| Title | : | A Quick Bite of Flesh |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | - |
| Publication | : | First published September 21, 2012 |
Stories by Terry Alexander, Jason Andrew, Michael H. Antonio, Mary Ann Back, Rose Blackthorn, H.G. Bleackley, Rebecca L. Brown, Charles Colyott, Alyn Day, Mandy DeGeit, Deborah Drake, T. Fox Dunham, Kris Freestone, Aaron Gudmunson, Tara Fox Hall, Dane Hatchell, Janet Joyce Holden, David James Keaton, Ken MacGregor, John McCarthy, Fi Michell, Joe Mogel, Doug Murano, Paco, Jennifer Paquette, Lucy Pireel, Joseph Polega, Tori L. Ridgewood, Suzanne Robb, Armand Rosamilia, Cinsearae S., Mark Scioneaux, Matthew Smallwood, Rebecca Snow, Tony Southcotte, Cameron Suey, Emily Vater, Edd Vick, Steve Voelker, D. Alexander Ward, L.E. White, Sheri White, William Whorton, Jay Wilburn, Matthew Wilson, Robert S. Wilson, and Wol-vriey.
As an added bonus, the Kindle edition contains Chapter One of Jay Wilburn's zombie novel, Loose Ends.
A Quick Bite of Flesh Reviews
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I could be a little biased, being the editor, but I love this collection.
A Quick Bite of Flesh is an outstanding collection of 55 bite-sized tales of zombie goodness. Stories of terror, sadness, adventure, revenge and betrayal. Whether you like your zombie stories terrifying, humorous, or bizarre, you will find plenty to love in this collection. -
Okay, I'm not giving myself 5 stars but I will give this book 5 stars. Just to be clear.
-
55 Shades of Zombies
An anthology of 55 very short stories with a zombie theme, this book explores a myriad of possible outcomes and coping mechanisms.
I wasn’t at all sure I was going to like this book, not being an aficionado of zombies, but I read it because three of my favourite authors – Tara Fox Hall, Tori Ridgewood and T Fox Dunham had contributed. I’m very glad I did.
In the first place all of the authors know how to write, in the second the book has been superbly well-edited - there are virtually no grammatical errors or typos - and in the third place the degree of imagination employed by the authors is mind-blowing.
I wouldn’t have thought it was possible to write 55 different stories about zombies. I mean they die, they rise from the dead, they lumber about with bits dropping off them and anyone who can’t get away must be a complete idiot, right? Wrong! To my amazement, I found myself drawn in over and over again by a new plot twist, a captivating character.
I especially liked “Bacon Rapt” by Rose Blackthorn with it’s very clever way of dealing with the hordes of undead; “Zombies Have No Respect for Plumbing” by Tony Southcotte with its practical approach to the domestic difficulties presented by living with a zombie; and “Horseshoe Island Haven” by Armand Rosamilia, which I found extraordinarily moving. Not to mention the contributions from my favourites, all of which were superb.
I shall never see zombies in quite the same light again. -
3.5 stars. *shrugs shoulders* some of the stories, as much as I hate to say it, just were NOT for me. Others were incredible, original, truly frightening, humorous... you name it!
Worth a try if you like zombie books! -
I enjoyed this collection of zombie tales written by various authors. There was a little bit of everything from mer-zombies to zombie pigs! Some of these stories are told from the vantage point of survivors and others from the vantage point of the undead. If you're a fan of the walking dead, you'll definitely find something in here that will delight your dark side.
Normally I try to rate each story individually when reviewing anthologies but there are indeed 55 tales in this collection and that's far too many for 'yours truly' to go through...so I won't. I will say that the stories are not long in the least and there were a few that I believe deserve a mention such as :
Best of the Lot:
Jumping the Sharkies by Doug Muranof
The Lost Colony by Rose Blackthorn
The Red Delicious by D. Alexander Ward
Like Father, Like Son by L. E. White
Barricade by Cameron Suey
Honorable Mentions:
One Potato by Jay Wilburn
Whitechapel by Joseph A. Polega
Suburban Warrior by Sheri Whir
Aaron by Rebecca L. Brown
Angie Stone's Revival by Wol-vriey
Nod To:
Consummation by Lucy Pireel
Richardson's Station by Terry Alexander
Them by Cinsearae S.
Smash and Grab by Steve Voelker
Scouts by L.E. White
Dead Deeds by Matthew Wilson
The only complaint I had is that some of the stories just seemed to end way too suddenly for me and others that were hot to start were quick to fizzle towards the end. That was the case with some of the stories that had the potential to make my 'list' but the ending just didn't quite deliver for me. All in all, an enjoyable read for fellow zombie fan-atics. -
I picked up this book for 3 reasons:
1. I know one of the authors and I picked it up to support them.
2. Its about zombies. Zombies are cool.
3. Flash fiction is a new format for me and I thought I'd give it a whirl.
Win-win-win Right?
In. Spades.
