get over how freaking hilarious it was, though! It's like Christopher Moore hilarious. The kind of dark hilarious that you feel guilty about. And I enjoyed it to the extreme.
(I imagine hanging out with Mark Henry must be like having a real life Vince Masuka--from Dexter--around.)
Happy Hour of the Damned is the first book to introduce the incomparable Amanda Feral, a flesh-eating ghoul with fashion sense. You want Amanda on your side, because God help you if you piss her off! When one of her fellow paranormal friends appears to have gone missing under questionable circumstances (a text reading "Help" being the first clue), Amanda and her other friends set off to help. But signs are starting to point at a possible zombie outbreak when local Starbucks are attacked by accidental zombies -- a zombie can be intentionally made by very few. Amanda was intentional, though she's not entirely sure why. Accidental zombies are of the Night of the Living Dead variety, stumbling around in search of "Brains!"
Mark Henry definitely has an original style and is hitting a corner of the urban fantasy market that's not really being done right now. I know I compared him to Christopher Moore earlier, and that's really the closest comparison I can think of, but I think that Henry may just be dirtier and even more twisted than Moore. If that's possible (check out Moore's Lust Lizards f Melancholy Cove for dirty Moore). So don't say you weren't warned if you pick this one up and find yourself squirming with discomfort as you laugh your ass off!
Happy Hour is being re-released in mass market (it's in trade paperback right now) in February. Book 2 is Road Trip of the Living Dead (en route to my house as we speak) and book 3, Battle of the Network Zombies, hits shelves in March.
4 comments:
I have eyed this book but now I too want to check out these books really bad.
I LOVE Happy hour of the damned! Road trip, was even better! Can not wait to get my hands on Battle.
Mark is pure fun. Follow him on twitter!
Loved this book. Had me giggling from page 1. Just picked up Road Trip and am eager to rip into it (now why does that phrase remind me of Amanda eating? Hmmm, LOL).
I've read all three of Mark Henry's Feral books and they are all delightfully twisted. I can't say I recommend them to everyone, because that's a way to have parents and priests stop talking to me, but they are certainly some of my favorites.
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