Customer Reviews

Married with Zombies (Living with the Dead, Book 1)

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I LOVED this book! It was light-hearted yet serious at times and there was always something to keep me interested!

I enjoyed the main characters (who seem like that typical "growing up and apart" couple) as I followed their adventures of slaying zombies and saving their marriage.

It definitely isn't your usual zombie book! It'll make you laugh out loud at times as the author's sense of humor comes shining through. At other times you'll see a whole different serious side of a "zombie" plaque. Yes, I was weeping at times.

It's certainly a multi-dimensional story (as in it's not just about zombies people!) that will keep you reading straight through to the end. I know I can't wait for book 2!

Sarah and David are a normal American couple on the verge of divorce, until something extraordinary happens to save their marriage--the zombie apocalypse. They're barely hanging onto their relationship by going to couples counseling sessions, but one morning they walk in to find their marriage counselor chowing down on some earlier clients. Suddenly, the little annoyances and petty squabbles don't matter so much to Sarah and David, not when they're faced with hordes of the ravenous undead.

This has got to be the cutest zombie book I've ever read. It's hard to stay sorrowful for too long when the protagonists are offing zombies in such funny ways; they attack their first zombie with a letter-opener, and dispatch it with a few well-aimed whacks of a high-heeled shoe, and another zombie is disabled by a Dr. Phil self-help book. And though I did get a little weepy toward the end of the book, the horror and gravitas of a zombie plague aren't emphasized too heavily. It's a romantic comedy, heavy on the comedy and light on the romance, with hilarious back-and-forth mood switches, where our heroes will kill a zombie or three, then argue about their musical preferences (she's a music snob, he still likes 80's rock) and bicker over whether their therapist' marriage advice is still relevant--Sarah maintains, "Just because she tried to eat us doesn't mean she was wrong" (pg 20).

The zombies are fairly traditional: Red-eyed, black bile spewing, physically strong but decomposing, closer to slow-zombies than fast-zombies because they're capable of both shambling and awkward running, can only be killed by head wounds, full zombification is complete about ten minutes after the first bite, and the virus originated in some university lab and spread like wildfire. Well-known territory, but in some ways it makes the story more enjoyable because you know the parameters you're dealing with.

For a long time, I sympathized with David much more than with Sarah, the POV character, because even though they're both unhappy and under a lot of stress early on, she tends to get more outright verbally aggressive, while David is low-key and honestly pretty cool. Every time Sarah had twinges of appreciation for him and began to fall back in love, I was terribly happy because he's a decent guy with no more than the usual amount of flaws. The two of them are outright awesome when they begin to really work together, dropping zombies by using available materials and combining their growing knowledge of what works and what doesn't work for survival.

Turns out, killing the undead is a great bonding activity, and apocalypses are good for strengthening relationships even as they unweave the fabric of society at large. Sarah and David need each other now, while before they were coexisting with no real goals and nothing worthy to pursue. I wish that I had a better sense of who they were and what their strengths, quirks, and dreams were before the zombie plague, but it's a very short novel with not a lot of time for really delving into emotional depths. I have big hopes that they'll get more fleshed-out in the second book, Flip This Zombie, since all the "how it all started" stuff will be set up already.

First, let me start by saying that, while I have seen a few zombie movies, they usually aren't my style. Too gory, too creepy, too close to something that could actually happen. I love paranormal books but I generally shy away from zombies. When I first saw this book listed somewhere (I don't even remember where now), I read the description. It grabbed me, and attracted me right away. I started reading the paperback copy I had gotten and after the first few pages, I knew it was something even my husband would enjoy (and he does NOT read). I handed him my copy to take with him to National Guard training and downloaded the Kindle version.

I loved it! I didn't want to put it down. While it did give me the creeps a few times, most of the time I was just sucked in and didn't want to put it down. The characters of Sarah and David are interesting, likeable, and I found myself rooting for them from the start. The other characters (the non-zombie ones!) were also interesting and I hope we may find out what happened to one of them later on.

The storyline is believable enough to give me the creeps! Even though I finished the book two days ago, I still find myself wondering what I'd grab if we needed to flee zombies. LOL The nice thing is, Ms. Petersen takes zombies and actually injects humor into the story. I wasn't a huge fan of vampires until I read MaryJanice Davidson's "Undead" series--while this book isn't as "slapstick", it still reminded me in style of Ms. Davidson's books by taking a normally "scary" genre and making it a more fun series.

The ending of the book was good, and it left me wanting to read the next one in the series. I want to know what's going to happen to Sarah and David. Will they ever team up with anyone else? Will they find any more of their friends or family safe? Will the country overcome the zombie plague, or will it be the end of the world? I would (and have) recommend this to anyone looking for a new take on zombies!

