Drop Dead Gorgeous

Drop Dead Gorgeous

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3.84 of 5 stars 3.84  ·  rating details  ·  187 ratings  ·  27 reviews
As tattoo artist Star begins to ink her first client on a spring Sunday morning, something goes horribly wrong with the world... Belfast's hungover lapse into a deeper sleep than normal, their sudden deaths causing an unholy mess of crashing cars, smoldering televisions and falling aircraft. In the chaotic aftermath a group of post-apocalyptic survivors search for purpose...more
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Published February 1st 2011 by Snowbooks (first published November 15th 2008)
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Kat
From the moment I started listening to Drop Dead Gorgeous, I was hooked. Apart from the fact that the story moves along at a good pace, the narration was so good AND with an Irish accent (despite intensive Googling and stalking I cannot find out if the narrator actually is Irish) the scene was perfectly set for an intense post-apocalyptic zombie story.

There is a large cast of characters, some of which don't make it to the end of the book, plus flashes of characters that don't play a pivotal part...more
Miz Love
After reading and reviewing Flu, I wasn’t sure if Wayne Simmons could top that delightfully horrible book—horrible in all the good ways of zombie horror. Well, he has with Drop Dead Gorgeous. I didn’t understand the title really until near the end, and then you think: What a master he is!


Once again, Mr. Simmons has penned an un-put-downable book, where several characters are introduced and we get to follow their lives when disaster hits the world. People are dropping dead all over the place, and...more
Patrick D'Orazio
Wayne Simmons has created a story filled with "characters". By characters I mean quite a few folks residing in Northern Ireland when the end of the world comes that are quite a diverse lot. They definitely give us a flavor of that little piece of the world as the world comes to an end.

This story reminded me of David Moody's "Autumn" as far as how it begins. In an instant, more than 99% of the population of Belfast and Northern Ireland (and we are left to guess through most of the book whether t...more
Robert Beveridge
Wayne Simmons, Drop Dead Gorgeous (Permuted Press, 2008)

My experience with Permuted Press up till now has been David Moody's Autumn Quartet and a slew of press releases about books that have made me say, every time, “man, I have got to read this.” Oddly, I never saw a single press release for Drop Dead Gorgeous, the first novel from Irish novelist Wayne Simmons; I stumbled across it in my local Half Price Books. (There is a small-press horror fan in my area who routinely sells stuff there. Whoev...more
Otherwyrld
I found it very hard to like this book. I didn't like any of the characters, finding them petty, small minded and mean spirited for the most part, and there were major gaps in what should have been important characterisations which had an impact on the plot. I found it hard to keep going and had to keep putting the book down, not because it was unpleasant, but because it was boring me even though at 288 pages it was a short book. The ending was a major turn off for me too - I mean, all the wrong...more
Kristen
When I read the first page I got a little worried... Oh NO... It's in Irish Slang! But it turns out that it wasn't that bad (nothing like Irving Welsh or James Joyce!) Though there were a few sayings that I wasn't exactly sure what they were saying... I knew that they were profanities of some sort and that's enough.

Short Summary: One day most of the world drops dead... kaput! A small number of people are left standing among the corpses, absolutely befuddled and terrified. Several try to band to...more
Tim
One Sunday morning, nearly everybody drops dead. Suddenly. In Northern Ireland, the few people that survived try to make sense of what's going on, and gradually join together into small groups, finding shelter in a school, or solace in the now free bar of a hotel, or... Until one day, dead women start coming back and taking revenge on people that wronged them while they were alive.

The good things:
It's fast paced. There's a good range of characters that are real "characters". Star, the tattooist...more
Eva Leger
Apr 07, 2010 Eva Leger rated it 1 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: no one
Recommended to Eva by: Felicia
I couldn't get into this at all and I barely got a quarter of the way in. Even though I am now able to quit a book I still don't like doing it and I do try not to.... when I can. I couldn't continue with this.
I'd be interested to know whether Simmons is Irish, has ever been to Ireland, if he knows anything about the dialect, slang, etc. Because it was far too over the top IMO. It was like someone like myself (not from Ireland and not a person who uses Irish slang) wrote a book and stuck in ever...more
Keri
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Fiona
Just finished the audio version. It was kind of boring. I bought it because I actually liked the idea of the focus being on the survivors, but their story was uninteresting. And at the end, when the zombies "arrived" they stretched my credulity way beyond breaking point.

This feels like the author just strained to find a new angle on zombies - he did, but it's an uninteresting angle and nothing else about the book stands out. And the occasional attempts to write lyrically fall very, very flat.

