Wednesday 23 January 2013

Cure (A Strandville Zombie Novel) by Belinda Frisch - Review

Like many people with a kindle (I suspect), I download a lot of free books. I hate to say it,  but many of them just don't do it for me. For reasons such as downloading something that isn't really the genre I read, to just plain bad books, a lot of what I read I end up discarded after a few chapters. With the invention of e-readers, the term 'disposable fiction' has never been more apt.

However, occasionally something catches me by surprise. After dragging myself through the book of a fairly well-known author, I picked up Cure. Several hours later I was halfway through and had to force myself to put down my kindle in order to get some sleep!

"Cure" tells the story of a crazy doctor who has discovered a zombie virus and decided that in order to heal all sort of diseases, such as cancer, he is going to create a zombie-human half breed by kidnapping and impregnating them with zombie genes.

This is a multi-character filled cast, from the people working in the hospital, to the poor women who have been kidnapped, to the family of those women. At times it was hard to keep track of who was who, but that was also because the book was so fast moving. It was pretty horrific in places, so this isn't for the faint of heart, but it certainly kept me turning the pages to find out what was going to happen next!

I give Cure four out of five stars. The only reason it didn't get five were perhaps a couple too many points of view to keep track of, and a little too much gore (I did have to hold down my dinner on a number of occasions, though this is only testimony to Belinda's vivid power of description). Overall this is a must read for all zombie fans, with a new fresh setting and idea in what is an over saturated zombie market.

Here is the blurb and a bit about the author. You can buy "Cure" from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.


"Cure" is book #1 in the Strandville Zombie Series. Stay tuned for "Afterbirth", "Cure's" sequel. March 2013, the experiment continues...

A thriller hailed as "original" among zombie fiction readers and enjoyed by those who aren't such fans of the genre.  Includes "Payback", a BONUS Strandville Zombie Series Short.

When those closest to you break your trust, the only option is payback.

Six months before an outbreak of viral plague turned the residents of Strandville into a mob of flesh-hungry undead, Max Reid was a new father struggling to overcome a gambling addiction for the sake of his family.
Desperate to keep his secret, out of work, and on the losing end of a debt large enough to get him killed, Max turned to Mitch, a Nixon Center guard and the closest thing he had to a friend, to make the money he needed to break-even. What he didn't know was why Mitch was so eager to help him or how far he'd have to go for the cash.
Max Reid is about to find out a terrible secret that will change his life and push him to destroy others'.


About the Author


Belinda Frisch's fiction has appeared in Shroud Magazine, Dabblestone Horror, and Tales of Zombie War. She is an honorable mention winner in the Writer's Digest 76th Annual Writing Competition and her novel, CURE, is the runner-up in the General Fiction category of the 2012 Halloween Book Festival. She is the author of DEAD SPELL, PAYBACK, and CURE, the first in the Strandville Zombie Series which has recently been optioned for film.

Wednesday 2 January 2013

Plans for 2013! Ending one Series and the Start of Another...

2012 was a great year for me. I saw a number of new novels published; the last couple of books in my Serenity series, together with a couple of stand alone novels. I rode the high wave of KDP Select, and came down on it too, much like many other authors! I've met some amazing new people - both other authors and readers as well. I've had my books hit the top 100 for their genre, drop back out again, head back in, and fall back down the list again! I've learnt new marketing techniques and given up on some old ones. I've figured out that a quick flash in the pan of sales is all exciting, but the slow and steady sales are the ones that count.

I'm hoping 2013 will bring more of the same. A lot of indie authors are complaining about falling sales, but the fact is being an author has never been easy. It's damn hard work, with lots of highs and lows. Just because the traditional gate keepers have been removed doesn't mean that all of a sudden anyone who can string a sentence together deserves to be successful. It takes time and dedication, often at the expense of personal or family time. I never started this journey with the ambition of being famous and hugely wealthy (not that it wouldn't be nice!), but simply that I would be able to work as a writer and not need to do a day job. I've achieved that now, which is amazing, so my new goal is to be able to support my family completely, and get my husband out of his day job.

I'm hoping the publication of my new series this year will go some way toward achieving this. By the end of January, I should have the first draft of the final book in my Serenity series finished, which will then be put aside to 'mature' for a couple of months. I'll then turn my attention back to editing and publishing the first book in  the Spirit Shifters series, 'Autumn's Blood.' My goal, though it may be an ambitious one, is to have three books in the new series done and published by the end of 2013.

2013, for me, will be all about the new series. I know many people (myself included) will be sad to see Serenity and Sebastian go (though don't worry, Elizabeth will be getting her own YA series, which Serenity and Sebastian may be making the occasional cameo appearance in!), but I'm hoping people will come to love the characters in the new series just as much.

I hope you'll all stick around so see how this year pans out!