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100pagesaday's review
4.0
We all know the story of Lizzie Borden and the mystery of her father and step-mother's deaths persist to this day. In Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter C.A. Verstraete takes a different approach to the killings; Lizzie did indeed kill her father and step-mother, but only because she had to. In this fun, un-dead filled and intriguing re-telling, Lizzie appears as not a murderess or a victim, but the hero. Lizzie takes up not only an ax, but a sword and gun to protect her home and her sister, Emma from the new scourge of the un-dead that her father had some hand in releasing.
I really enjoyed this outlook on Lizzie's story with a fascinating blend of historical fiction and zombies! I was very impressed with the amount of facts that were able to be worked into the story; from the inquest, to Lizzie's relationship with her sister to her father's frugality. The mystery of just how the zombies originated and what her father was doing with was infectious and kept the reading at a good pace. The writing impressed with a good tone for Lizzie's point of view and the inclusion of zombies into a historical setting. With a few surprises at the end, Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter will be sure to please Lizzie fans and zombie fans alike.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
I really enjoyed this outlook on Lizzie's story with a fascinating blend of historical fiction and zombies! I was very impressed with the amount of facts that were able to be worked into the story; from the inquest, to Lizzie's relationship with her sister to her father's frugality. The mystery of just how the zombies originated and what her father was doing with was infectious and kept the reading at a good pace. The writing impressed with a good tone for Lizzie's point of view and the inclusion of zombies into a historical setting. With a few surprises at the end, Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter will be sure to please Lizzie fans and zombie fans alike.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
wilko's review
5.0
I absolutely loved the twist on twist on the Lizzie Borden story, Lizzie is a level headed girl who likes to stay in control of situations and just get on with life but after strange and horrible things occur with Mrs Borden her step mother and her farther she learns life has many a horror hiding in plain sight. Life changes for Lizzie after she meets John who is to help her prepare for her trial and potential jail sentence. John introduces her to real life and what he and others have been doing in secret as to not alarm the general population and after she gets a taste she finds a new calling in life however it isn't easy as she must train to do well, find out what her farther had to do with these horrors lurking in the dark as well as find who she really is and keep her sister Emma safe. I was absolutely hooked on this read as I felt I felt I was there in their time and didn't know what twist or surprise would happen next and seeing everything Lizzie went through emotionally as well as physical was addictive. But be warned you know the ending is coming but still when you read it you are still gutted, thankfully we have book 2 to see what happens next!!!
vondav's review
5.0
We have all heard of Lizzie Borden, the young girl who whacked her parents with an axe and the subsequent trial, but did we know why she did it. Well we do now.
Trying to keep the reason for their deaths a secret, she gets involved with a secret society. With the help of her lawyer John Fremont and his colleagues, she learns how to battle the walking dead and becomes a one woman fighting machine.
The author had definitely done her research on the Lizzie Borden as each chapter opened up with an excerpt of either the trial or a quote of a newspaper article. This made the story more believable. Whilst the trial is mentioned, the majority of the story takes place after the event and we see Lizzie and her sister Emma try to get the bottom of their father’s involvement in the whole thing.
Lizzie was a strong willed girl and I was surprised that she was the younger sister, as she was always making sure that Emma was ok. When she was a suspect in her parent’s murder, I liked how she took charge of her life, learning how to fight and even starting a love interest with John. Even when she was shunned from people she still held her head up high.
Battling zombies is dirty work and this book does not shy away from this fact. Full of action, blood and gore, made this a well written exciting story. The twist at the end was unexpected but not a complete surprise and the way the book ended gives scope for further books.
If you like history meets fantasy than this is a great book to read. Move over Elizabeth Bennett, there is a new zombie hunter in town.
Trying to keep the reason for their deaths a secret, she gets involved with a secret society. With the help of her lawyer John Fremont and his colleagues, she learns how to battle the walking dead and becomes a one woman fighting machine.
The author had definitely done her research on the Lizzie Borden as each chapter opened up with an excerpt of either the trial or a quote of a newspaper article. This made the story more believable. Whilst the trial is mentioned, the majority of the story takes place after the event and we see Lizzie and her sister Emma try to get the bottom of their father’s involvement in the whole thing.
Lizzie was a strong willed girl and I was surprised that she was the younger sister, as she was always making sure that Emma was ok. When she was a suspect in her parent’s murder, I liked how she took charge of her life, learning how to fight and even starting a love interest with John. Even when she was shunned from people she still held her head up high.
