At Least He's Not On Fire: A Tour of the Things That Escape My Head

by Chris Philbrook

I'm an odd dude. But I write some decent stuff, and here's my way of sharing my odd dude thoughts.

I'm the author of three 'major' series; Adrian's Undead Diary, Elmoryn's The Kinless Trilogy, and the Reemergence Novels, the first of which is Tesser: A Dragon Among Us.

To help folks get a taste of my writing, I've put At Least He's Not On Fire together. Inside this wonderful electronic tome of my words, you'll find a healthy sized sampler of each of my major works, as well as several short stories that are mixed in for your entertainment. All in, Hell Hole, and The Vampire of Menlo Park are all great fun, and I hope you enjoy them.

Dark Recollections: Book One of Adrian's Undead Diary

Beheading a zombie isn't easy in a world where you're more afraid of the living than the dead.

Adrian Ring's simple life is thrown into chaos when the world is ripped apart by a plague of undead and legions of desperate survivors. Retreating to Auburn Lake Preparatory Academy, Adrian attempts to rescue friends and family on the way while dancing around his impending insanity over who and what he left behind, and evading maniac survivors. He saves his cat Otis, but shoots his mom. Pretty successful, all things considered.

Dark Recollections is the first part of Adrian's own story of how he survived after "That Day." Told through his eyes as he talks to his laptop, affectionately named 'Mr. Journal," and through short stories that entwine with his tales that bring forth dark visions of a world being eaten alive by an unimaginable evil. Adrian's Undead Diary is an eight part epic about a solitary, guilt stricken man that didn't think he deserved to live, but realizes very soon that he survived, and suffered for a reason.

The Wrath of the Orphans: Book One of The Kinless Trilogy
Malwynn and his twin sister Umaryn live in a small town in northern Varrland. In idyllic New Picknell nearly nothing happens, and when their day to day routine is interrupted by a skirmish between an invading patrol of the dead from The Amaranth Empire and a defending force from Varrland, their world begins to come undone.

With international war looming on the horizon New Picknell becomes the center of quite unwanted attention, and the twins have their world shattered. With nothing left to lose, they set out on a mission of vengeance that will take them to places they'd never dreamed of visiting, discovering mystical powers in The Way that will change their lives forever, and revealing dark knowledges best left undiscovered.

Tesser: A Dragon Among Us A Novel of the Reemergence
Imagine for a moment that you are a Dragon. A creature of unimaginable power, unending intelligence and strength, and you've just woken from ten thousand years of slumber. Worse yet, you've awoken underneath a city; Boston, an alien and strange place that defies everything you've ever known.

Your last memories were of primordial forests, erupting volcanoes sculpting a developing world, faeries, witches, vampires, krakens, and monsters that feared where you turned your eyes.

But all that is gone. Humans, only barely coming into their own in the world from your memory, have taken over. They have erected cities made of stone and steel erupting from the earth like stalagmites reaching for the high blue sky, and developed sciences that have overshadowed even the glory of old magic.

This was not the way it was supposed to be.

Meet Tesser, the Dragon. He who walks in any form, and flies the skies free of fear.

A Dragon Among Us is Tesser's story. Walk with him as he learns the human way, and discovers the dark truth about why magic has really faded from the world he calls home.

And just maybe, humanity will remember why dragons were most noble, and most savage creatures again.

Welcome to The Reemergence.

Genres: Horror, Zombies, Anthologies, Fiction

75 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 16, 2014

About the author

About Chris Philbrook

I am the creator and author of Tesser: A Dragon Among Us as well as Elmoryn's The Kinless Trilogy, Colony Lost, Adrian's Undead Diary and the Darkness of Diggory Finch.

I've gone to a LOT of college. I've got a Business degree as well as a Psychology degree, and I've done the full program at the school of hard knocks. I've been a printing press operator, bouncer, purchasing agent, bodyguard, customer service representative, mental health counselor, and more. I can write about weird shit because I've done weird shit. Trust me.

I call the wonderful state of New Hampshire my home, but I love to travel. I love to read, write, play role playing games, miniatures games, video games, and Magic: The Gathering. When I find the time to be active, I like to hike, play basketball, and play football. I am married to a wonderful woman, and together we have two wonderful daughters.

