The Greatest Zombie Movie Ever by Jeff Strand - Sneak Peek & Giveaway

Can't get enough of zombies? Then we have something just for you ... 

Author Jeff Strand is giving readers a sneak peek at his latest novel The Greatest Zombie Movie Ever, and shares his five favorite zombie movies:

Available March 1, 2016

About THE GREATEST ZOMBIE MOVIE EVER:

After producing three horror movies that went mostly ignored on YouTube, Justin and his filmmaking buddies decide it’s time they create something noteworthy, something epic. They’re going to film the Greatest Zombie Movie Ever. They may not have money or a script, but they have passion. And, after a rash text message, they also have the beautiful Alicia Howtz—Justin’s crush—as the lead.

With only one month to complete their movie, a script that can’t possibly get worse, and the hopes and dreams of Alicia on the line, Justin is feeling the pressure. Add to that a cast of uncooperative extras and incompetent production assistants, and Justin must face the sad, sad truth. He may actually be producing The Worst Zombie Movie Ever…

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Excerpt from The Greatest Zombie Movie Ever:

The vampire, whose fangs were too big for his mouth, turned to the camera and hissed.

"Don't look at the camera," said Justin Hollow, the director.

"I keep poking my lip on these things," said Harold, spitting the plastic fangs out onto the ground. He hadn't been a very frightening example of the undead before, and he was even less scary with no fangs and a thick line of drool running down his chin.

"Cut!" shouted Justin, loud enough to be sure that the command was heard by his production crew of two. "C'mon, Harold. Stay in character. We're three hours behind schedule."

"I don't care. I hate this. You promised that I'd get all the girls I wanted. So where are all of the girls I want?"

Justin let out his thirty-ninth exasperated sigh of the night. "The movie has to come out first."

"It's not even a real movie."

Justin bristled. It was a full body bristle, head to toe, which he hadn't even realized was physically possible. Bobby, who handled sound recording, and Gabe, who handled everything else, both stepped back a couple of feet.

Neither of them truly believed that they were about to witness a murder, but they wanted to get out of the splash zone, just in case.

Had this been one of Justin's movies, he would have very slowly lowered his camera, stared directly into Harold's eyes with a steel gaze, and then after an extremely dramatic pause asked "What...did...you...just...say?"

His actual response, delivered in a squeakier voice than he would have allowed from his actors, was: "Huh?"

"I said it's not a real movie." Harold started to wipe the fake blood off his mouth. It didn't come off, and probably wouldn't for several days. Justin had planned to feel guilty about this later, but now he wouldn't bother. "Nobody's ever going to see it. You probably won't even finish it."

"I finished my last three movies!" Justin insisted. "I got hundreds of hits on YouTube!"

That statement was technically accurate, though it was the lowest possible number of hits you could get and still use "hundred" in its plural form. The only comment anybody posted about his latest film had been "This twelve year-old filmmaker sort of shows promise," which really frustrated Justin since he was fifteen.

Harold shrugged. "This is a waste of time. I've got better things to do on a Friday night."

"Nobody ever said this was going to be easy," said Justin, who had indeed said that it was going to be easy when luring Harold into the role. "You can quit now, but what are you going to think about your decision ten years from now?"

"I'm going to think, wow, it sure is nice to be such a well-paid dentist."

Harold walked off the set. It wasn't an actual set, but rather a small park near Justin's home, where they were filming without a permit. Justin knew he should shout something after his ex-actor. Something vicious. Something devastating. He thought about shouting "You'll never work in this town again!" but, no, it had to be something that Harold would consider a bad thing.

"Fine!" Justin shouted. "But when we record the audio commentary track for the Blu-Ray, I'm going to talk about how you abandoned us, and how much happier everybody was with the new actor who took your role, and how we all agreed that he should have been cast in the first place, and how he had so many girlfriends that he couldn't even keep track of them, and how they all found out about each other and had a great big awesome catfight in his front yard! And I'll pronounce your name wrong!"

Harold continued walking, apparently not heartbroken.

Jeff Strand’s Five Favorite Zombie Movies:

My five favorite zombie movies are very similar to many other people’s five favorite zombie movies. I could’ve gone the condescending click-bait route and written about “The Five Best Zombie Movies You’ve Never Seen!” but, no, I’m going with my five real favorites….

 #5: DAWN OF THE DEAD (2004 version). I was one of the many people bellowing, “You can’t remake DAWN OF THE DEAD! This is blasphemy! Blasphemy!!!” But somehow this remake to a sequel (but not a sequel to the remake) turned out to be awesome. Not quite as good as the original (SPOILER ALERT: That’s #3 on this list) but one of my all-time favorites.

 #4: RE-ANIMATOR. I’ve now seen plenty of movies that are more over-the-top insane than RE-ANIMATOR, but this was the first movie where I simply couldn’t believe what I was watching. It was hard to believe that a movie so dark and gruesome could be so funny.

 #3: DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978 version). Shameful confession: When I first saw this in high school I thought it was stupid and boring. Fortunately, I matured and accepted that it’s one of the high points of zombie cinema. It’s the reason I know to duck before walking toward spinning helicopter blades.

