Customer Reviews

Underdead

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

New author Liz Jasper uses her terrific sense of humor to carve a special niche in the vampire mystery genre. She made me laugh, giggle, and kept me from getting any sleep because I couldn't stop reading "Underdead."

When Jo Gartner, a middle school science teacher meets a hot guy in a club and his neck nuzzle turns into a bite, she discovers the perils of cavorting with vampires. She not only has to contend with some peculiar physical maladies, but when one of her fellow middle school teachers is murdered, she becomes the chief suspect.

A well written cozy with humor, suspense and a little romance. What more could you ask for?

In Long Beach, California, Jo Gartner teaches geology to the hormonal crowd, eighth graders. She attends a boring Christmas party with her best friends, high school science teachers Becky and Carol when the spiked and dyed hair Korean-American Becky informs her a hot dude in black is eying her like the last piece of Carol's chocolate cake. After dodging Roger, Jo says no way, but Becky persuades her to talk to the hunk worth dying for. Will insists Jo needed rescuing from ennui and besides he explains he loves Jane Austen.

They go outside to talk further, but instead of Pride and Prejudice, he bites her neck. Jo is clueless to what his nip means as Will is a vampire who has turned the science teacher into an underdead; an almost vampire, sort of like being almost pregnant, as she has all the issues like sunburn and no bread to cope with, but none of the benefits. Gavin the vampire hunter arrives to either kill or help her. Meanwhile Jo struggles with her blood attraction and loathing of Will; while his vampiress lover rejects the notion of sharing his neck. Soon afterward another teacher is killed with phony vampiric bites on the neck in Jo's classroom. However, learning vampirism 101 and amateur sleuthing still seems relatively easy to Jo after teaching eighth graders and worrying how her mom will react.

Using amusing hyperbole to stereotype the negative side of vampirism, this tongue in cheek (and teeth on neck) tale is an amusing fast-paced paranormal whodunit that the audience will enjoy because of the combination of suspense, romance and the supernatural. Jo is terrific as the focus of the storyline; she muses how she went from dateless to a triangle and one in the romance department while working on a mystery and surviving eighth grade. as Liz Jasper writes an entertaining lighthearted romp.

Harriet Klausner

Liz Jaspar writes a great vampire mystery book. Well crafted and written it is perfect for a teen or grandparent and all in between. What fun. I hope she writes more soon

Jo is an 8th grade earth science teacher, gorgeous, redheaded, single, with a tiny apartment, a huge workload and a love life which is DOA. Then, a chance meeting at a deathly boring work night out puts her in the arms and clutches of Will, a compelling, tall dark stranger, and a kiss turns into something more exciting, terrifying and confusing than anything Jo has ever endured, but will she survive it?

I loved this story. I love the supernatural books, vamps, supes, werewolves etc but this one immediately struck me as different. Jo is not the typical damsel in distress, dressed up to the nines and screaming for her life at every turn. She wears sweats, bakes, eats chocolate, moans to herself about her co-workers and works too much. I used to live alone as a workaholic with no love life, and now I am a student teacher with a husband and two rampaging toddlers at home, so Jo struck a chord with me, both as a teacher with work to do, and as a singleton watching TV eating my body weight in chocolate and being very happy to do so.

Will is a vampire, Gavin is a cop with a hatred for him and all their kind, yet both guys have certain charms and appeal and obvious designs on Jo, whether unspoken or not.

Then there is a murder in her classroom, and suddenly Jo does not know which way to turn, and who to trust....all this coupled with her weird colleagues, martyr mother, and you have a witty, funny read with more than enough mystery, intrigue and romantic tension to keep you reading till the last page....I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I am already reading the sequel UNDERDEAD IN DENIAL, and I hear that the author is working on Book 3....keep them coming Liz!

4 stars! Rachel Dove, The Kindle Book Review

I knew from the title that this book was going to be fun and I wasn't disappointed. Tongue in cheek barely describes the humor rampant throughout the book that crosses the line from appealing to YA readers to adults. In fact I had a hard time finding the book around my house as my two teenage daughters kept snatching it to read. I could follow their laughter to find it and snatch it back! Liz Jasper is a gem of a new author and I can't wait to read her next book.

The title grabbed me and I bought the book. I was pleasantly surprised to read a good mystery with a different spin on the whole vampire genre. This book is not only funny but also has a bit of romantic triangle. If you like Janet Evanovich, you'll probably enjoy this mystery.

This is NOT my usual kind of book, and not by my usual kind of author (a woman), but let me finish! I'm not a misogynist (ask my wife and daughters), but most women authors and their subjects just turn me off. I'm the typical male who can't get through "Sense and Sensibility," maybe because it was required reading when I was in high school (no, not with Jane Austen).

But I was looking through Kindle books, and saw the title, "Underdead." [Never underestimate the lure of a good title.] I was intrigued, and read some of the reviews. Still disbelieving, I was happy to see that I could download a sample. Bad move. I downloaded it at 10 o'clock at night, got to the part where I either deleted or bought the rest of the book, and I bought the rest of the book and was up until 3 AM! That was two nights ago, and just I finished.

It was a fantastic flight from my usual murder mysteries and not-quite-believable courtroom/lawyer stuff like "The Client." It was very much like Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" - one of my top 5 of all times - and I remember being drawn in when I read that.

I don't know who Liz Jasper or her background is, but she certainly has me "hooked." (You buy the premise, you buy the book.) I was not only drawn in by (with) Jo, but entertained as well. I don't know how to categorize this book, but whatever the category, I'm a fan.

I'm a great lover of paranormal stories, so when I came across Underdead I had to give it a try. I'm so pleased I picked this book up. The author has written a wonderful cozy mystery with a twist of romance. I loved the quirky main character Jo. There are laugh out loud moments, an enigmatic vampire and lots of clues to keep you guessing about who's the murderer. I'll definitely be buying the next in the Underdead series. I recommend this to all age groups. The content is suitable for anyone from teens upwards.

Liz Jasper's Underdead is about a middle school science teacher Jo Gartner who meets a hot guy in a club and discovers the perils of cavorting with vampires when his neck nuzzle turns into a bit. Then, one of her fellow middle school teachers is murdered, and Jo becomes the chief suspect. Liz's humorous tale with its plot twists and turns will keep you turning pages and laughing, laughing, laughing. It's no surprise Underdead won the EPPIE (electronic publishing) award for best 2008 mystery.

Underdead is a well-written cozy combining humor, suspense and a little romance. The sequel "Underdead In Denial" is now available, and I'm sure it will be as good. Why not add both to your cart?

Liz Jasper's Underdead series is a winner! Entertaining from beginning to end, Ms. Jasper is great at keeping the reader involved in the plot and cheering for the characters. If you are a fan of Meyer's Twilight series, you are going to love Jasper's Underdead series. A must read for readers 12 to 102.