Review–Zombie Candy by Frederick Lee Brooke

Zombie Candy

Zombie Candy

by Frederick Lee Brooke

Summary: You know early on, from the color of the inappropriate bra in the opening scene, that Zombie Candy is going to be a black comedy. Most people could sympathize with the male obsession for sex and zombie movies, but who would put up with a husband who doused every dish with cilantro?
Frederick Lee Brooke serves up another literary treat with this bizarre and comical tale of love and betrayal. Candace Roach enlists her best friend Annie Ogden (our favorite sleuth from
Doing Max Vinyl) to find out what her husband is really up to on his weekly business trips - but their home-cooked aversion therapy gets out of hand and hurtles along an astonishing highway of the undead.
Home from Iraq but unsure about her future, Annie Ogden isn't your typical woman sleuth. Her best friend, Candace Roach - gourmet cooking instructor, owner of a house in Tuscany - isn't your typical wronged woman either. Candace teaches gourmet cooking, and loves nothing more than orchestrating a four-course meal full of flavorful surprises and artistic touches. A selection of her recipes is found in an appendix to the book.
But with each shocking discovery in the investigation of her husband, the friendship between Candace and Annie is further put to the test. Candace ultimately takes matters into her own hands and, in an elaborate ruse, stages a nightmarish zombie drama in which her husband plays the starring role.
Weaving elements of mystery, horror and romance in a story that starts in Chicago and ends in a quaint medieval town in sun-drenched Tuscany,
Zombie Candy transcends any single genre. Embark on a journey that will tickle your taste buds and wake up your funny bone. What are you waiting for?

Review:

4%2520star

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

This book was brilliant, bizarre, totally creative, and thoroughly entertaining. It is not a horror book about zombies. It is not a book about candy, either. But the title is clever and makes sense once you get closer to the end.

Candace discovers her husband Larry’s infidelity and hires her friend Annie, a private investigator, to gather more evidence. Candace struggles with her weight and goes through the stages of grief after finding out just how terrible the evidence against Larry is. But this book is not quite a mystery. It’s not quite a contemporary novel, either, despite the way the reader follows Candace through her stages of grief.

While I didn’t connect with the characters on a deep personal level, I didn’t feel like it mattered. I was engrossed in the events and wondering what Candace was going to do next. I wondered how many more holes Larry would dig for himself, too. I knew that Candace had something up her sleeve when she finally made a decision regarding her marriage, but I would have never guessed what it was or how it would play out. I loved the zombie elements and the giant ruse that Candace was able to coordinate to get back at her zombie moving loving sex addicted husband.

The book was well written and entertaining and clever. I loved every minute and would definitely recommend this book to others. As I said, it’s not a zombie horror novel, it’s not quite a mystery, not quite a romance, not quite a thriller, yet not a cheesy comedy, either. The author was able to develop a story that fits no genre title.

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