Battling zombies is dirty work and this book does not shy away from this fact. Full of action, blood and gore, made this a well written exciting story. The twist at the end was unexpected but not a complete surprise and the way the book ended gives scope for further books.
If you like history meets fantasy than this is a great book to read. Move over Elizabeth Bennett, there is a new zombie hunter in town.
lauriereadslohf's review
3.0
This is a fast paced zombie/ghoul slaying tale that answers the question you never knew you had about the Lizzie Borden case. What if a zombie plague were the reason Lizzie Borden wacked her parents with an ax?
I LOVED this set up and that it jumps right into the grisly murders. And they are grisly. Unfortunately, for me at least, I had a little trouble with the aftermath of it all. The story follows the Borden trial and tries to stay true to events that happened in real life all while a zombie plague is brewing in the town. Lizzie stays mute about the truth and this is where I had trouble shutting off my brain because I felt she should’ve been screaming the truth from the rooftops in order to prove her innocence. That’s what I would’ve done instead of sitting in jail and having the town turn against me and thinking I was a murderess of innocents. I suppose I’m selfish like that. Worse though was that she was covering up for some fickle man and a secret ghoul slaying society and that irritated the heck out of me.
So, because of this, I found the book a little bit of a struggle for me personally. Lizzie’s motivation and strange romances didn’t sit right with me either. With that said, it was certainly gruesome and action-packed and there was a nice ghastly twist at the end that made me cringe and there isn’t much that makes me cringe these days.
I LOVED this set up and that it jumps right into the grisly murders. And they are grisly. Unfortunately, for me at least, I had a little trouble with the aftermath of it all. The story follows the Borden trial and tries to stay true to events that happened in real life all while a zombie plague is brewing in the town. Lizzie stays mute about the truth and this is where I had trouble shutting off my brain because I felt she should’ve been screaming the truth from the rooftops in order to prove her innocence. That’s what I would’ve done instead of sitting in jail and having the town turn against me and thinking I was a murderess of innocents. I suppose I’m selfish like that. Worse though was that she was covering up for some fickle man and a secret ghoul slaying society and that irritated the heck out of me.
So, because of this, I found the book a little bit of a struggle for me personally. Lizzie’s motivation and strange romances didn’t sit right with me either. With that said, it was certainly gruesome and action-packed and there was a nice ghastly twist at the end that made me cringe and there isn’t much that makes me cringe these days.
odbookreviews's review
3.0
Description:
A retelling of the legend of Lizzie Borden that explains why she had to kill her parents, because they were zombies. After slaying her zombie parents and then being acquitted in court she begins her investigation into the dark conspiracy that brought zombies to her town.
“She gagged and held her breath at the rotten stench hanging thick as fog in the air around her. Hands shaking, she pointed the gun again and fired.”
In Short:
This is an exciting zombie horror with elements of mystery. If you like zombie horror I would recommend it. Though full of historical facts, I didn’t find the character to be a believable portrayal of Lizzie Borden.
“The body went limp in a pile of nasty smelling rot and still wriggling maggots.”
Pros:
This story was very fast paced and action packed. I liked how the fiction was weaved into the historical timeline, staying true to most key points but now with a zombie flare. The zombies smelt horrible which was great. Not enough books and shows honestly depict how bad they would have to smell. I enjoyed the little twist at the end. I liked that the chapter headings featured quotes from inquest, or newspaper headlines, it set the mood for the chapter and gave it a feel of realism.
“Everywhere they went Lizzie saw nothing but destruction, chaos, and horror.”
*Spoilers Ahead*
Cons:
My first issue came with the slaying of Mr. and Mrs. Zombie Borden. It was self defense, yet covered up like it was premeditated and overall unconvincing. Firstly, why was there already a hatchet in an upstairs guestroom, even if there was a fireplace in there which I don’t think there was. Secondly, the description of Andrew’s slaying doesn’t work with the real crime scene photos. After the bloody incident that was described here he couldn’t have been dragged across the carpet to the couch without leaving blood on the carpet. As a big zombie buff the use of weapons bothered me. They would change, appear, disappear randomly. At one point Emma is given a sword, but then she is using a pipe, the sword is then thrown to Lizzie who then uses a bat which she was absurdly dual wielding with the sword. During one fight Lizzie switched weapons 4 times, that didn’t really make sense to me, why go from a sword to a bat. Her weapon of choice I would have imagined to be a hatchet or axe, maybe dual wielding hatchets and throwing them when necessary, and a large 2 handed axe for melee, but not a bat being her main choice, randomly alternating with swords, daggers, and a gun.
