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Alex Rains, Vampire Hunter #2
Hell Night
Alex Rains knows all about hunting vampires—after all, that's his job, and he's the best at what he does. But when he follows a lead to the tiny desert town of Prosperity, Nevada, Alex quickly learns that vampires aren't the only things that go bump in the night. He's just as surprised as the town's residents when the dead start walking the streets of Prosperity . . . and they've got a bit of an appetite.
Together with a ragtag group of survivors, Alex will have to dodge undead horrors and small-town drama as he digs into Prosperity's darkest secrets and macabre Wild West heritage to figure out why the dead aren't staying dead, discover what--or who--is responsible, and put a stop to it . . . before the whole mess gets out of hand.
After dealing with the undead in Prosperity, Alex Rains is going to have to update his resume.
It's sunny with a chance of apocalypse in Hell Night, Matt Kincade's eagerly anticipated follow-up to The Devil's Mouth. With Hell Night, Kincade once again delivers fast-paced, gritty pulp action, engaging characters, and delightfully grim humor.
Together with a ragtag group of survivors, Alex will have to dodge undead horrors and small-town drama as he digs into Prosperity's darkest secrets and macabre Wild West heritage to figure out why the dead aren't staying dead, discover what--or who--is responsible, and put a stop to it . . . before the whole mess gets out of hand.
After dealing with the undead in Prosperity, Alex Rains is going to have to update his resume.
It's sunny with a chance of apocalypse in Hell Night, Matt Kincade's eagerly anticipated follow-up to The Devil's Mouth. With Hell Night, Kincade once again delivers fast-paced, gritty pulp action, engaging characters, and delightfully grim humor.
- GenresFantasy
358 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 21, 2017
About the author
Matt Kincade
3 books25 followersMatt Kincade, the son of a librarian, was often left to wander the fiction shelves for hours as a child, happily lost among the stacks, soaking up a love for words and the smell of books.
Since then he has been a pizza chef, a sandwich artist, a cash-register jockey, a night manager, a furniture assembler, and a creepy one-hour photo clerk, all while pursuing his dream of being an author of sci-fi and supernatural fiction.
Matt lives in Northern California, where he enjoys the outdoors and gets out into the nearby Sierra Nevada mountains every chance he gets, whether to hike, camp, or just go jump in a creek. When not writing or working at his slave job, Matt reads entirely too much, makes music, rides his bicycle, watches movies, and plays video games.
If Matt drank as much alcohol as he does coffee, his family and friends would have staged an intervention by now. Matt shares his apartment with a cat who grudgingly tolerates his existence.
Since then he has been a pizza chef, a sandwich artist, a cash-register jockey, a night manager, a furniture assembler, and a creepy one-hour photo clerk, all while pursuing his dream of being an author of sci-fi and supernatural fiction.
Matt lives in Northern California, where he enjoys the outdoors and gets out into the nearby Sierra Nevada mountains every chance he gets, whether to hike, camp, or just go jump in a creek. When not writing or working at his slave job, Matt reads entirely too much, makes music, rides his bicycle, watches movies, and plays video games.
If Matt drank as much alcohol as he does coffee, his family and friends would have staged an intervention by now. Matt shares his apartment with a cat who grudgingly tolerates his existence.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 26, 2020
Zombie Splatter - just like a Drive-In Movie
Not as good as the first book,
as it lacked the emotional gravitas of that story. I feel disappointed, like I'd anticipated a home run, and all I've seen is a batter hit a bunt ball and make first base, and then the innings has ended with all out.
The positives. This is a very visual book, with plenty of action and gore, and will certainly entertain those who are looking for that, go ahead buy it and fill you boots.
There is an excellent level of inventiveness to the overall story that I admire and I'm impressed by.
The negatives. The foreshadowing of who the villain is, is heavy handed, if it was meant to be a mystery, it failed. There are several (at least three) Deus Ex Machinas in the plot where the heroes are simply rescued from a situation which is explained post hoc, or not explained at all. (I shake my head), you can get away with one, but more than one is something else.
There are more cliches than I can poke a stick at (intended). Too many characters are cardboard cut outs and even Alex Rains lacks the depth he had in the first book. Sure, clichés can be used but with care to ensure they come up fresh.
To sum up, it felt like I was reading a book that had been rushed to market without sufficient development, there was a real potential here that wasn't realised in the execution.
Three stars and two dropped balls.
Excellent ingredients, talented writer, should have been simmered for another 6 months to create the necessary depth.
Will I read more about Alex Rains? Sure I will, I liked the book and there are a few smiles in there.
P.S. It would make an excellent B grade movie for a twilight drive in experience. Think 1960s car, hot partner, warm summer night, ice cold coca cola, french fries and something messy on the screen that would produce a scream and a cuddle.
Not as good as the first book,
as it lacked the emotional gravitas of that story. I feel disappointed, like I'd anticipated a home run, and all I've seen is a batter hit a bunt ball and make first base, and then the innings has ended with all out.The positives. This is a very visual book, with plenty of action and gore, and will certainly entertain those who are looking for that, go ahead buy it and fill you boots.
There is an excellent level of inventiveness to the overall story that I admire and I'm impressed by.
The negatives. The foreshadowing of who the villain is, is heavy handed, if it was meant to be a mystery, it failed. There are several (at least three) Deus Ex Machinas in the plot where the heroes are simply rescued from a situation which is explained post hoc, or not explained at all. (I shake my head), you can get away with one, but more than one is something else.
