DROP DEAD GORGEOUS by PERMUTED's Irish author, Wayne Simmons

[hoohaa]

http://www.permutedpress.com/graphics/ddgcoversmall.jpg




Wayne Simmons' living dead novel Drop Dead Gorgeous is now available for purchase from many stores including:

* Permuted Press (http://www.permutedpress.com/) - Free shipping on any 2 or more books!
* Amazon US (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1934861057/permutedpress-20)
* Amazon UK (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1934861057/permutedpress-21)
* Amazon Canada (http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/1934861057/permutedpre0b-20)
* Amazon.de (http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASIN/1934861057/)
* Barnes & Noble (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?isbn=1934861057)
* Many Others (http://www.bestwebbuys.com/9781934861059)

As tattoo artist Star begins to ink her first client on a spring Sunday morning, something goes horribly wrong with the world... Belfast's hungover lapse into a deeper sleep than normal, their sudden deaths causing an unholy mess of crashing cars, smoldering televisions and falling aircraft.

In the chaotic aftermath a group of post-apocalyptic survivors search for purpose in a devastated city. Ageing DJ Sean Magee and shifty-eyed Barry Rogan find drunken solace in a hotel bar. Ex-IRA operative Mairead Burns and RIR soldier Roy Beggs form an uneasy alliance to rebuild community life. Elsewhere, a mysterious Preacher Man lures shivering survivors out of the shadows with a promise of redemption.

Choked by the smell of death, Ireland’s remaining few begin the journey toward a new life, fear and desperation giving rise to new tensions and dark old habits. But a new threat--as gorgeous as it is deadly--creeps slowly out of life’s wreckage. Fueled by feral hunger and a thirst for chaos, the corpses of the beautiful are rising…

"Armed with a devilish wit, quirky dialogue, and a unique, palpable flavor, DROP DEAD GORGEOUS provides readers with a fly-on-the-wall view as the shit gloriously hits the fan in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Where's Bono when you need him?"
--Andre Duza, author of DEAD BITCH ARMY

"Rough, filthy and completely brilliant..."
--Dave Moody, author of HATER and AUTUMN


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Just to let you know that HORRORBOUND have posted a delightful interview featuring semi-naked pics of my zombified tattooed torso.

Frightened? You should be... Shield your eyes, then click here:

http://www.horrorbound.com/readarticle.php?article_id=55

[hoohaa]

HORRORNEWS.net (an EXCELLENT website!) has posted a review of DROP DEAD GORGEOUS (by The Insomniac):

“Drop Dead Gorgeous” is at first glance a familiar title, both in fiction and in film. There is a Linda Howard mystery of the same name and even a 1999 dark comedy movie of the over familiar title. The end of the world is a familiar subject, Stephen King has written at least two novels about it in his career. The press line, which this novel comes from, Permuted Press, is all about apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic tales, so the reader’s first question would be what makes Wayne Simmons’ book different from the rest? Why should I read it?

The story is that on what seems like a normal day most of the world’s population drops dead. Survivors’ gather together to rebuild some sense of community. They look for purpose in different ways: Star, an tattoo artist, aging DJ Sean Magee, former date rapist Barry Rogan, and teenage lovers Caroline Donaldson, and Tim Adamson hold up in hotel bar, the adults drinking to escape the pain. Ex-IRA operative Mairead Burns and RIR soldier Roy Beggs try to form a group of survivors into a community in a school. A preacher Man finds more and more converts of the lost and lonely. Professor Herbert Matthews is unable to leave his home but listens for others on the short wave. And corpses of beautiful women are not rotting but look more and more beautiful by the day.

Most of the novel is taken up by setting up the situation and the revealing the major characters. The settling is novel as Belfast is a place that has weathered many episodes of chaos and grimy lived on. The characters are not stock survival types but interesting and varied people. The author is quite good at giving us a reason to care what happens to the characters and is not afraid to kill them off. If you are like me and like to guess who will live and who will die, you may be in for some surprises. The book is well written and the author doesn’t seem to misstep anywhere in the plot. Nothing happens that seems not to match the quirky but grim tale. The protagonists are likable but unique. It is not every day that a jaded tattoo artist is one of your major characters. The only issues I have with “Drop Dead Gorgeous” is that the rising of the beautiful dead to attack the living takes place in the last part of the book, with much too few pages devoted to it. And the story ends much like the “The Empire Strikes Back” at a pause and not a climax. There will be a sequel, which should tie up all loose ends, and I for one will be looking for the book.

Those looking for some creative writing about the end of days should pick up “Drop Dead Gorgeous” by Wayne Simmons.

Full review can be found by going to www.horrornews.net and choosing the BOOK REVIEWS section. Thanks to the site for such a considered and constructive review.

[zombieparanoia]

"The beautiful dead come back to life"?


WTF?

I've never really thought "If only the zombies were all really hot...that would be scary"

[hoohaa]

"The beautiful dead come back to life"?


WTF?

I've never really thought "If only the zombies were all really hot...that would be scary"

That was the challenge I set myself - to make them scary AND beautiful.

Does it work? You decide... :skull:

Anyway, Theresa on WEREAD.com enjoyed the book:

'This book is sick...in the best of ways. I really like the fact that the story line allowed time for the characters to do all of the things that we know, we would probably do ourselves. Things like binge drinking, chain smoking and a little recreational drug use! What the hell it's the end of the damn world! It's a real clean break from the same old tired ass formula zombie book.'

http://weread.com/review/Drop+Dead+Gorgeous/2194682

[hoohaa]

BIG thanks to Elvis for his review of DDG over at HORRORBOUND online:

Drop Dead Gorgeous is a stand out book.

The world ends and everyone drops dead. Only a handful of survivors remain scattered across the globe. However, we are only concerned about what happens in Ireland; specifically, in and around Belfast.

This is an extremely pleasant change. In a genre dominated by the American landscape and the New York skyline in particular, it was awesome being transported to another place. The change was refreshing and the fact that I didn’t have to read invented words to simulate accents was an added bonus.

The author delves into the human condition almost to a fault. The story rolls along oblivious to the fact that it is supposed to be a zombie novel. After a while, you forget about the zombies as you are completely immersed in the trials and tribulations of the characters. Why not? Isn't the majority of the population dropping dead in the blink of an eye bad enough? Do these characters really need to worry about zombies as well? In a word: Yes! Bring it on! We want to see people get eaten.

And the author does not let us down.

More people die. Painful and bloody. As it should be.

The Good: Flawed characters. Everyone in the book is a fucking mess. Something that I can’t get enough of.

The Bad: The one thing that was hard to shake for me, because it seems like such a natural, instinctual thing to do, was when none of the characters went home first. People survived. I would definitely want to see if anyone in my family survived as well, even some close friends. None of the characters seemed to consider this. I found it unnatural.

The Paradox: I love zombie books, however, this book could have been written as a non-zombie apocalypse book. The mass extinction of humanity made for an interesting disaster all on its own.

The book was extremely enjoyable. If anyone is looking for a zombie story that branches away from the standard zombie formula, this book is definitely for you.

Read it in full at:

http://www.horrorbound.com/readarticle.php?article_id=59