I b...more
Jaz
This started off quite nicely with people dropping dead all over Ireland. The first 2/3 is all about survival in the unknown world. Nothing is provided onto the why with regards to everyone (well nearly everyone, gotta have a some characters to tell a story) dying. I did like the character development as everyone started joining up and coming together. However once the "zombies" were animated I couldn't see where it fitted into the story I was already reading. I don't want to catagorize this as...more
Becky
Dieses Buch ist eher eine Endzeitgeschichte mit einem Hauch Zombie Horror. Mysteriöser Weise sterben plötzlich, bis auf ein paar Ausnahmen, alle Menschen. Die Überlebenden versuchen auf verschiedene Art ihre Welt wieder aufzubauen. Da gibt es eine Hierarchie, die vor Intrigen nur so wimmelt, oder auch ein religiöser Kult, in dem ein ziemlich irre gewordener Pfarrer das Zepter in der Hand hält. Doch bis fast zum Schluss hat das alles nichts mit Zombies zu tun.

Als diese dann auftauchen wird es ers...more
Simon Logan
Aug 22, 2011 Simon Logan rated it 4 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommended to Simon by: Wayne Simmons
DDG starts in much the same manner as Simmons' other book, FLU, being set in modern-day Northern Ireland with a group of disparate characters who stories build and then, later, collide in various ways. I'd started the book assuming it was a straightforward zombie horror but after 150-odd pages and still no dead rising from the graves I realised this wasn't the case.

It's a testament to Simmons' skills with the storylines and characters that I didn't find myself becoming bored or itchy for the zom...more
Jason
I love zombies (sorry Mr. Revert) and found the book very entertaining. This was read at a time when I had to stop and start too many times for my liking and the countless characters became a bit of a blur. I thoroughly loved the writing and always get a kick out of reading derivatives of English vulgarities. This is one I need to give a second chance , and I promise I will.
Dave
Shades of Shymalan's "the happening" but it does goes left somewhere near the end.
it turns out a good and thoughtful book. a very weird ending and set of developments which i am not sure really works- i am not sure what was being said. but its a good read
funny though- if i was writing this and the conclusion i would have thought no one would publish it, but someone told a story worth reading in the end.
Adam
Simmons does a beautiful job developing his characters and constructing a scenario that are refreshingly original in the somewhat over-saturated zombie sub genre. The only minor disappointment is that the "zombies" don't really get going until the last third of the novel.
Linda
I like James Joyce. He's chaotic.

This book is chaotic in a different way. It was highly enjoyable, and the writing was, oddly enough, lyrical. It wasn't choppy and clumsy, the way many zombie novels are written. The gruesome details seemed almost musical, and while certain deaths were surprising, it didn't leave me feeling sick inside. All in all, definitely a good read.
John
I thought it was quite good, a very different slant on the zombie genre.
Gareth Wright

Zombies in Belfast. Brilliant
Robert burke
Just didn't click with me. Read Simmons 'Flu' instead.
Zoey
A new take on zombies and I liked it!
Bowie Ibarra
"Drop Dead Gorgeous" was drop dead glorious.

Built up with a steady and very deliberate pace, the climax is even more than what you waited for the whole book. The ending was harsh, cruel, and bloody. Just what any book of the dead rising from the grave should be. And what a variation on a theme this story was.

Loved the regional/national aspects of the story, the use of music to accentuate the mood, and the finish was outstanding.

Grab it...
Teawench
I'm not sure what I think about this book. Some of the characters were interesting but there was too much jumping around to get a feel for them. It was an interesting premise but it seemed rushed. I think part of it might have been too many characters for such a short book. I liked Flu much better.
Laura Armstrong
Um, I was intrigued by the opening chapter which drew me in but for me I don't really think this early promise translated to the rest of the book. Characters were under developed and I found the author's writing style far from engaging. Not for me.
Chris Bowsman
In a genre filled with phoned-in same-old, same-old, Wayne Simmons has the audacity to do something original. I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys well-developed characters.
Sharon
That's it I'm giving up at 130 pages.

Sorry Wayne, this one just isn't my thing.

Loved Flu and Fever.
Patty
I've said it before, I'll say it again: I recommend this book to horror and non-horror fans alike. The writing is that good. It will keep you enthralled no matter if you're a fan of the genre or not. I've read it more than once and will probably read it again before the sequel comes out.
Helen
An outstanding, gripping book. A definite must read!!!
Joan Pinter
May 18, 2013 Joan Pinter marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
DarkEnigma
May 15, 2013 DarkEnigma marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
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Drop Dead Gorgeous (Paperback)
Drop Dead Gorgeous (Kindle Edition)
Drop Dead Gorgeous (Audiobook)
Zum Sterben schön (Paperback)
Drop Dead Gorgeous (Paperback)

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Belfast born, Wayne Simmons, has loitered with intent around the horror genre for some years. He penned reviews and interviews for several online zines before publication of his debut novel in 2008.

Wayne’s work has since been published in the UK, Austria, Germany, Spain, Turkey and North America.

Wayne currently lives in Wales with his ghoulfiend and a Jack Russel terrier called Dita.

Look out for W...more
More about Wayne Simmons...
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“Well, lighten up, eh? World’s ended, honey. Swearing’s legal now. Along with thieving, drinking in public and getting absolutely wasted on coke.” She exhaled another lung-full of tobacco. “That’s kind of our bag here...” 1 person liked it
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