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Hope and Undead Elvis
Before the world ended, Hope was a down-and-out virgin stripper. Now she's pregnant with a baby prophesied to be the world's salvation. She is joined by Undead Elvis, who promises her that Graceland remains intact even though the rest of the world has become sand and ash. As Graceland is the only safe place left, Hope must undertake the perilous journey across a broken, unfamiliar landscape to reach it.
Along the way, she encounters cannibals, religious zealots, desperate con-men, and horrifying blackbirds that are the harbingers of death. All are ready to kill her to get at her miracle child. Although she finds precious few allies and friends on her path, the black moments never seem to stop and she struggles with uncertainty and loneliness. Somehow, she must find the resolve she needs in order to birth her child and ultimately heal the world that seems far beyond redemption.
Along the way, she encounters cannibals, religious zealots, desperate con-men, and horrifying blackbirds that are the harbingers of death. All are ready to kill her to get at her miracle child. Although she finds precious few allies and friends on her path, the black moments never seem to stop and she struggles with uncertainty and loneliness. Somehow, she must find the resolve she needs in order to birth her child and ultimately heal the world that seems far beyond redemption.
Nook
Published September 18, 2011
30 people want to read
About the author
Ian Thomas Healy
117 books100 followersIan Thomas Healy is a prolific writer who dabbles in many different speculative genres. His superhero novel Deep Six: A Just Cause Novel was a Top 100 Semi-finalist in the 2008 Amazon.com Breakthrough Novel Award. He’s a seven-time participant and winner of National Novel Writing Month where he’s tackled such diverse subjects as sentient alien farts, competitive forklift racing, a religion-powered rabbit-themed superhero, cyberpunk mercenaries, cowboy elves, and an unlikely combination of vampires with minor league hockey. He is also the creator of the Writing Better Action Through Cinematic Techniques workshop, which helps writers to improve their action scenes.
His goal is to become as integral to the genre of superhero fiction as William Gibson was to cyberpunk and Anne Rice was to urban fantasy.
Ian lives in Colorado with his wife, three children, and a plethora of housepets. When not writing, which is rare, he likes to take road trip, enjoys watching football and hockey, and listening to or playing music. His ebooks can be found on Smashwords, Kindle, Nook, iBook Store, and other online retailers.
His goal is to become as integral to the genre of superhero fiction as William Gibson was to cyberpunk and Anne Rice was to urban fantasy.
Ian lives in Colorado with his wife, three children, and a plethora of housepets. When not writing, which is rare, he likes to take road trip, enjoys watching football and hockey, and listening to or playing music. His ebooks can be found on Smashwords, Kindle, Nook, iBook Store, and other online retailers.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 9, 2012
In the great purpose of life, where does this book fit? The @#$% if I know. It's apocalyptic...yet to metaphorical to be really apocalyptic. A fun read, if not for the easily offended.
September 26, 2011
The adventure begins at a crusty old diner somewhere out in the desert. Hope is a stripper down on her luck, but she's about to take Undead Elvis in a game of poker when the world ends. We don't know how Undead Elvis came to be. We don't know why the world ends. We only know that Hope and her strange new friend are the only survivors (at the moment), and that we're in for one hell of a road story that must ultimately lead to Graceland.
Each chapter serves as a stop along Hope's broken road, and each one reads almost reads like an individual parable that will find you looking for deeper meanings and symbols. Hope is probably Healy's strongest and most likable heroine to date, and you won't want to put down the book because you'll want to see this girl through till the very end, just to be sure she makes it through okay.
This is not a typical Ian Healy rollicking, action-packed adventure, but he still manages to maintain his cinematic eye for scenery. Hope and Undead Elvis is quiet, haunting, thoughtful, unique. It'll stay with you long after you've finished.
Each chapter serves as a stop along Hope's broken road, and each one reads almost reads like an individual parable that will find you looking for deeper meanings and symbols. Hope is probably Healy's strongest and most likable heroine to date, and you won't want to put down the book because you'll want to see this girl through till the very end, just to be sure she makes it through okay.
This is not a typical Ian Healy rollicking, action-packed adventure, but he still manages to maintain his cinematic eye for scenery. Hope and Undead Elvis is quiet, haunting, thoughtful, unique. It'll stay with you long after you've finished.
November 13, 2012
How can you not like a post-apocalyptic novel whose main characters include a ghostly Elvis?? Light reading that kept me entertained, with enough humor to off-set the serious subject matter. WARNING: if you are offended by biblical satire, stay away.
December 16, 2017
If the phrase 'undead elvis' gets on your nerves then you will not enjoy this book as it is said so often and I wish the author had switched to calling him Elvis after the point had been firmly established early on.
Despite this minor irritation, I did enjoy this post-apocalyptic road trip of a novel told from the perspective of the titular heroine, Hope, as she journeyed to Graceland meeting and surviving many strange characters along the way.
At few times the religious stylings of this book were a little too heavy-handed, but on the whole, the initially whacky premise of a stripper (pregnant by immaculate conception) travelling to find Graceland with an undead version of Elvis after a vague disaster caused most of the word's population to vanish did actually work well.
I thought the performance of the narrator gave a good impression of the kind of jaded, world-weary character that Hope was in this book and she also gave suitably distinctive performances for the supporting cast of characters too.
Overall, I wouldn't say that this was my favourite post-apocalyptic book, but it was a fun and enjoyable one that had more depth than you might expect from the basic premise at the start.
[I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.]
Despite this minor irritation, I did enjoy this post-apocalyptic road trip of a novel told from the perspective of the titular heroine, Hope, as she journeyed to Graceland meeting and surviving many strange characters along the way.
At few times the religious stylings of this book were a little too heavy-handed, but on the whole, the initially whacky premise of a stripper (pregnant by immaculate conception) travelling to find Graceland with an undead version of Elvis after a vague disaster caused most of the word's population to vanish did actually work well.
I thought the performance of the narrator gave a good impression of the kind of jaded, world-weary character that Hope was in this book and she also gave suitably distinctive performances for the supporting cast of characters too.
Overall, I wouldn't say that this was my favourite post-apocalyptic book, but it was a fun and enjoyable one that had more depth than you might expect from the basic premise at the start.
[I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.]
November 15, 2017
The title alone should be an indication that you're in for a fun ride. Silly, quirky and downright absurd, yet oh so can't-stop-listening-able! Yikes, now I'm even making up words. Who cares, it fits! Hope's crazy adventure was so entertaining, with moments of gravity and lots of hilarity. I absolutely loved this! The narrator was terrific and I loved the deadpan delivery. Hope And Undead Elvis was a great listening experience and I would highly recommend it.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. This review is my honest opinion.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. This review is my honest opinion.
March 6, 2023
Something that I should really pay more attention to: if a book begins with an author intro showing the poorly rendered picture that was the "writing prompt" for a book, the chances of me liking it will be very low.
February 12, 2018
Audible:I found this a good storyline badly executed.Narration by Kathy Garner was so so,at best.I nearly gave up but made it through.“I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.”
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews