Customer Reviews

Half Past Dead

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I really liked the story line and thought the Cassie and Sam had great chemistry. But I couldn't get passed the excessive sexual descriptions. I just wanted to warn others out there who aren't into detailed sex-scenes that this book is a bit over the top.

I didn't finish it, but if you don't mind that sort of thing you'll probably really enjoy the book.

Archer disappoints in the prequel to her four books in the Blade of the Rose series; the writing was either repetitive or failed to explain scenes adequately. This historical erotic romance starring a handsome zombie and a high society society assassin failed utterly to arouse my interest in reading the series. The flow was choppy, descriptive words indicated the indiscriminate use of a thesaurus (try to find a word that ENHANCES the sentence, rather than with a "just-off" meaning), and the least important descriptions were repeated at least twice within a few paragraphs.

The interesting premise made the uneven writing really annoying; it's always fun to read about a heroine stepping outside historical societal constraints and the love interest had appeal even if he was recently one of the undead dead, at least he only had one unhealed wound and immediately healed all but the wound which made him a zombie. Sounds like a vampire, right? well the whole premise was just too confusing to easily grasp and I still have no idea of the "rules" of this world. Save your $[..] (Kindle edition) for something else!

If blood-sucking undead vampires could be hot romance material, then it was only a matter of time before zombies were so re-imagined (hey, if Orlando Bloom's character in the last POTC film could still get Kiera Knightly's character to wait ten years at the end--or more importantly, after a long list of credits!--why couldn't other hunky guys without hearts beating in their bodies?). Anyway, here are two novellas featuring zombies:

"The Undying Heart"-- is a historical paranormal taking place in Yorkshire in 1858. Cassandra is a new agent with the Blades of the Rose, an organization that hunts for dangerous magical artifacts. She is trailing such an artifact when she encounters her brother's best friend and a man she always loved, Sam Reed, whom she thought had died with her brother two years before in the Crimean. Sam did die. He and countless others. In the chaos of battle he was shot through the heart by his commanding officer, Colonel Broadwell, who has an artifact that creates and controls zombies. Broadwell killed his own men and commanded all of them to do his will, but somehow Sam was able to break free and has been after the Colonel ever since, determined to kill him. This tale was definitely heart-wrenching and bitter-sweet. I loved it.

"Simon Says"-- is a modern romance. Simon Blackwell is a special forces soldier who was called away from a possible relationship with Mariana Daniels, a doctor. He found himself fighting zombies (the icky kind) and was bitten and infected, but wasn't turned into one--although that may happen at any moment--no one is certain about these zombie things! Mariana only knows that Simon never returned to her, so when he appears at the military base facility where she is working, wounded, she's not sure how she should react. Apparently, there are still zombies out in the woods, unknown to anyone, and Simon needs to take them out since he seems to be the only one who has survived their infection so far. This tale had a decent set-up and characters, but not quite the emotional impact of the first story.

I have to give Zoe Archer big props, because I NEVER thought a zombie would work for me as the hero of a romance. I admit to being a little squeamish when it comes to paranormal romance, but this was a good solid read and I totally bought into the happy ending. The plot was a little predictable in places, but the characters were drawn well and the world building is excellent. I'm really excited to read the full-length novels set in this same world when they are released later this year.

Bianca D'Arc's novella was entertaining as well. The zombies are more traditional, but the hero still has connection to them that is an obstacle for the couple to overcome. I liked the characters and really wanted them to beat the bad guys and get together. I had a few WTF moments, little things that just didn't make logical sense to me, but I was able to look past them and enjoy the story.

Of course, since I know of the existence of exactly one other zombie romance anthology Hungry for Your Love: An Anthology of Zombie Romance that isn't saying much, but at least Hungry for Your Love contains the large number of zombie romance short stories you'd likely be expecting. In contrast Half Past Dead contains only a pair of novella prequels to a pair of later zombie romance novel series.