 #2: RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD. Fast zombies long before 28 DAYS LATER! The first time zombies ate brains! It doesn’t often get the credit it deserves, but this is one of the most influential zombie movies ever.

 #1: SHAUN OF THE DEAD. The greatest zombie comedy ever. The greatest zombie movie ever. The greatest MOVIE ever.

 About Jeff Strand:

Jeff Strand has written more than twenty books, and is a four-time nominee (and four-time non-winner) of the Bram Stoker Award. Two of his young adult novels, A Bad Day For Voodoo and I Have A Bad Feeling About This, were Junior Library Guild picks. Publishers Weekly called his work “wickedly funny.” He lives in Tampa, Florida.

Website     I     @JeffStrand

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Islands of Rage and Hope by John Ringo

BOOK 3 IN THE BLACK TIDE RISING SERIES FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR. Sequel to To Sail a Darkling Sea and Under a Graveyard Sky. A hardened group of survivors fights back against a zombie plague that has brought down civilization.

With the world consumed by a devastating plague that drives humans violently insane, what was once a band of desperate survivors bobbing on a dark Atlantic ocean has now become Wolf Squadron, the only hope for the salvation of the human race. Banding together with what remains of the U.S. Navy, Wolf Squadron, and its leader Steve Smith, not only plans to survive—he plans to retake the mainland from the infected, starting with North America. 

The next step: produce a vaccine. But for do that, Wolf Squadron forces led by Smith’s terrifyingly precocious daughters Sophia and Faith must venture into a sea of the infected to obtain and secure the needed materials. And if some of the rescued survivors turn out to be more than they seem, Smith just might be able to pull off his plan. 

Once more, exhausted and redlining Wolf Squadron forces must throw themselves into battle, scouring the islands of the Atlantic for civilization's last hope.


Review:

XO again, and let me just say, Zombies, Zombies, Zombies.  Book three in the Black Tide Rising series does not disappoint.  The zombies still run amok on 99% of the land on planet Earth.  Wolf Squadron has cleared countless ships, and the former USMC base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  After all that, a few jerk reality show types should be easy, right?  Well, unfortunately for the Smith family, even a zombiepocalypse seems to break through the stupids.  Steve, Faith, and Sophia, and the rest of Wolf Squadron are still at it, finally setting their sights on land.  While the islands they clear might be small, the meaning is huge.  Mankind is taking back its planet, one sandy beach at a time.  Ringo’s world continues to spin on, and a few thousand survivors of the Zombiepocalypse are doing everything they can to return things to normal.  Well, as normal as it can be with a 13 year old Marine lieutenant, a 15 year old Navy ensign and their dad, former SAS paratrooper, now leading the US Navy Wolf Squadron, in charge of the return.  

The squadron needs access to medical supplies, and fast.  It’s been 9 months since the outbreak, and people trapped in cargo holds, cruise ship rooms, and other trapped, enclosed spaces will do almost anything *ahem, wink wink, nudge nudge* to pass the time.  There are also a few hundred US Navy submariners trapped in their subs, in deep (pun, yes) need of the vaccine.  Both of these things mean that Wolf Squadron needs medical supplies, and the re-taking of Gitmo was not the treasure trove they were hoping for.  Just for fun, the remaining US Government has a fun little surprise for Wolf Squadron.  The British government might just have survived.  Time to plan a rescue mission.

Ringo’s characters are likable, and he has a habit of even making you respect, if not like, the ones that you’d hate anywhere else.  And to keep in interesting, he’s adding new characters with each new group that are rescued.  The series appears to have no end in sight, and I look forward to bringing you the next, and the next, and the next.  

XO out...

To Sail a Darkling Sea by John Ringo

BOOK II IN THE BLACK TIDE RISING SERIES FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR. Sequel to Under a Graveyard Sky. A family of survivors fights back against a zombie plague that has brought down civilization.

A World Cloaked in Darkness

With human civilization annihilated by a biological zombie plague, a rag-tag fleet of yachts and freighters known as Wolf Squadron scours the Atlantic, searching for survivors. Within every abandoned liner and carrier lurks a potential horde, safety can never be taken for granted, and death and turning into one of the enemy is only a moment away.

The Candle Flickers

Yet every ship and town holds the flickering hope of survivors. One and two from lifeboats, a dozen from a fishing village, a few hundred wrenched by fury and fire from a ship that once housed thousands...

Light a Flame

Now Wolf Squadron must take on another massive challenge: clear the assault carrier USS Iwo Jima of infected before the trapped Marines and sailors succumb to starvation. If Wolf Squadron can accomplish that task, an even tougher trial waits: an apocalyptic battle to win a new dawn for humanity. The war for civilization begins as the boats of the Wolf Squadron become a beacon of hope on a Darkling Sea.


Review:

XO, back again.  For those of you that read my brain-chompingly excited review of John Ringo’s Under the Graveyard Sky, I’m pleased as a Zombie with a water bottle to bring you the second in the series, To Sail a Darkling Sea (Read the first one, you’ll get that joke.  Doesn’t make it funny, though…).  Ringo continues to explore the world and its changes after a virus turns most of the planet into Zombies.  The Smith family is back, this time backed by the last remaining threads of the United States Government and Military, as Wolf Squadron.  A few survivors from this boat,  a few dozen from that ship, some very unhappy Marines from the USS Iwo Jima, and pretty soon we’ve for a floating zombie attack crew. 

