Zombies and more

Hungry for Your Love: An Anthology of Zombie Romance
Lori Perkins (Editor)
St. Martin’s Griffin, $14.99
ISBN: 9780312650797

This is an engaging twenty-one short stories that focus on the subgenre of zombie romance. That extra twist brings the heart and soul to a well written compilation. “Romance Ain’t Dead by Jeremy Wagner stars a human husband loving his reanimated wife who drowned in Lake Michigan. Francesca Lia Block provides an amusing warm tale of two revenants meeting at “Revenants Anonymous”. "I Heart Brains" by Jaime Saare has an infected male shopping at the mall for a new body, but also meets a widow. In “Everyone I Love Is dead” by Elizabeth Coldwell stars an Undead who returns from the grave to see his beloved but she has moved on with another man. Similar in tone as Ms. Coldwell’s entry, Regina Riley provides the "Undying Love" of a zombie searching for his lost love. All the tales are fun and entertaining for fans of zombie romances as each author insures their lead couple contains fully functioning hearts as love never dies even the "Last Times at Ridgemont High" by Kilt Kilpatrick. Harriet Klausner

Indulgence in Death
J.D. Robb
Putnam, $26.95
ISBN: 9780399156878

NYPSD Homicide Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her husband Roarke go to Ireland on a needed vacation; their first in quite a while. When they return to New York City, Eve finds her unit struggling with an apparent serial killer (or more) who changes his or her weapon of choice; always using something that seems arcane.

First the predator murdered chauffeur Jamal Houston sitting in his limo at La Guardia with a crossbow. That is followed with the killing of prostitute Ava Crampton at Coney Island's House of Horrors using a bayonet. Soon afterward celebrity chef Luc Delaflote falls to a harpoon. Finally, a bullwhip around her neck strangled Adrianne Jonas to death. Even as they become targets, Eve, her top assistant Detective Delia Peabody and Roarke find clues that frighten them with the apparent psychopathic implications.

The long running Dallas-Roarke futuristic police procedural (see Kindred in Death and Fantasy in Death) is made fresh by the killer(s) who will remind readers of Leopold and Loeb (see the movie Compulsion) though the implication has been used in other novels. The story line is fast-paced and loaded with action as the inquiry turns macabre and twp cops and their civilian ally become the prey of deadly predators. Sub-genre fans will enjoy this exciting entry. Harriet Klausner

Afterlife
Merrie Destefano
Eos, $7.99
ISBN: 9780061990816

In New Orleans, Chaz Domingue earns a living at Fresh Start counseling and protecting new clones while the resurrected deceased struggles to regain their equilibrium. His current “babysitting” newbie is Angelique. However, what should have been a simple job guiding Angelique turns nasty when he must keep the woman safe from an unknown adversary who wants her dead.

Chaz assumes that the culprits fear Angelique knows something from a prior life that they do not want revealed. Questioning Angelique divulges nothing; so Chaz is left on the defensive insuring the woman and consequently his own family are not harmed. However, he remains ignorant to the fact that a powerful cadre of Nine-Timers wants the Fresh Start secrets as the ninth bat at life is the acceptable normal last swing; this group plans to live forever at any cost to others.

The first Resurrection Chronicles is a terrific New Orleans science fiction thriller that rotates first person viewpoints with the prime star being Chaz, who fumbles, stumbles, and grumbles with keeping the newbie safe from those who want her dead. Fast-paced, readers will relish this dark New Orleans drama as the hero has no idea what he has stepped into by doing his job except he knows that Angelique is the cause that threatens him and his family. Harriet Klausner