The first and by far the most intriguing is Zoe Archer's "The Undying Heart", a prequel by some 16 years to the events described in her The Blades of the Rose historical fantasy romance novel series: Warrior, Scoundrel, Rebel, and Stranger. The Blades of the Rose is a secret organization dedicated to keeping the world's Sources (basically, extremely powerful magic containing artifacts) out of the hands of those who would misuse them, in particular the members of another secret organization called the Heirs of Albion, which claims to intend to use them to bring the whole world under British rule.

I say "claims" because like so many allegedly patriotic or otherwise nobly intentioned secret organizations throughout history: the Chinese Tongs, the Ku Klux Klan, the IRA, the Mafia, the Fascists, the Nazis, the Communists, the PLO, al Qaeda, etc., the evidence suggests that any once existing so-called good or patriotic intentions the Heirs of Albion ever had have long ago degenerated into cruel and abject selfishness.

Secrecy and noble intentions tend not to go together well, which makes me wonder about the Blades of the Rose as well over the long hall. I shall be interested in seeing whether Ms. Archer ever addresses the problem.

In any case our current story has our two heroes in hot pursuit of Colonel Kenneth Broadwell but for differing reasons. Blade of the Rose Cassandra Fielding is tracking a magical Source Broadwell is believed to be horribly misusing; Samuel Reed is seeking vengeance against the man who made him something less than human. They have another connection: Reed was the boyhood friend of Cassandra's older brother (and the unknowing object of Cassandra's girlhood affections). Charlie Fielding and Sam Reed had gone off to the Crimean War together and had been reported dead together,...

correctly, as it turns out.

The best part of this story is interaction between Sam and Cass. Sam does his worst to scare her away from him, from what he has become, but Cass simply will not scare. She's always loved him, she's got him back (after a fashion), and she simply refuses to be bothered about the details. Readers will share Sam's utter bewilderment at but growing acceptance of this as they work together to track down and deal with their mutual prey.

The worst part of this story turned out to be the love scenes. Writing non-cringeworthy love scenes is always a challenge, writing non-cringeworthy Victorian era love scenes is even more so, given the differences in terminology. On the whole I'd say Ms. Archer does a pretty good job with only the occasional clank, but I had a considerable problem with the inappropriate...

timing.

There's a time to make sweet, sweet love, and there's a time to run like Hell, and when in hot pursuit of demonic forces (or worse, when demonic forces are in hot pursuit of YOU) strikes me as the latter. Of course love scenes can quite properly ease the inevitable downtime any realistic adventure must have, but there were two separate occasions I found myself almost shouting, "Here? NOW? Are you bleeping INSANE?" Ms. Archer naturally kept her heroes safe from harm when otherwise occupied, but IMHO marginally competent villains should have caught them with their pants down,...

literally.

In contrast Bianca D'Arc's "Simon Says" is a much more conventional prequel to the much more conventional paranormal romance novel Dead series, in which the zombies are what are being hunted down by the heroes rather than the objects of their affection: Once Bitten, Twice Dead, A Darker Shade of Dead, and Dead Alert. It also pales considerably in comparison to Ms. Archer's work. Despite a couple of likable protagonists and the modern era setting I found the love scenes far more cringeworthy; it took me three days to finally finish reading the anticlimax climax of the last chapter. I was surprised to find upon counting that it only lasted 10 pages; I could have sworn it was much, much longer.

In any event this is going to be a must read for fans of either series.

I am offically a Zoe Archer fan! I love the story and all of the action, Zoe really knows how to balance both.

Zombies are SEXY!!

Now, don't go screaming and running off in all directions. Hear me out first!

The hero in this story is a zombie. That's right - the big "Z" word. I don't know what it is about zombies that freaks everyone out. Is it the fact that you can chop off body parts and they still live? They have no blood or breath? They are dead.....but not. In most books I have read, the zombies are the bad guys and in this book, zombies are definitely evil, but Sam Reed has overcome the pull of his creator and wants revenge.

