Book Review: "Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues" by Diana Rowland

Even White Trash Zombies get the Blues review
Author: Diana Rowland
5 out of 5 stars

Book Info: Genre: Urban Fantasy/Zombies Reading Level: Adult

Disclosure: I purchased this book for myself, as a birthday present; I’m under no obligation to anyone, but I wanted to read something fun, something that I wanted to read, and I’m always happy to provide an honest review.

Synopsis: Angel Crawford is finally starting to get used to life as a brain-eating zombie, but her problems are far from over. Her felony record is coming back to haunt her, more zombie hunters are popping up, and she's beginning to wonder if her hunky cop-boyfriend is involved with the zombie mafia. Yeah, that's right--the zombie mafia.

Throw in a secret lab and a lot of conspiracy, and Angel's going to need all of her brainpower – and maybe a brain smoothie as well – in order to get through it without falling apart.

My Thoughts: I really loved the first book in this series, My Life as a White Trash Zombie; it completely changed the idea of zombies, and my thinking about them as well. Angel is a wonderful character, and I’ve been looking forward to this book with eager anticipation. I’m also looking forward to next year’s next book in the series, White Trash Zombie Apocalypse. And from the events in this book, I think it’s going to be epic!

This plot continues on shortly after the events at the end of book 1. Angel thought they had solved their zombie hunter problem when they ran off Ed (despite some lingering doubts that he did leave – maybe he’s still around? They don’t know), and now weird events are haunting Angel again.

Angel is one urban-fantasy heroine who deserves to have a low self-esteem; she’s had a hard life. Her anxiety at meeting Marcus’s uncle and his rich and powerful friends was completely understandable, and Uncle Pietro is actually rather a jerk in his smug self-complacency when she first meets him. Since Marcus, and his folks, are so nice, that rather surprised me. Then again, Marcus is really quite weak-willed – he’s nice, but he’s not willing to stand up for himself, or for Angel when it matters, and that makes me like him a little less. When Pietro talks down to Angel at his party and Marcus just sits there, I want to smack him. Fortunately they do redeem themselves, but I don’t want to add too many spoilers, so I’ll leave it at that.

I am loving Ben Roth more and more – he’s the only member of the sheriff’s department who treats Angel really well. We also learn some interesting facts about him in this book that made me admire him – but I’m not gonna tell you! I’ve given too many minor spoilers already! Speaking of nifty things we learn in this book, we also get a great lesson in Zombie Biology 101 and learn the theory behind why zombies exist in this universe, as well as exactly how zombies are made – and it’s not at all as easy as in traditional zombie literature. Very cool stuff.

All in all this is a wonderful follow-up in the White Trash Zombie series – even if you are not a fan of zombie literature, I think you will enjoy this unique and nontraditional take on zombie lore, and I think Angel is a zombie that anyone can love. Highly recommended for all fans of urban fantasy!