Welcome to the final day of the Zombie Candy whirlwind tour! Thank you so much for joining me on my blog. I hope you entered all the amazing giveaways, and more importantly I hope you won something :)
Title: Zombie Candy
Subtitle: An Annie Ogden Mystery
ISBN: 9781477491409
Source: Novel Publicity
SYNOPSIS ( Taken from Goodreads )
You know early on, from the color of the inappropriate bra in the opening scene, that Zombie Candy is going to be a black comedy. Most people could sympathize with the male obsession for sex and zombie movies, but who would put up with a husband who covered every dish with cilantro?
Frederick Lee Brooke serves up another literary treat with this bizarre and comical tale of love and betrayal. Candace Roach enlists her best friend Annie Ogden (our favorite sleuth from Doing Max Vinyl) to find out what her husband is really up to on his weekly business trips – but their home-cooked aversion therapy gets out of hand and hurtles along an astonishing highway of the undead.
Home from Iraq but unsure about her future, Annie Ogden isn't your typical woman sleuth. Her best friend, Candace Roach – gourmet cooking instructor, owner of a house in Tuscany – isn't your typical wronged woman either. Candace teaches gourmet cooking, and loves nothing more than orchestrating a four-course meal full of flavorful surprises and artistic touches. A selection of her recipes is found in an appendix to the book.
But with each shocking discovery in the investigation of her husband, the friendship between Candace and Annie is further put to the test. Candace ultimately takes matters into her own hands and, in an elaborate ruse, stages a nightmarish zombie drama in which her husband plays the starring role.
Weaving elements of mystery, horror and romance in a story that starts in Chicago and ends in a quaint medieval town in sun-drenched Tuscany, Zombie Candy transcends any single genre. Embark on a journey that will tickle your taste buds as it wakes up your funny bone
REVIEW
Anyone who has ever been scorned by their significant other needs to read this book. If not for a good laugh, then perhaps to show them that getting even doesn't always have the desired effect. Sometimes it's better to cut your losses and walk away with your head held high.
I wasn't entirely sure what to expect when I first started reading this book. The opening scene sets up the rest of the story perfectly, and I have to applaud Candace for her gutsy show. I would never have the nerve to do what she did! It showed great character, which to my disappointment seemed to fizzle in the next few chapters. But then I supposed that was the aim, because it allowed for clear character developement throughout the rest of the book.
Candace went through every emotion one would expect in her situation. One second she was angry, then confused, guilty and desperate to prove her worth, outraged, and finally she was able to find self-acceptance. At one point I wanted to slap her across the face, shake her by the shoulders and ask her, "What the hell are you thinking!?!" But I guess the disbelief of her husband's lies mixed with low self-esteem would make anyone desperate to understand the whys, while holding onto whatever was left of the life they thought was perfect.
I was glad that Candace had a friend like Annie to support her. Annie was often the voice of reason when Candace wasn't thinking straight. And even though she knew it was a bad idea to get involved in the whole mess, she did it for her best friend.
I found some of Candace's actions to be a little extreme. I'm not sure if anyone would actually do some of the things she did, but I suppose, if pushed far enough, people are capable of the most outrageous acts. It was entertaining, though, and Larry, the slimeball, deserved every bit of it. Not once, did I feel even a tiny bit sorry for him. He had it all coming, and the audacity of him, even after his life fell apart he couldn't control his "urges"!
The final few chapters of this book were the most entertaining. I loved the zombie ruse Candace came up with. It was brilliant. I loved the solidarity of the women who gathered to help in her time of need. Let's face it, as women, we'd hate to be treated the way Candace was, so when we see someone like her going through such a tough time, it's what we do. Band together and nail the sucker who dared to mess with her heart!
The ending was quite a shocker. I did not see it coming at all. It changed the whole tone of the book, which for the most part was comedic, even when it was dark, or touched on serious subject matter.
Another thing I loved was the addition of the recipes at the very end of the story. I can't wait to try them out, especially the Penne Pasta with Sage and Apple...sounds delish!
So there you have it. Zombie Candy gets...
Thank you to Frederick Lee Brooke and Novel Publicity for giving me the opportunity to take part in this tour! And now, staying in the spirit of cilantro free food :) I'd like to share two of my favorite recipes!
Spaghetti Pie: ( 6 - 8 people )
Ingredients:
1 pack of Spaghetti
1 tin of Carnation Evaporated Milk
1 cup of Ketchup
4 Eggs
1 cup of grated Cheddar Cheese
Boil spaghetti in salted water until al dente and drain. Beat eggs and combine with evaporated milk, ketchup and cheese. Add liquid mixture to spaghetti. Pour spaghetti into a greased oven-proof dish and bake at 180C/356F for 20 mins. Spinkle top with extra cheese and bake for a further 10mins.
Feel free to add anything you like to the mixture before baking. Cooked bacon, onion, diced tomato and even feta cheese all add to the deliciousness of this dish :)
My second dish is a fabulous warm salad, but it can also be refrigerated and eaten cold. It makes a great topping for toasted french bread...kind of like bruschetta :)
Ingredients:
1 punnet of Roma tomatoes
1 tub of feta cheese
4 - 6 Chorizo sausage
Olive oil
Fresh herbs finely chopped / dried herbs ( you can decide on what herbs to use )
Slice sausages and fry in a little oil until they begin to crisp. Slice tomatoes in half and add to the pan. Cut feta cheese into large cubes. In a bowl toss the feta with the sausage and tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil and top with herbs. Mix and serve.
This makes a divine side dish for breakfast, lunch or even dinner :)
Hope you guys enjoy these recipes!
As part of this special promotional extravaganza sponsored by Novel Publicity, the price of the Zombie Candy eBook edition is just 99 cents this week. What’s more, by purchasing this fantastic book at an incredibly low price, you can enter to win many awesome prizes. The prizes include $550 in Amazon gift cards, a Kindle Fire, and 5 autographed copies of the book. All the info you need to win one of these amazing prizes is RIGHT HERE. Remember, winning is as easy as clicking a button or leaving a blog comment--easy to enter; easy to win! To win the prizes: - Purchase your copy of Zombie Candy for just 99 cents
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Great review, Roxy. And spaghetti pie? Yes, please! Send some to me in Michigan, wontcha? I loved the female solidarity exercised throughout the novel, too, and remember, it was written by a man, written by Mr. Fred!
ReplyDeleteThanks for being a part of this tour, and please kindly cross-post your review to Amazon and GoodReads.
Emlyn :-D
Hi Emlyn!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for stopping by :)
I had so much fun reading this book! I will definitely cross-post the review!
I'll express mail the spaghetti pie to you ;P
*runs off to whip up at batch of spaghetti pie*