Rated 4.5/5

Summary: Sarah and David have hit a rough patch in their relationship. After five years of marriage, they are both unhappy and fight constantly with each other. In an effort to resolve their issues, they have been going to counseling once a week for the past six months.

On their final visit with Dr. Kelly, they walk into a scene right out of a horror movie. Dr. Kelly is literally eating two of her patients. As Sarah and David stare in shock and disbelief, Dr Kelly turns her attention on them. Before this counseling session is over, Dr Kelly is dead.... for a second time.

Sarah and David soon learn that all of Seattle is under siege by the undead. Some sort of experiment at the University of Washington went horribly wrong and resulted in Zombies taking over the city. The Zombies are multiplying at an astounding rate, and no where in the city is safe.

When the couple is finally able to leave the city, they decide head toward a small town in southern Washington to find out if David's sister has survived. Along the way, they battle zombies, they escape the clutches of a cult, and they become thieves. But, by working together against a common enemy, they also begin to repair their marriage.

Review: As a general rule, zombie stories have never really appealed to me. No matter how talented the author, zombies are still going to be decaying human bodies... YUCK. I picked up this book because the cover made it look like it might be satire instead of a "serious" zombie story. It was not satire. It was a real zombie story with truly disgusting zombies. And believe it or not, I liked it. A lot.

So what made this one different? Humor. Sarah and David are hilarious. It isn't intentional on their part. They just can't help having some ridiculous moments in the midst of the surreal events unfolding around them. For instance, Sarah winds up killing a zombie with a toilet seat after having a meltdown over David leaving the seat up AGAIN. Sure, her life was in danger at the time, but it was that darn toilet seat that made her fly off the handle.

I doubt that I'll ever be a zombie fan, but I'm definitely a fan of this author. She made me like something I never thought I'd like. And for that, she deserves this high rating.

A Slaying Good Time

If you don't want to read Married with Zombies in one sitting - you must have some coming after you. Jesse Petersen keeps you engaged with humor, suspense and a story about something we can all relate - a relationship on the rocks. She drags you through a post-apocalyptic Pacific Northwest and shows you that there are worse things than zombies wanting to eat your brains. The premise of the book is much like Zombieland or Shaun of the Dead in that surviving a zombie invasion is much like surviving a relationship. However, Petersen has a fresh and sassy and the characters are clever in that ingenious working class way - it's obvious the relationship tips come straight from Sarah and David, as in how kills a Zombie with a toilet seat. Those looking for big time romance will be disappointed. Those who like some blood and guts will definitely get their fix in this story. The book is a fast ride and thus doesn't get deep into Sarah and David's relationship, but I suspect, Petersen has more to show us with the upcoming sequel: Flip This Zombie (coming in Jan. 2011).

Seattle based David and Sarah hope to salvage their faltering marriage as they love one another. When they go to their appointment with their marriage counselor, they find Dr. Erica Kelly dining on another couple. Shocked, they flee in spite of charges for a missed visit.

They manage to reach their home safely, but remain stunned with what they witnessed. After discussing what next, David and Sarah decide to visit his sister in nearby Longview to insure she is okay. Everywhere they go they are chased by a zombie horde. Having seen the Romero and Ron Zombie films and other sub-genre movies of the walking dead, they know how to fight the enemy. As they remain struggling first with seemingly irreconcilable differences, they team up as married slayers battling the dead while having each other's back but also thinking of placing the knife elsewhere.

Based on the principle the "couple who slays together stays together"; Married with Zombies is a fun lighthearted horror thriller that never takes itself even remotely seriously. Fast-paced, but eventually repetitive with a ton of zombie tangos and dysfunctional marital discord, this remains an amusing lampooning of zombie fever.

Harriet Klausner

I am reviewing a copy provided by the publisher.

Married With Zombies is the first in Jesse Petersen's Living With The Dead series. It's a charmingly facetious guidebook for surviving a zombie attack, but also a quirky self-help manual for marriage and relationships. I am, at best, ambivalent about zombies; gore and I do not get along. However, the "walking dead" are interesting and in this case I hoped would prove entertaining. With a tag line of "The couple that slays together, stays together" I knew this would be about more than just zombies. Honestly, I was also looking for a good laugh.