“Holding both the sword and her bat high, she ran waving her arms at the group [of zombies] gathered on the left side of the pit.”
I didn’t feel Lizzie was authentic. Too many things seemed off like her thinking about what if her female church friends were on the jury, the real Lizzie knew women couldn’t serve on juries so that seemed pointless. Also her feeling her father wasn’t to blame, after discovering he was the mastermind. Her romantic relationships didn’t make sense and ended without explanation. I would have found it more believable if her relationships had been with women, thus explaining the secrecy. This Lizzie for no real reason abruptly ends her romance solely to remain historically accurate it seems. But it wasn’t historically accurate because she certainly wouldn’t have remained a spinster with so many eligible bachelors throwing themselves at her. I also didn’t like that it seemed like Lizzie and Emma always needed to be saved by men. She committed 2 murders in one morning, she don’t need no man, she just needs her axe. Overall I didn’t find the plot, characters or dialogue to be convincing.
I received a complimentary copy of this book for judgement in the Indie Horror Book Awards.
A retelling of the legend of Lizzie Borden that explains why she had to kill her parents, because they were zombies. After slaying her zombie parents and then being acquitted in court she begins her investigation into the dark conspiracy that brought zombies to her town.
“She gagged and held her breath at the rotten stench hanging thick as fog in the air around her. Hands shaking, she pointed the gun again and fired.”
In Short:
This is an exciting zombie horror with elements of mystery. If you like zombie horror I would recommend it. Though full of historical facts, I didn’t find the character to be a believable portrayal of Lizzie Borden.
“The body went limp in a pile of nasty smelling rot and still wriggling maggots.”
Pros:
This story was very fast paced and action packed. I liked how the fiction was weaved into the historical timeline, staying true to most key points but now with a zombie flare. The zombies smelt horrible which was great. Not enough books and shows honestly depict how bad they would have to smell. I enjoyed the little twist at the end. I liked that the chapter headings featured quotes from inquest, or newspaper headlines, it set the mood for the chapter and gave it a feel of realism.
“Everywhere they went Lizzie saw nothing but destruction, chaos, and horror.”
*Spoilers Ahead*
Cons:
My first issue came with the slaying of Mr. and Mrs. Zombie Borden. It was self defense, yet covered up like it was premeditated and overall unconvincing. Firstly, why was there already a hatchet in an upstairs guestroom, even if there was a fireplace in there which I don’t think there was. Secondly, the description of Andrew’s slaying doesn’t work with the real crime scene photos. After the bloody incident that was described here he couldn’t have been dragged across the carpet to the couch without leaving blood on the carpet. As a big zombie buff the use of weapons bothered me. They would change, appear, disappear randomly. At one point Emma is given a sword, but then she is using a pipe, the sword is then thrown to Lizzie who then uses a bat which she was absurdly dual wielding with the sword. During one fight Lizzie switched weapons 4 times, that didn’t really make sense to me, why go from a sword to a bat. Her weapon of choice I would have imagined to be a hatchet or axe, maybe dual wielding hatchets and throwing them when necessary, and a large 2 handed axe for melee, but not a bat being her main choice, randomly alternating with swords, daggers, and a gun.
“Holding both the sword and her bat high, she ran waving her arms at the group [of zombies] gathered on the left side of the pit.”
I didn’t feel Lizzie was authentic. Too many things seemed off like her thinking about what if her female church friends were on the jury, the real Lizzie knew women couldn’t serve on juries so that seemed pointless. Also her feeling her father wasn’t to blame, after discovering he was the mastermind. Her romantic relationships didn’t make sense and ended without explanation. I would have found it more believable if her relationships had been with women, thus explaining the secrecy. This Lizzie for no real reason abruptly ends her romance solely to remain historically accurate it seems. But it wasn’t historically accurate because she certainly wouldn’t have remained a spinster with so many eligible bachelors throwing themselves at her. I also didn’t like that it seemed like Lizzie and Emma always needed to be saved by men. She committed 2 murders in one morning, she don’t need no man, she just needs her axe. Overall I didn’t find the plot, characters or dialogue to be convincing.
I received a complimentary copy of this book for judgement in the Indie Horror Book Awards.
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