Reviews

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining fantasy listening 🎶🔰

This is a free novella e-book from Amazon.

A multiple of novella e-book stories by the author. Each story is different with interesting well developed characters lots of action, misdirection, and violence leading to each conclusion. As with multiple story books 📚 you will like some better than others but that is normal.

I would recommend this novella and author to 👍 readers of fantasy horror novels 👍🔰. 2023 😀👒😡😮

Author has a number of kindle unlimited e-books.

[AudioBookReviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

ABR's original At Least He’s Not on Fire audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

If you have yet to experience the writing of Chris Philbrook and the narration of James Foster. Here is your chance to be teased by both of them. This is a “teaser” to get you in the mood for more without having to commit to one entire story that you may or may not like.

Here we have several short stories, that are pretty entertaining. Along with excerpts from Adrian’s Undead Diary and Tesser: A Dragon Among Us. I so hope that Tesser goes audio is sounds like an amazing story.

This is something that is incredibly difficult to review in a conventional way. I am, if you didn’t know, a huge fan of Philbrook and Foster. I think that everyone should at least give them a chance to whisk you way to another time and place. At Least He’s Not on Fire is excellent for that reason. Get your feet wet to their style. An introduction to the apocalypse and imagined by Philbrook.

I really liked the short story All In. About a guy playing poker with the devil. Very entertaining and didn’t end like I thought it would.

Foster really got a chance to show his vocal range with this project. Going from sounding like the every man, as in Adrian. To an immortal mythical creature, I think he actually growls. So much fun to listen to this.

Audiobook provided for review by the narrator.

[Chris Philbrook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always gotta be first.

This is the compilation book that I'm selling for a whoppin 99 cents right now with a plan to give it away for free every month for a long as I can.

It contains the beginning of Tesser, Adrian's Undead Diary, and The Wrath of the Orphans as well as three short stories; All In, Hell Hole, and The Vampire of Menlo Park.

I loved putting this together, and I'm glad to share it with the public.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only minus 1 star because i've already read 3 of the stories featured in this compilation book. However, the other short stories found inside were awesome! Great ideas! Particularly like the one with Thomas Edison. Awesome stuff. Would love to see all of these short stories turned into novels. You've got a firm supporter out of me, Chris. Keep the stories comin' dude!!

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories and samples/first chapters of the author's books. A way to check the author out before buying one of his books.

All in
Short story: Never play with the devil, he always wins, one way or another!
A bit predictable maybe but still interesting.

Adrians Journal
Interesting start to a zombie book. A bit too much swearing for me.

Hell Hole
Short Story: Demons from Hell come through a hole to eradicate humanity – can mankind win the battle?
We won't find out in this short story but we can read how it all began.
Nice little story.

The Vampire from Menlo Park
I think this is my favourite story of the book. Imagine Thomas Edison being a vampire. Of course he is determned to create artificial light. How far would his helpers go for science?

I haven't read yet:
Preview – Tresser: A dragon among us
Preview - The wrath of the Orphans, Book one of the Kindless Trilogy

This collection definitely put this author on my radar. Imaginative, good writing.

[Livvy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

I really enjoyed reading this book. The author tossed all his writing into one book that he been working on and how he can write in different genres not just zombies. Not most author's can pull that off some have tried but failed.
My top 2 story's in this book was
Tesser: A Dragon Among Us. I like read some shifter reads. I personally love Dragon shifter fantasy reads. And The Wrath of the Orphans was great. It was mixed with zombies and fantasy different world and done in the dark ages.
Also this book has few other previews of the author's work like AUD which I love as well but i did skip it because I already read book 1. Includes ALL IN it was okay. Just never wish for something around the wrong person. Hell hole wasn't my favorite but it was written well. And The Vampire of Menlo Park it was okay but didn't pull me into it.
And I like how the author gave little intro before each story that was great.

[Crystal Cunningham · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book through a zombie book club in exchange for a review.
This is a book of short stories and excerpts from longer works intended to introduce new readers to Chris Philbrook's work and possibly interest readers of one series into trying another.
I found the stories to be well written, interesting, and above all entertaining. I was interested enough in the story excerpts to purchase one of the complete books! My favorites in this book were Tesser: A Dragon Among Us, and Adrian's Undead Diary.
I also really enjoyed "The Vampire of Menlo Park".
I would recommend this book to just about everyone. The stories are all so original and different there's bound to be something for almost anyone to enjoy!

