My Life As A White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland

My Life As a White Trash Zombie
(White Trash Zombie #1)
Diana Rowland
Release: July 5, 2011

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Angel Crawford is a loser

Living with her alcoholic deadbeat dad in the swamps of southern Louisiana, she's a high school dropout with a pill habit and a criminal record who's been fired from more crap jobs than she can count. Now on probation for a felony, it seems that Angel will never pull herself out of the downward spiral her life has taken.

That is, until the day she wakes up in the ER after overdosing on painkillers. Angel remembers being in an horrible car crash, but she doesn't have a mark on her. To add to the weirdness, she receives an anonymous letter telling her there's a job waiting for her at the parish morgue—and that it's an offer she doesn't dare refuse.

Before she knows it she's dealing with a huge crush on a certain hunky deputy and a brand new addiction: an overpowering craving for brains. Plus, her morgue is filling up with the victims of a serial killer who decapitates his prey—just when she's hungriest!

Angel's going to have to grow up fast if she wants to keep this job and stay in one piece. Because if she doesn't, she's dead meat.

Literally.

"Why did I have the urge to grab a handful of that pink and grey mass and shove it into my mouth like movie popcorn?"

What a terrific beginning to a series! I thoroughly enjoyed Angel!

Angel is an underachiever who has lived a rough life. She dropped out of high school in her sophomore year, her mentally ill mother died in jail, her father is an alcoholic, and she is an addict with an arrest record. Not exactly an equation for a lifetime of success, right? Her opinion of herself is pretty low. And its about to get even lower. When the story starts, Angel is waking up in an ER to find that she was found naked on the side of the road. She is told that she overdosed, which makes her feel like an over-the-top loser.

"The nurse wasn't lying to me or messing with my head. No, I was simply a loser. Overdose. Great. Well, this was a new low for me, and it didn't help that it was totally believable."

Despite this news, she has fuzzy memories of being in a horrific car accident although she doesn't have a scratch anywhere on her body. To make things even stranger, someone has left Angel a bag of clothes to change into, a stash of some kind of liquid, and a note that says she has a new job at the coroner's office.

So, you guessed it...Angel has become a zombie. A ZOMBIE! I love the original premise for this book! Angel's journey is amazing and extremely entertaining. She gets a lot on her plate very quickly. Someone has mysteriously rescued her, made her into a zombie, and set her up with a job (as the person who picks up dead bodies at crime scenes and assists in autopsies). At least this job gives her easy access to her new craving...brains! Angel also has a lot to deal with when it comes to her on-again off-again boyfriend and her father, and on top of everything else someone is chopping off heads around town (how very rude...).

“That…is a zombie, I silently shrieked to myself. Holy fucking shit. That’s a motherfucking zombie, and this shit is real.”

I really liked this book! Angel makes more than one transformation as the story unfolds. Not only is she learning how to handle her new predicament and her new...eh...hunger, but she is also learning to have some confidence in herself. As Angel's story goes on, we see her gain some self-dignity and pride. Its nice to see these changes. It made me feel like I really knew Angel, and I was pulling for her the whole time.

My favorite aspect of this book is the humor. Angel has some awesome one-liners!

"Then I couldn’t resist. I took a deep breath and yelled: “Zombie Super Powers, Activate!”

Now, keep in mind that this book is about zombies. That means some grossness. There were a couple times when I got a tiny bit squeamish (I really hate when fingernails fall off...), but really all of the gross stuff is written really well and not over the top. Actually, the whole book is written really well. Rowland balances just the right amount of description with humor. I really enjoyed her writing style and now I'm completely on board with reading her other series, starting with Mark of the Demon.

I teetered between 4 and 5 stars for this one. I typically ask for a little more romance in my urban fantasy and there really wasn't much to be had in this book. There is a growing attraction with a police officer named Marcus, and I was hoping a little more would happen between him and Angel, but really this first book focused more on the mystery and on Angel getting used to being a new zombie. How can she really have hot sex with a guy when she is still learning how to keep her body from falling apart? I think this is officially 4.5 stars from me.

I am super excited that this will be at least a trilogy! Number 2, Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues doesn't have a release date yet, but I can't wait!

Let me leave you with one last little gem from Angel's mouth:

"Well doesn't that just suck the shit out of a dead rat's ass."