Rachel has finally and reluctantly been coaxed out of her quiet, happy solitude for a Hallowe’en -party – thanks to Tammy’s determined insistence.

It looks like they may be right – Cassie, Angel, Tammy and Jazz definitely know how to have fun

Then zombies ruin everything. And zombies and frat houses do not mix.

This book was immense fun with a lot of humour and some really great movie references and geeky references. It’s references like this that really build these four women as friends because you can feel the movie nights behind it, the constant back and forth, the long comfort with each other; and poor Rachel’s out-of-placeness simply because she’s way more geeky than them. But they are happy to engage with her geekiness and her geekiness doesn’t mean they’re all less intelligent than she.

It’s awesome interaction and excellent character building. It would have been great if they’d been out camping together or performing an onerous but non-stressful task or any number of other scenarios

It doesn’t work during a zombie outbreak. Especially not one that relies on a lot of powerful pathos to sell scenes of self-sacrifice, the greater good and the intense caring between the four and especially Rachel for Tammy.

It’s hard to put scenes of loss, of terror, of horror in a book where characters are joking and giggling during; not even black humour. It was great, fun, silly humour – and it didn’t work for me. We had excellent humour and excellent horror with a side order of powerful grief and put them all together it was like the most delicious pizza covered in the most decadent ice cream. Separately I’d be in heaven. Together, it tastes really weird and is kind of soggy and cold.

Read More ( )

Frat House of the Dead is a great little novella which follows up on the happenings of Glacial Eyes (Book One of Salt Lake After Dark). If you have a previous edition of Frat House, you can download the new, edited version from your Kindle Library.

Glacial Eyes was one of my favorite series beginnings of the year. It was a requested review by the author, and I am tremendously grateful I acquiesced to the request, as it quickly earned J. K. Walker a spot on my "must buy immediately upon publication" list.

In Frat House, Jazz and her girlfriends attend a Halloween party - a party which will prove to be a lot more than they expected.

The story lines that make GE so good are included in this book, but we also learn a bit more about the ladies, especially Tammy, Jazz's best friend, and Rachel the Technowitch. One of the things I really like about Frat House of the Dead is how J. K. weaves in a strong thread of humour through the story while not losing it's edge. A feat that is missing in much of the Urban Fantasy books published today.

The book is clever, fast paced, and gives you a good overview of the female characters of the Salt Lake After Dark series. If you are considering the series, check out the novella. I have no doubt you will be as enthralled by the series as I am! ( )