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Fun

The book is a collection of story samples and short stories, it’s a great teaser for the main books.
It’s always good to read the book reviews, I found Chris Philbrook through a reference while researching new authors. From this, I immediately purchased AUD book 1, and have just finished it.
I now have a new author to follow.

[Amber Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable.

I really really enjoyed the different stories. My favorite is Edison as a vampire. I would love to hear more about that. The one about the deal with the devil is good too. Just really fun to read the different styles.

[Ami · Rating 5 out of 5]

I throughly enjoyed all of the stories in this book. Chris Philbrook is now on my favorite author list.

[Jenny Cotter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to confess I was disappointed, didn't finish reading.

[carolyn kerr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad

[Brad Drenth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Not what I was hoping for

[Donna Schuler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great zombie book by Chris Philbrook!

[Laura Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inside these pages you’ll get some short stories and samples from some of the author’s books. This I particularly liked, because I got a feel for the writing and met some of the characters. And I also got a hint about the stories. Great tease by the author and he hooked me.

All In is wicked fun.

Do you think you can bluff the devil? Do you have a better poker face?

Wally’s about to find out.

Wally isn’t lucky. He’s just lost everything at the gaming tables. He sends out an invitation and the devil answers.

Now it’s poker with Nick and the stakes are high. And the devil’s in the details.

I could see the end coming but the author took me around the bend, giving me hope for Wally. The twist was all to his advantage, but I remembered Wally is greedy. That’s why he’s broke

**

Hell Hole

The sink hole was bad. Really bad. Sucking everything down into the collapsing Earth. But that’s not all you have to worry about. It’s what’s stirring down there in the deep abyss that you should really be worrying about.

Some people just never learn and we all pay the price.

When soldiers discover a temple in the jungle, why don’t they listen to the native’s warnings. With evidence showing what will happen, why would anyone open that hole?

Big hole, superstition, folklore, add fools, stir. Recipe for disaster.

Well, if someone didn’t we wouldn’t have this fun, creepy story. I love stories with creatures in them. The author gave me some really good ones and , from watching copious horror movies, It was easy to visualize the scenery and the monsters. I even put some actors faces to the characters.

**

The Vampire of Menlo Park

Very interesting premise. Imagine Thomas Edison was a vampire.

This was fun.

Poor Geoffrey had no idea what he was getting into when he went to work for Mr. Edison.

He did know he was uneasy. Why did Edison never come out in daylight? Why were the previous interns never seen again? Why did he feel unsettled around Edison?

The fun begins when Geoffrey gets the answers to his questions.

The author threw me a curve ball with his ending. Honestly didn’t see it coming and that’s something I really enjoyed.

**

I’m especially interested in Tesser: A Dragon Among Us.

The story is partly told from Tesser’s(the dragon) POV and he’s just awakened from a very long sleep to find he’s living under Boston. Mankind now rules Earth and he’s entering a world that no longer believes in dragon.

I liked how the plot was set up and ‘flew’ through this sample.

This I’ll be reading ASAP!

**

Then there are samplings from Dark Recollections and Wrath of the Orphans. I’m a huge fan of zombie and undead stories so these will be added to my summer reading list. When the undead attack the fighting and the group dynamics become the focal points and this is where these type of stories really shine for me.

From Adrian’s journal in Dark Recollections:

“State and local agencies are reporting widespread attacks on citizens across the region. authorities are advising people to stay inside, lock their doors, bar their windows and only open doors for known friends and family who respond intelligently”

Figures they wouldn’t say the words, “beware of zombies.”

From Wrath of the Orphans:

Twins Malwynn and Umaryn might have been good once.

Now they’ve sworn an oath and now they’ll have their pound of flesh.

I was pulled right into this one.

The world of Elmoryn is fascinating and there are many characters to love and hate.

The beginning is a bit slow as the author builds his world. I didn’t mind this as I wanted to get a real feel for the story.

Once the world is revealed and the plot begins, it’s a rush of action and vengeance. This is a very dark story indeed.

Loving character driven stories, I quickly became fond of Malwynn and Umaryn. I felt for their loss, raged alongside them and understood the actions they took.

This could become an epic fantasy.