With only 1000 or so words to play around with, the chances that a reader might skip past you are pretty high, so a flash fiction author really needs to bring their "A-game" to the party. These folks did...for the most part. There were a couple of stories in there that didn't hold up under the pressure (Hence the 4 stars), but a lot of them did.
This one is a keeper. -
I'll give it 5 stars. The publisher was a pleasure to work with and I hope you all enjoy my bit of flash. I have many friends in this book, so I know it is packed with great writers of the zombie genre.
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So many zombies, so little time… This estimable collection impressed me for its creativity in exploring the who's, whats, wheres, and whys of the undead. We have zombies on the seashore, and zombies in space. Zombies in the future, and zombies in the past. What goes on in the decaying mind of a shuffling walker? How much humanity remains when the hunger takes over? The humanity of an inhumane situation is dissected carefully by talented authors in pages of gleefully gore-spattered, sinewy yarns.
It's impossible for me to choose a favourite from among them. Every time I finished one story, completely bowled over and entirely impressed by the originality and interpretation of zombie lore, potential, science, philosophy…I started the next one, and was once again completely engaged and swept away.
If you are in any way a fan of the undead, you MUST have this anthology for your collection. -
A Quick Bite of Flesh is an anthology of zombie flash fiction. A collection of 55 short stories (most not over two pages) written by a variety of authors. There’s short, not sweet at all, and to the point, usual the tip of an ax blade. Some are gory, some are heart-rending (to make a questionable pun), some have pathos, a few very black and bloody humor. If you like the Undead…the rotting, mindless, eat-your-brains shambling, shuffling kind, that is…you’ll love these tales.
Well-written and packing a lot of story into a limited pace, they may have you opting for a nightlight when you finish, so I’d advising reading them at high noon, when whatever room you choose to read in can be filled with light and no shadows are visible.
If there was a higher rating here than 5 stars, I'd give that.
A Quick Bite of Flesh is available from Hazardous Press,
http://www.HazardousPress.com
This novel was supplied by one of the authors and no remuneration was involved in the writing of this review. -
A good anthology offers a wide variety of a particular genre, each well written, each a good story. It is hard to find an anthology where you are entertained by each story. Here I happily say I found all of the above. Each writer is talented and imaginative. A must read for lovers of a quality read.
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Since I'm not the only author in this anthology, I thought it couldn't hurt to let the folks know how I think about the other mighty fine zombie stories in this one.
There are a bunch of great ones longer and short like mine, but all make you shiver a bit when reading and want to keep that axe close at hand for when the zombies really come. -
"Ladies and gentlemen, they are putrid. They are angry. They are hungry."
A quite uneven collection, with some truly amazing stories followed by quite a few uninteresting or simply undeveloped ones that turn it into a bit of a slog until you meet another tale that truly gets to you.
55 is a ton of stories and while you get a lot of content for what you pay (I got it for one dollar on Amazon so that's amazing) I can't help but think I'd have been happier with a shorter book that left out its less impressive parts.
That said here's some great ones I've encountered reading this one:
- The Societal Demands of Marriage: An undead couple and their routine life. Quite original and funny, albeit in a gloomy way, I really enjoyed this one.
- The Red Delicious: The zombie virus emerges in a pig farm. Short, gruesome and bleak; this one really hits the spot!
- Of Swords and Snow: A battlefield is a prime spot for zombies, obviously. A nicely told story that gives insight on zombie creation.
- Brain Games: A zombie love potion doesn't work as planned. This one's very silly but it just works and it's very entertaining. A welcome change.
- Jumpin the Sharkies: A retiring daredevil jumps over zombies one last time. Loved this one, there's good depth to its character and a moving introspection that then faces an harsh reality. Don't miss this one.
- Like Father, Like Son: A western with zombies. Good action, the scenes aren't very original but I liked the story goes on smoothly and the characters have enough depth to make you care.
- Doppelganger Radar: An ambulance crew suspects something is wrong and that the bites they're treating might not be from dogs. A pretty standard story, but something in the way it's told and how it ends truly captivated me.
- Barricade: Are zombies real or is it just another psychotic break? The sense of uncertainty and estrangement makes the story this time, a short but good one.
Final thoughts:
It has some great stories (see above), that sadly almost drown in a sea of middling tales.
Many of the other stories suffer from being too short, too derivative or simply being dull for a zombie aficionado who may go "yeah, saw this one before" too many times.
It makes for an uneven read that stumbles at times, perhaps reading a couple stories every few days rather than go through the whole book in a short time would make it better. Failing that a tighter direction on what stories to include would have made a much better offering imho.
All things considered though the great stories I found here were worth the small entry fee I paid so no complaints there! -
I'm not really a fan of flash fiction. While some of the stories were well written and quite entertaining, the short format doesn't allow me to care about the characters or what happens at all. Very proud of my sister though, for having a story published in this anthology.
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Fun book of zombie flash fiction. Caveat: I'm in this!
