Audio Review: White Trash Zombie Apocalypse by Diana Rowland

White Trash Zombie Apocalypse
(White Trash Zombie #3)
Author: Diana Rowland
Narrator: Allison McLemore
Release: July 2, 2103
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Our favorite white trash zombie, Angel Crawford, has enough problems of her own, what with dealing with her alcoholic, deadbeat dad, issues with her not-quite boyfriend, the zombie mafia, industrial espionage and evil corporations. Oh, and it’s raining, and won’t let up.

But things get even crazier when a zombie movie starts filming in town, and Angel begins to suspect that it’s not just the plot of the movie that's rotten. Soon she's fighting her way through mud, blood, bullets and intrigue, even as zombies, both real and fake, prowl the streets.

Angel’s been through more than her share of crap, but this time she’s in way over her head. She’ll need plenty of brainpower to fit all the pieces—and body parts—together in order to save herself, her town, and quite possibly the human race.

Audio Review:

White Trash Zombie Apocalypse is the third in Diana Rowland's thoroughly awesome action-zomedy series. Angel is back and just as funny as ever with her Southern view on everything and her mouthy bluntness. This series mixes urban fantasy with dry comedy and even throws in a little corporate thriller.

I absolutely loved the first book in this series, My Life As A White Trash Zombie, mostly because of Angel. Angel is a unique character in the urban fantasy genre, which is filled with badass leading ladies with sad and complicated back stories. A lot of them are closed off and hard to get to know. But, Angel is an open book. She's candid and unrefined, but with a lot of endearing qualities and she is always working to better herself throughout this series. We know her sad back story, but we also get to see her work through it and overcome it, and that's something special in this genre. In White Trash Zombie Apocalypse, Angel's strained relationship with her father progresses in a really important way that I loved and I can't wait to see the next steps for them.

Angel's other important relationship is with Marcus, whom I always have mixed feelings about. In the first book I was all about Angel and Marcus, but in book two he was sometimes obnoxiously overprotective and I was happy that she took a bit of a step back from their relationship. This one is certainly not a romance-heavy book, as Angel continues to waver back and forth on the subject of Marcus. There's not really a lot of time for sappy romance in this book anyway, what with all the brain-juice chugging and the ripping off of limbs. Being a zombie's tough, especially when an all-powerful corporation has it in for you.

I didn't care for all the Phillip in this book. Remember him? He was the soldier who volunteered to have Angel turn him into a zombie when Dr. Cherish was holding her captive in the previous book? Then he turned out to be a kind of messed up zombie baby? He's in this book a lot. I felt like the second half of the book focused too much on the mystery of him and on Angel's desire to protect him (her zombie baby, after all) and I didn't feel attached to him or as much compassion for him as I thought we were supposed to.

Overall I really enjoyed White Trash Zombie Apocalypse. I wouldn't say I liked this as much as the first in the series - not sure any future books can top the shear awe-inspiring shock value of that one - but I liked it as much as book two, a solid four stars. I felt like there weren't as many great Angel one-liners here, but a better and more fulfilling story. Looking forward to what book four has in store for Angel.

Notes on the Narrator: This was my first in this series on audio. The narrator really brought Angel to life with a terrific, low brow Southern twang and perfect delivery of every last swear word. I would definitely listen to future books in the series on audio if they had this same narrator. Most of the male characters were done very well also, with a lot of subtle differences in the voices to make each character sound unique. My favorite male character in the audio was Angel's dad. The high pitched (for a man) twangy way that she portrayed his voice was perfect for the grumpy, recovering alcoholic that loves his daughter like crazy. She really made him both dislikable and lovable (each when appropriate). I thought hearing Angel on audio would make her even funnier, but surprisingly some of the lines seemed like they would have been even more funnier if I read them in my mind. Maybe I overact Angel in my head when I read her lines in print? Even still, this narrator did a great job and I'd recommend the audio.

Recommended for fans of: smart mouthed redneck chicks, zombies, and corporate cover ups.

    

  4 / 5 stars

My reviews of other books in this series:
My Life As A White Trash Zombie (White Trash Zombie #1)
Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues (White Trash Zombie #2)