I enjoyed all of these. While trying not to play favorites, I’ll add that I am partial to dragons.

If you’re looking for some new adventures and enjoy a few quick reads to entertain you, I’d highly recommend you try this collection. There’s something for everyone.

[Nannette · Rating 5 out of 5]

At Least He's Not on Fire is a collection by Chris Philbrook. If his name is familiar you have probably come across someone gushing about one of his series. If his name is not familiar, slap yourself on the back of the head and pick up one of his books or audiobooks now. You are missing something great. This book contains three original stories and three excerpts from his different series. The title, oh yes, the title refers to an philosophical life view the main character of Adrian's Undead Diary adopts after surviving the first few days of a zombie apocalypse.

The first original story is “All In”, about thirty minutes in length. (Please note, times are approximate because although I tried to watch the time stamp I was too caught up in the stories to get exact time. Hence the “about” length.) The main character finds himself playing poker with the devil. First thing he asks Satan is, “Ever been to Georgia?”. It just gets better and better from there and is not predictable at all. Hellhole is about 27 minutes in length. It is very original and horrifying. If there is a sinkhole in my neighborhood, my hair will finish going white overnight. Hellhole is seriously terrifying. The Vampire of Menlo Park, about 38 minutes in length, poses the question, “What if Thomas Edison was a vampire?”. The answer is creative and could easily be expanded to an entire book.

The first of the three excerpts is from Dark Recollections: Book One of Adrian's Undead Diary, about 52 minutes in length. If you haven’t read AUD (as it is abbreviated), this is the perfect opportunity to check it out. When I reviewed the full book on Amazon I said it is one of the best zombie genre I have ever encountered. Since I love the apocalypse genre, that is saying a lot. Try this first chapter and you will, like me, willingly jump into Adrian’s world. Excellent series and an excellent introduction to it.

The next excerpt is Tesser: A Dragon Among Us A Novel of the Reemergence, about 52 minutes in length. After listening to this except, I cannot wait for the Audible production that has just been announced. It was a wonderful first chapter. Imagine a dragon. Now make him cooler than any other dragon ever, including Smaug. Now give him intelligence and so very neat abilities that other dragons have not had in literature. Also throw in a magician’s apprentice, who just quit his full time job as an accountant to concentrate on his magic. Oh yeah, it is set in modern times. I have got to have this book. My son, who did a presentation on dragons in literature for one of his college classes, will probably fight me for who gets it first.

The final except is The Wrath of the Orphans: Book One of The Kinless Trilogy. This is the longest segment at roughly 2 ½ hours long. Chris Philbrook creates another universe, Elmoryn, where the story takes place. I was very impressed with how well he fleshed out his universe for the Adrian series but this one is even more breathtaking. Elmoryn has war and magic and horror and characters that immediately get your attention. By the end of the except I cared about Malwynn and his twin sister Umaryn, the main characters. The Wrath of the Orphans is the first book of a planned trilogy. Book 2 is already out and book 3 is hopefully joining it soon.

James Foster, who narrated all of Adrian’s Undead Diary, narrates At Least He’s not on Fire. As with AUD, he does a fantastic job. For example “All In” the devil and the main character have distinct voices. Foster’s accents in Tesser are spot on as usual. Foster is a finalist in three different categories for the 2015 SOVAS VoiceArts Awards. His narrations always take the author’s written word that one step further to pull you into their reality. The production values are prefect.

I tend not to be a big fan of anthologies because they can be uneven or have only one gem among a box of “meh” pieces. This one though is all gem quality. As evidenced by my inability to get correct times on the different segments, I was drawn in and enthralled. Warning to my family, this year you will be charged in Chris Philbrook titles for me doing your taxes.

"This audiobook was provided by http://audiobookreviewer.com/ at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review."

[Garrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Side note before I start. The cover of this book, the zombie's eternal struggle against a child's swing, just makes me laugh. And laugh. And laugh. As well as Adrian's thought "At least he's not on fire, which caught me by surprise and cracked me up. Because there's not really enough zombie humor (Although iZombie on The CW is making inroads). Okay, sorry. Had to get that out of my system.

The subtitle "A Tour of the Things That Escape My Head" is apt. Philbrook's head kinda goes all over the place. I fell in love with the "Adrian's Undead Diary" series last year, and this caught my eye only because it's not just AUD. There are some chapters from AUD which I enjoyed reading again, but also some other unpublished work and works in progress.

