Review:The Zombie Always Knocks Twice

 

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The Zombie Always Knocks Twice
E. Van Lowe

Hollyweird #1

Genre: YA Paranormal

Publisher: Imajin

Cover Artist: Ryan Doan

Kindle ebook: 978-1-926997-74-2

Trade paperback: 978-1-926997-81-0

Page Count: 177 pages

Book Description:

Hollywood California, Swimming pools, movie stars… and now the risen dead

Hollywood can be a difficult place to grow up, especially if you’re Kristine Golden, a fifteen-year-old necromancer with a sworn duty to lay the risen dead back to rest and no desire to be in the movie business.

When handsome deadie Alex Romero swaggers into her life, Kris must keep her promise, despite her growing feelings for him. If that’s not enough to give a girl a headache, a murderous zombie comes knocking at Kris’ door, rocking her world and threatening her family.

Can Kris solve the mystery of the rampaging zombie before someone else winds up dead? Or will the walking dead take over Hollywood and turn it into… Hollyweird?

REVIEW:

The Zombie Always Knocks Twice is a first person young adult story featuring female protagonist Kris Golden. This is book one in a new series called Hollyweird.

On the surface Kris is a normal fifteen year old girl. She lives in Hollywood and has an agent who books her auditions for shows. She goes to school, works part time at Disco Diva’s Diner, and has a father who loves her even though he smothers her a little. Oh, and she doesn’t have a boyfriend and is failing algebra II. Just a typical teenage girl…

But Kris is also a necromancer. She can spot the walking dead and raise the dead, but it’s her sworn duty to lay the risen dead back to rest. It’s a duty Kris takes very seriously, even though she worries about her peers thinking she’s weird. It’s a secret she doesn’t talk about, except with her family and the man who trained her.

Kris is busy working at the diner when she spots a dead girl. The girl takes off, and Kris gives chase. Unfortunately the dead girl is fast and she evades Kris. Thus starts Kris’s search for the dead girl and the person who raised her from the dead. Then there’s murder…

Kris is a very likeable character. She adores her solo parent father, but has problems after the return of her runaway sister. She’s a loyal friend and determined to carry out her necromancer duties to the best of her abilities.

Alex, her romantic interest, is interesting—a famous actor—and I’m curious as to where this relationship will go. I grew to like Alex. Despite his fame, he comes across as sincere.

The rest of the secondary characters have their own agendas, and they usually end up making Kris’s life more difficult. I enjoyed the Hollywood setting with Kris’s semi-normal world jostling up against the world of movie stars.

My only quibble is that the story took a couple of chapters to get going for me, but after that it was plain-sailing with excellent chapter hooks that kept me turning the pages.

I loved The Zombie Always Knocks Twice. Once the story hits its stride it’s fast paced and enjoyable with each plot twist complicating Kris’s life. The main puzzle of the dead girl is solved by the end of the story, but the subplot related to Kris’s romantic interest isn’t tied up yet. Even so, I was happy with the conclusion, and thought Kris was both courageous and likeable—the perfect heroine. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series. Recommended.

This book was provided by the author and Bewitching Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.

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