Sarah's point of view is candidly brutal in the beginning--she doesn't think much of David as a person, let alone as her husband. Eventually her running commentary warms as they use their life-and-death situations to get to know one other again and put to practical use all of those techniques suggested to them by the late Dr. Kelly. The going starts slow for this couple. After all, readers have to believe in the difficulties of their marriage--that a marriage exists beneath the snapping to be saved. Neither one seems to like the other very well at all, but by measure their love comes to the surface. Petersen does this quite sweetly in contrast to the death and destruction around them. A thoughtful action or phrase can catch the other off guard and suddenly they are vulnerable and receptive, quite ready to begin accepting the situation can be turned around. Once a reader believes this, too, they are invested in the couple overcoming their obstacles, beyond merely surviving to the end of the book.

And survive they do with the help of several acquaintances along the way: a neighbor, a stranger, an in-law. Suffice to say, deciding whether to accept that help is a frequent point of contention between the couple and one they need to work through quickly every time. The humor comes from the tense and ridiculous situations that develop between Sarah, David, and whomever they run into. There are, of course, plenty of slapstick type of situations with zombies (in one scene, Zarah and David try to act like zombies to confuse them and it works, mostly) as the butt of all jokes. They are also at the mercy of Sarah's one-line zingers that pepper the narrative periodically, but aren't as effective as they are predictable. These weren't nearly as entertaining as the chapter headings ("Balance the workload in your relationship. No one person should be responsible for killing all the zombies.") which give sage marital and survival advice.

The advice is fairly decent and given how argumentative this couple is, they could learn from it. They do argue a lot, mostly over petty things with Sarah being the more foul-mouthed of the two. This gets in the way frequently. However, the plot goes on, repeating the same basic pattern in no particular order: resupply, get guns, run into zombies, make a new friend, run back to the car. Short of getting dull, the parallel between the zombie attack and their broken marriage works surprisingly well. The two even make significant progress in their relationship and on their trek out of the city.

The end is open for many sequels to come. The outbreak happens quickly and knocks out three major cities (that we know of) in just three days. It happens so fast, it can seem implausible. Then again, recent flu outbreaks spread rapidly, even with a longer incubation period. Is the outbreak believable? More or less. Without knowing more about how it occurred or what exactly, beyond some vague explanation, caused it, it's enough to know that this thing is bad and some of the only known pockets of survivors are hiding out in more rural areas of the country. That's where our protagonists will be going next, but not before setting up a gimmicky (but effective and potentially humorous) scheme to sustain them through later installments.

Married With Zombies is everything it promises to be: a tongue-in-cheek romp into the metaphorical potential of a zombie invasion. It was light, entertaining, and can be finished in an afternoon. I actually do want to read the sequel, Flip This Zombie because I am dying to know how Sarah and David tackle the Midwest. Sure, cats are immune to zombieism (that just proves how awesome they are), but are livestock?

A super fun zombielicious debut from Jesse Petersen!

Sarah and Dave were trying, and failing, at working through their problems as a couple when the zombie outbreak occurred. Now, relying on each other to get through it all will bring them closer together a la Shaun of the Dead!

I'm admittedly a sucker for zombie books, but this is definitely one of best and most fun I've read this year. Looking forward to reading the follow up, Flip This Zombie, when it hits shelves.

Love the series as does the wife. Hope the apocalypse really happens so I can kill some zoms w/ the wife, I hear it does wonders for your love life!

This book was a complete riot. I am more a fan of the vampire genre than zombies, but I could not put this book down. Sarah and David appear to be your normal everyday average married couple struggling to keep their marriage alive with divorce looming on the horizon. As with a lot of couples working on their relationship, they are in counseling. The book begins with Sarah and David on their way to a counseling appointment and arguing. From there, the book ceases to be normal on any level and instead takes the reader into an all-out zombie infestation...starting with their annoying, prissy therapist.

Sarah and David have to keep their wits together and learn how to fight the zombies instead of each other if they have any hope of staying alive. One of the things I loved best about this story is that no matter how unrealistic the chances of a zombie apocalypse happening are, the author does a fantastic job of portraying Sarah and David as very realistic. Do they fall into each other's arms, profess their undying love and apologies for hurting each other at the end of the book? No way...but they do realize what is important and it's the promise of tomorrow and working together today to get there.

Sadly, a lot of people in the book die, mostly zombies and interestingly, taking out zombies seem to come quite naturally to Sarah and David. They quickly realize that in order to survive, they need to get out of Seattle where they are living and find David's sister and eventually Sarah's father. Along the way, they meet some interesting and strange characters and I laughed myself silly at the image of 90+ year old female zombies sitting at slot machines in one casino they stop at.

This is the first book in the author's Living with the Dead series and is followed by Flip This Zombie. I am not sure if I will like the rest of the series as much as I love this book, but I'm hoping so and looking forward to what Sarah and David face next.