The story starts in the mid 1800's in England, Sam is wounded quite badly in war and as he lay on the battlefield, too weak to move, his commander, Colonel Kenneth Broadwell approaches. Yet, instead of offering help, he shoots Sam through the heart, as he does with every other injured person lying in that field. But Sam will see the light of day again, brought back with a magical source that Broderick has in his possession. For a year, Broderick controls Sam and the other zombie soldiers, making them do unspeakable acts. Finally, after a year, Sam is able to break free of the mental hold that debilitates a zombie with his maker. He has promised himself he will track Broadwell down and kill him. But unbeknownst to him, there is another one that wants Broadwell dead too.

Cassandra Fielding has recently started to work for the Blades of Rose, a secret organization that protects the magic sources in the world. Her current mission is to track Broderick and reclaim the source that he holds. With communication lines down, she is unable to reach her fellow Blade members, so she is stuck by herself. That is until she runs into someone from the past. Sam was her brother's best friend. Her brother died for real on the battlefield that day, and she always thought Sam had died too.

Cassandra soon realizes Sam is not human, but she is not overly shocked, being a Blade she knows things like this exist. Sam is disgusted with himself and can't believe Cassandra has not gone off running and screaming for her life. Shocked even more, Cassandra is hurt and angered Sam has had to go through what he did and she actually cares for him - as a "monster." Together they hunt Broderick and deal with Sam's past.

The Undying Heart is the kind of book I want to twirl through the house with. What? You don't dance with your books? You know how with some books by page ten you start to get that little feeling that you are really going to like it? This is my experience with My Undying Heart. Zoe Archer's voice is one that you settle into right away. I loved the heroine, Cassandra. Guess what- she is not a virgin! I know- a woman in a historical romance who actually has had relations, and she is not ashamed of what she has done. She is never repulsed by Sam, due to the fact that she is aware of supernatural things already. She has had a childhood crush on him, and now that she sees him wallowing in self pity, and disgust of himself, she can't help but reach out to him.

For as much as I enjoyed this story, I was still left with a few questions. Because Sam is a zombie, he doesn't breathe, and he can slither around at night without being noticed. When out in public with Cassandra, the townspeople become suspicious of him and all of a sudden Sam and Cassandra find themselves with a mob after them. First, I didn't buy that Sam's appearance or actions warranted a mob gathering with weapons to hunt him down. I can understand if a person here or there got a weird feeling looking at him, but a mob?

Also, how was Sam able to break free from Broadwell's hold? All that is mentioned in the book is that his mind must be exceptionally strong. I would have liked more explanation or background into how exactly he broke free.

Finally, I didn't like the ending. It is a big `ole spoiler so not even going there - but I think things should have ended differently. The ending does nothing to alter my enjoyment of the book and I think many will be happy with it, I just would have liked events to go a different route.

Taking all of that into consideration, I really enjoyed this book and I also need to mention the romance scenes in this book are very sexy. I was surprised at how much romance we get. For being a zombie, Sam's body, ummm, works quite well.

Zoe Archer has The Blades of The Rose series coming out next fall which I am greatly anticipating.

Rating: Four Stars


Simon Says - Bianca D'Arc

The second story is set in modern day. Simon is a marine who is bitten by a zombie, but miraculously discovers he is immune to their bite. He set up on a super secret mission to ride Quantico of zombies surrounding their area. He is hurt badly one night, and drags himself into the base hospital, knowing his ex-flame Mariana is working there. He left her years ago to go on a mission, and never returned after he had an exposure with zombies. Mari knows Simon can't and has never been able to tell her much of what he does, so she treats him without questions. But the romance starts to rekindle, and these two start to realize the old passion will not remain in the past. When Mari's safety is threatened, Simon will do anything to protect her.

Simon Says is a romantic story, and although I liked it, it is hard to find a lot remarkable about it. Simon is very much a soldier and is mysterious and secretive. Mari, although crushed in the past with Simon leaving her, is independent and has made a life for herself. She doesn't sit around wallowing in self pity, even though she misses him. There really isn't a lot that happens in this story, it is more of just two souls that rediscover their love. Yes, zombies attack in he background, but their relationship takes center stage.