"All In" If you remember any of Rod Serling's shows, this is a great treatment for a script. I predicted a different ending, however, that would possibly be more diabolical…

"Adrian's Undead Diary" Just read it. If you have a zombie-loving bone in your body, just read it.

"Hell Hole" Great premise, the ending needs work. And actually, the whole thing could be expanded more. The characters are very one-dimensional…but great ancient vs. modern conflict.

"Tesser: A Dragon Among Us" For me, the most intriguing long-term project. The ancient vs. modern conflict again, and it would explain a helluva lot about The Big Dig. ;) I'll be on the lookout for more of this tale.

"The Wrath of the Orphans" My own truth: I'm not a gamer. Never have been, going back to my PC-XT in 1986. I was more interested in WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3 (I'm an old fart…sue me). However this beginning of a story caught my interest. I'll be honest, I'm not sure I'll seek it out, but the setup is certainly within the realm of other current plot lines.

And, I've saved the best for last.

"The Vampire of Menlo Park" Such a brilliant, yet simple, premise. It's a perfect story as told. And I REALLY want to say more but I won't because it really is just that perfect.

[Valentina Markasović · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories and previews of the author's major works. I gave the book an overall rating of 3 stars, but the stories weren't all the same:

"All In" - short story, interesting and fun in a dark way, with smart plot twists - 5 ★
Preview: "Adrian's Undead Diary" - a character who deals with honest emotions like regret and the will to survive; realistic (as much as it can)- 5 ★
"Hell Hole" - felt a bit unfinished, but points for the descriptions - 3 ★
Preview: "Tesser: A Dragon Among Us" - ..I don't really know how I feel about this. Nothing really happened, which is understandable, I guess, since it's only a preview, but I don't feel inclined to read the rest - 3 ★
"A Vampire of Menlo Park" - A different take of Edison? Sure, why not, it was fun - 4 ★
Preview: "The Wrath of the Orphans" - I feel bad. I do. Because it's obvious that the author holds this one dear. Almost half of this book was taken up by this preview.
And I didn't like it. Like, at all. It's an interesting prospect, but I'm not going to lie, it bored me to death and I didn't like the characters. There were at least 3 times that I wanted to give up on finishing it. - 2 ★

[Dread P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am truly grateful that I found this book on Amazon.

This was a free Kindle Edition download that led me to my favorite book series of all time:

Adrian's Undead Diary.

The collection of short stories and novel samples got me hooked on this eight book series.


Do yourself a favor and get your free download.

What have you got to lose?


You just might become a fan of Chris Philbrook like I have!

[Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little sampler pack from author Chris Philbrook is a great introduction to his entertaining oeuvre, with tantalizing pieces of longer works, including his most popular series, and a few short stories thrown in for good measure.

Of course it will lead you to read more of his writing, so it's a gateway book. You might as well start with this one to point you to which of his other works you'll tackle next. Yeah, you've got a ways to go, but you get to start a grand journey.

[Sean Hammond · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a lot of fun. Think of it as a Philbrook buffet. A little Adrian, a little Tesser, a side of Kinless and some other very fun stories you won't find anywhere else. This book is sure to please whether you're a seasoned Philbrook fan or someone who is looking to see what this awesome indie author is all about!

[Diana Switter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the different short excerpts of Chris Philbrook creations. The outrageous plots were a delight. I would like to continue to read Adrian's Undead Diary and more about Tesser, the Dragon. Although I found a few spelling/word usage errors not picked up by editing, I would recommend this read.

[Carey · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a better way to dip your toes- maybe "push" would be a better word once you become drawn- into the writings of Chris Philbrook. The beginning of his most popular books, and some short stories that hilarious, scary, and just really great. Plus now it's all for you for free! Enjoy!

[Joshua Christensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

After becoming a lifetime fan of Chris Philbrook's writing through the Adrian's Undead Diary series, this book was an awesome opportunity to look into some of Chris' other ideas and stand alone short stories that he never published. This is a must for any fan of Chris Philbrook.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant book of short stories and the first few chapters of other books by the same author. Would have given 5 stars but I read this book after most of the others by this author so I had already read some of this.