Linda Kay Silva

Started: 29 July 2013

Man Eaters by Linda Kay Silva

Pages: 377

Publisher: Sapphire Books

ISBN 978-0-9828608-9-2

I purchased Man Eaters through Books-A-Million, my new favorite on-line bookstore. I have been wanting to read this book for quite some time, but held out until now for this reason. The author, Linda Kay Silva, was one of my college professors. I took African Literature and Modern Epic Fantasy with her and thought it best that I wait until my classes were over before I read her work. I’m not sure why, but I guess I thought it might conflict with my studies – and that teacher student relationship is supposed to be sanitary right? Besides that, there was little time for pleasure reading while taking classes. I’m excited to crack open the cover and get started. Initially I thought this book was about zombies because Silva is into all things zombie. Instead this story is about a man-made plaque and how three women, Dallas, Roper, and Butcher (cool names) defend their territory and hopefully survive the advances of the undead. This leaves me with the question – What then is a zombie?

One hundred pages in and I’m wondering if Quentin Tarantino is listening. There is a love affair with a Harley Davidson and fountains of blood spurting all over the deck of the Bay Bridge that deserve a Pulp Fiction-esc soundtrack as a backdrop. First, the Harley. It’s an Ultra Glide with an “airbrushed tank, a low-slung saddle, and loud Reinhart pipes.” Silva’s description of Dallas’ Harley makes me want to wrap my legs around it and give it a Big. Wet. Kiss. Who knew it was legal to split lanes in California on a motorcycle? Remember kids, the California Highway Patrol reminds riders to Be Reasonable, be Responsible, be Respectful, and be aware of all Roadway and traffic conditions when committing to this action on the highways and byways.

Now on to what QT does best (besides soundtracks) – blood. Dallas and Roper are standing high above the deck of the Bay Bridge with a kid they’ve nicknamed Einstein watching as hundreds, maybe thousands of undead humans chomp, bite, and rip at the flesh of the living. Blood flows, pipes, fountains, spurts, and spews in all directions until the bridge is bathed in red. This is fun stuff people. Every time a living person is bitten by the undead, the living then becomes the undead…get it? And so on, and so on. To make their escape Dallas, Roper, and Einstein jump on the Harley and head for the hills. Readers quickly learn that the military is in full on shut this thing down mode when our characters observe troops shooting both the living and the undead square in the forehead. A shot to the head is the only way to eliminate the undead Man Eaters and the military is taking no chances. The citizens of the U.S. believe the Iranians have infected our population with a bioweapon, all media outlets are now in complete control of the government, and ten major U.S. cities are in total meltdown. What to do, what to do?

Two items of note:

1. Our two main characters have entered into a verbal contract to kill each other if they take a bite to the jugular and become a man eater. This is similar to the pact that many service members make if they are obviously wounded by a chemical or biological weapon. The benefit of a quick death is two-fold. The wounded soldier is quickly put out of their misery, and the government doesn’t get the chance to turn the soldier into a guinea pig. I have pinky sweared on this more than once in my lifetime.

2. Silva gives a nod to Arthurian folklore and a book she knows frontwards, backwards, sideways, and upside down when she names Roper’s horses after the characters in Mists of Avalon. This made me smile.

So, as we move forward ~ martial law is in place, the beloved Harley is ditched for four horses, and I think Uma Thurman should play Roper. Oh, and I hope a man eater has Cue-Ball’s eyes as a snack before I’m done with the next one hundred pages.

During the middle one-hundred pages we get a good feel for the main characters and a few others that end up with the group as they search for safety. Transportation now includes a Hummer along with the four horses. Most notably there are a couple of passages that help me understand what these flesh-eating creatures are. “We call them man eaters, because they don’t seem interested in any other flesh but human” (Silva 111), and then “zombies aren’t real, so any preconceived notions you may have about them…well…is just pure conjecture” (117). This clears the whole thing up for me – I get it now, zombies are fake and man eaters are real!

As the story moves forward the military is preparing to bomb several major cities killing “everything with skin but leaving the farmland and water free of contamination” (193). I’m thinking this is totally survivable if the group locates the proper type of cover before the bombs start to fall. There is a sub-plot love story developing, and a cute kid named Peanut who brings everything into focus.

Sadly, Cue-Ball still has his eyes and his life. I can’t help but hope Silva has something special in store for him in the coming pages.

…….

Oh, holy b’jesus The Gay keeps the man eaters away! I love it.

…….

In the final section of the book our group of survivors receives intelligence from a military hostage turned friendly that allows them to better plan for their future. Essentially, the world has quarantined the United States, and anyone who tries to leave her borders is killed without warning. The military is still preparing to bomb major cities, and our group has abandoned their horses and hummer for a better equipped Fuchs. To save you the trouble I have included a picture of a Fuchs so you can say out loud or in your head “Oh, that’s what that thing is called!”

fuchs2-lead

As the story ends our heroes have escaped California and found safety (for the time being) in the Louisiana bayou. I’m happy to report that Cue-Ball gets what’s coming to him on page 324.

This book is an easy summertime read. The story moves along quickly, there is plenty of death and destruction, and a few gun battles worthy of the big screen. In short, it is entertaining and nothing to be taken too seriously.

After reading this book I am left with three questions:

1. Can anyone keep their hands out of Einstein’s hair?

2. Where did our band of survivors get all their ammo?

3. How do the man eaters handle the clothes of their victims? Surely, buttons and zippers are too complicated for their rotted brains.

Go out and grab this one if you have a little extra time on your hands and you have a thing for the undead.

Finished: 20 August 2013… (altro)

ACROSS TIME by Linda Kay Silva is the second book I’ve run across this week where I felt inadequate as a reviewer. What both books had in common were historical facts and details - lots of details. Neither can be summarized well in a couple of paragraphs. To do so will minimize the book’s importance. Keep this in mind as I stumble through this review.

The Romans are intent on destroying every Druid they can find. Cate, a very young, but powerful Druid Priestess, travels into the future by way of soul migration to find answers to help her people. Some have tried to go through the portal only to never return.

Cate connects with present day Jessie Ferguson, who in her junior year of high school was busted for drugs, been in a drug treatment program, and forced to do community service. Her life’s going nowhere and her parents are afraid that their daughter will be back to using drugs in no time.

Seeing no other way, her parents sell off everything and move from the bad influence of California to a small quaint town in Oregon. There they invest in a bed and breakfast dubbed the Money Pit, because the previous owners went broke before the place was renovated. To add a little more spice to the story, Daniel, Jessie’s brother, believes the house is haunted.

When a secret door, which is really a portal for Cate to connect to Jessie shows itself, Jessie walks through. She learns that Cate needs her to research history of the Romans during the defeat of the Druids. Cate believes by doing so, she can find a way to change her present situation.

The task set before Jessie won’t be easy, but she’s not alone. With the aid of Tanner, a boy I hope to learn more about in future books and the town’s psychic, Jessie races against time. Her success might save lives.

ACROSS TIME is the first in a series that will take Jessie Ferguson from the first century AD, to 16th century England under Queen Elizabeth, to ancient Egypt, and into the jungles of the Vietnam War. What Jessie learns in this book is just a tiny piece of the wisdom and knowledge she is going to need to face the other tasks at hand.
… (altro)