Rating: 3 Stars

Someone must have told these women that zombies can't be romance heroes because they pulled out all the stops to prove that theory wrong. Half Past Dead is a pair of novellas. The Undying Heart by Zoe Archer, a historical paranormal tale of Cassandra Fielding and Samuel Reed. Cassandra is a Blade of the Rose, a member of a mysterious guardian sect trying desperately to prevent magic from being used for nefarious purposes. Samuel is a victim of an evil man, killed on the battlefield by his commander only to be raised and used as tool to tear through enemies. Together they must recover the magical artifact that animates Samuel, even if it costs him his life. Simon Says by Bianca D'Arc is a modern tale pitting a Special Forces soldier with a tragic past against mutated undead in order to save the woman he left behind years ago, before his...accident.
Both are stellar tales, solid, enjoyable love stories, though Simon Says holds closer to the traditional zombie story format. The real winners in this book are readers who get strong, fascinating leads, blistering hot love scenes and, of course, (non rotting) zombies.

Contains: explicit sex scenes

These two books, "The Undying Heart" and "Simon Says," are my first foray into zombie-themed romance. The premise of "Simon Says" was more what I was expecting from a zombie book, since it involves hunting and destroying zombies. "The Undying Heart" is the first book I have encountered that involves zombie love, and even--ick--zombie sex. Some of the contradictions involved in--ick--zombie sex are that although he is cold (being dead and all) he warms to her touch. And though he doesn't breathe or need food, he can still taste her. And though his body is numb, he feels her every touch. Apparently--and this may be useful information for the coming zombie apocalypse--a willing hand is all that is required to cure a man of being a zombie. (Note to author: "ravenous" might be a good word to avoid when describing a zombie's kiss)

The best that may be said for the writing in "The Undying Heart" is that it is better than the writing in "Simon Says." But that is not saying much. The book seemed like a series of endless battle scenes interspersed with endless sex scenes. The resolution for our zombie hero seemed awfully convenient and I couldn't help but wonder, what if human sex is a disappointment after zombie sex? Overall, this was a forgettable book, and it did not inspire any desire in me to pick up the books in the follow-on series.

The second book in this duo, "Simon Says," is a tedious exercise in states-the-obvious excess. I knew it was a bad sign when on page two of the novel the hero asks himself, "Could this day get any worse?" A sure sign of an author who hasn't learned the difference between telling and showing. The author seems to believe that if she tells us often enough that her hero is a strong, capable, cunning and brave warrior, that we will believe it without question. Similarly, the hero spends a great deal of time musing about how smart, special, brave and wonderful the heroine is. That and explicit sex scenes are about all this novel contains. Plus the zombie killing. But at least nobody had sex with the zombies.

I didn't find the overall premise of this book--how the zombies were created--believable at all. And the mistakes about the military in the story are many and amusing: a navy commander who has an aide, a navy doctor who thinks back to her combat training in boot camp, and reveals that she's decided not to re-up. But I think my favorite line was when the hero revealed that he was working under orders from the president himself, cosigned by the director of the Centers for Disease Control. Doesn't get any more high-powered than that, I guess.

I was ready for this book to be over long before it was, and if the author had been able to curb her urge to state the obvious (at one point the doctor thinks, "...she would happily trade in the zombies for a bunch of unruly patients any day.") the book would have been much shorter

"The Undying Heart" by Zoe Archer. During the Crimean War, Sam Reed has been turned into an uncaring zombie soldier by his commander. His childhood friend Cassandra Fielding is an artifact hunter. When they meet as adults they fall in love, but his commander must be stopped before more dead are brought back to battle the living.

"Simon Says" by Bianca D'Arc. The government experiment to create super soldiers fails as instead the men are turned into zombies. Black Ops Simon Blackwell is assigned the mission to prevent the escaped zombies from spreading their contagious conversion. However, his past catches up with him when his pursuit runs through Doctor Mariana Daniels, whom he abandoned for the project three years ago.

These two romantic fantasies are entertaining zombie romps though they occur in different eras and atmospheres.

Harriet Klausner