With the legitimacy of being named a squadron of the US Navy (Reserve), and the rank to back it up, Commander Smith must lead his rag tag group of men and women, young and old, as they continue to sweep the waters for survivors.  With now Lt. Faith Smith, USMC (Still only 13 years old) leading the ‘clearance teams’ cleaning off infected in every ship they find, and her group of seasoned, hardened, professional Marines following her around with a serious case of idol worship, things are starting to look almost routine, maybe even easy.  Then dad gets around to telling everyone his plan.  It’s time to take back some real estate.  Not just any real estate, Steve wants to visit Cuba, and Guantanamo Bay.  There, he hopes to find more USN and USMC still alive and kicking, as well as ammo, guns, and the medical supplies they need to make a vaccine for the survivors, including those shadowing and supporting from the Silent Service of the US Navy fast attack submarine fleet, who are helping, but trapped in their subs from the fear of infection, since they were never exposed to the original virus. 

Now, for anyone else, any other group, taking a handful of mismatched ships, hundreds of random people with lots of seagoing experience, to people who could only find the top side of the cruise ship by following the arrows, getting from the Canary islands to GitMo would be impossible.  For Wolf Squadron, it’s just another walk in the park. 

XO out...

Under a Graveyard Sky by John Ringo

A family of survivors who fight back against a zombie plague that has brought down civilization.Zombies are real. And we made them. Are youprepared for the zombie apocalypse? The Smith family is, with the help of a few marines.

When an airborne “zombie” plague is released, bringing civilization to a grinding halt, the Smith family, Steven, Stacey, Sophia and Faith, take to the Atlantic to avoid the chaos. The plan is to find a safe haven from the anarchy of infected humanity. What they discover, instead, is a sea composed of the tears of survivors and a passion for bringing hope.

For it is up to the Smiths and a small band of Marines to somehow create the refuge that survivors seek in a world of darkness and terror. Now with every continent a holocaust and every ship an abattoir, life is lived beneath a graveyard sky.





Review:

As the XO, I am second in command of this ship Nat and I call our lives.  You’d think that this would mean that once, JUST ONE DAMN TIME, I could get the better half to watch a Zombie movie.  Or show.  Or commercial.  Of even a thinly veiled joke or witty anecdote.  But if it has Zombies, it’s a no go.  So, I have to take matters into my own hands.  No, not that way you perverts. 

To satisfy my urges (ZOMBIE urges, really people.  Really), I tend to devour (giggle) every Zombie movie I can get my hands on. Even the bad ones.  Even the TERRIBLY bad ones.  Oh my.  Here’s where I should provide a little back story.  I love Zombie stories.  I REALLY love Zombie stories.  From sitting on my dad’s couch in the mid 80’s, staying up too late to watch HBO, where I caught my first glimpse of Zombies.  (Should I keep capitalizing Zombies?  Yes, yes I should).  Return of the Living Dead was my first, and similar to my first kiss, it gave me nightmares for months.  However that did not stop me from watching it again, and again, and again, then adding more.  Zombie Master George Romero’s hits, the modern remakes, then my television got involved with The Walking Dead.  Through all of this, can I get someone in the chair next to me?  Under this lovely blanket made for two?  No, just a lonely XO, in the dark, watching his zombie movies. 

Then the birthday fairies got involved, or a family member, giving me a gift card, I don’t remember, really, and I suddenly had $50 to spend on books.  I log into the Interwebs, hole in my pocket and all, and I see a new series from one of my favorite authors, John Ringo.  Already a little giddy from the cover with the obligatory explosions and girls with assault rifles, I click on the link to read more.  “A family of survivors who fight back against a zombie plague that has brought down civilization.”

WHAT?!?!?! OH.MY.YES.PLEASE.

The action is fast, with the Smith family, semi-serious doomsday preppers with brains and guts as opposed to crackpot theories and tinfoil hats, setting their bug-out plan into motion within the first few pages of the book.  Ending up semi-stranded, in the middle of the ocean, not knowing if the boat they’re floating up to will have friendlies, zombies, or just bodies, is not a good way to raise a family.  Unless of course you’re Steve Smith.  And just wait until you meet his kids.  The characters are not warm and fuzzy.  They are no-nonsense, kick some zombie ass, do NOT mess with my family, heavily armed, sort of people, and right now, they are the only shining light on the planet Earth. First order of business is finding survivors, and to do that, they have to board ships, sometime as large as cruise liners, and do a door to door search.  And many of the original folks on that ship are no longer of the ‘non-zombie’ variety.  And there are 4 members of the Smith clan.  And the kids are 13 year old Faith, and 15 year old Sophia.  As they build their flotilla of salvaged ships and ragged survivors, they formulate a plan.  Today, survive and salvage, tomorrow, find people, next week, take back the planet.


XO out...