There are more cliches than I can poke a stick at (intended). Too many characters are cardboard cut outs and even Alex Rains lacks the depth he had in the first book. Sure, clichés can be used but with care to ensure they come up fresh.
To sum up, it felt like I was reading a book that had been rushed to market without sufficient development, there was a real potential here that wasn't realised in the execution.
Three stars and two dropped balls.
Excellent ingredients, talented writer, should have been simmered for another 6 months to create the necessary depth.
Will I read more about Alex Rains? Sure I will, I liked the book and there are a few smiles in there.
P.S. It would make an excellent B grade movie for a twilight drive in experience. Think 1960s car, hot partner, warm summer night, ice cold coca cola, french fries and something messy on the screen that would produce a scream and a cuddle.
July 31, 2019
This was a fun second book, no vampires but a town full of zombies sure is making Alex's life hard. There's some good banter between the characters and the dynamic of the group is good, expect lots of zombie attacks and subsequent gore and you're good to go.
I found this one much more a character piece than the first, it still has action and comedy but its overall a bit darker. Alex is the star but he isn't always in the spotlight. The author tries to leave us guessing but for me it was fairly obvious who the bad guy was from early on, this wasn't a bad thing as it was interesting to see when everyone else noticed.
This book also introduces a lot more 'magic' to the world than we saw in the first book, yeah we had vampires but there didnt seem to be anything mystical about anything. Now it's all about the magic and how to survive against genuine human evil and lust for both power and people.
An great second book with some great characters. Looking forward (and hoping) there's a book 3 coming sometime.
I found this one much more a character piece than the first, it still has action and comedy but its overall a bit darker. Alex is the star but he isn't always in the spotlight. The author tries to leave us guessing but for me it was fairly obvious who the bad guy was from early on, this wasn't a bad thing as it was interesting to see when everyone else noticed.
This book also introduces a lot more 'magic' to the world than we saw in the first book, yeah we had vampires but there didnt seem to be anything mystical about anything. Now it's all about the magic and how to survive against genuine human evil and lust for both power and people.
An great second book with some great characters. Looking forward (and hoping) there's a book 3 coming sometime.
March 22, 2017
Damn, that was good! I bought this book because it was recommended. If I would have known it involved zombies, I probably would have declined spending the whole 99 cents. Zombies are not my thing.
This is an urban fantasy - not apocalyptic, so don't panic. There is a tiny bit of sex - not enough to make me blush BUT it's definitely not sweet either. There is a zillion bloody scenes - gore, splatter and grossness. It's "ew" factor was pretty high, but the quotes in this book nearly broke an all time record. If I put in this review every quote I highlighted, I could fill a chapter alone.
Alex Rains is a vampire hunter that is refreshing in the fact that he doesn't know anything else supernatural other than vampires. He didn't even know zombies existed until he stumbled into a little offbeat town called Prosperity. The super villain in this book was pretty easy to see right off, but that's not the point of the book. The point of the story was the same goal as all of the evil villains we've ever read with the twist of the machinations of an even more evil villain. That's the part that set this book apart.
This is an urban fantasy - not apocalyptic, so don't panic. There is a tiny bit of sex - not enough to make me blush BUT it's definitely not sweet either. There is a zillion bloody scenes - gore, splatter and grossness. It's "ew" factor was pretty high, but the quotes in this book nearly broke an all time record. If I put in this review every quote I highlighted, I could fill a chapter alone.
Alex Rains is a vampire hunter that is refreshing in the fact that he doesn't know anything else supernatural other than vampires. He didn't even know zombies existed until he stumbled into a little offbeat town called Prosperity. The super villain in this book was pretty easy to see right off, but that's not the point of the book. The point of the story was the same goal as all of the evil villains we've ever read with the twist of the machinations of an even more evil villain. That's the part that set this book apart.
June 1, 2017
Just fantastic
The first book was great. And so is the second. Truly a hard book to put down. The action kept going and you got something different this time around. Real changes to the mythology expanding the world in a lot of ways. Kincade is a sharp writer worth following. Short and sloppy review, but the book is worth it. Damn fine writing
The first book was great. And so is the second. Truly a hard book to put down. The action kept going and you got something different this time around. Real changes to the mythology expanding the world in a lot of ways. Kincade is a sharp writer worth following. Short and sloppy review, but the book is worth it. Damn fine writing
September 28, 2018
Alex rains return
I thought the first book in the series was great. The second book was way better! Is there anything Alex rains and his sword can't kill? Hopefully we find out in a third book. Matt kincade is the best indie writer I've found on Amazon so far. I hope to read more work and see him explore something outside of the Alex rains series as well.
I thought the first book in the series was great. The second book was way better! Is there anything Alex rains and his sword can't kill? Hopefully we find out in a third book. Matt kincade is the best indie writer I've found on Amazon so far. I hope to read more work and see him explore something outside of the Alex rains series as well.
May 12, 2017
Zombies Everywhere - What vacation
Our hero is on a break to get in touch with his Elvis roots. Fortunately for us, the zombie apocalypse had different plans.
Great sequel and great read. Lots of action, suspense, intrigue.
Urban fantasy at it's best.
Our hero is on a break to get in touch with his Elvis roots. Fortunately for us, the zombie apocalypse had different plans.
Great sequel and great read. Lots of action, suspense, intrigue.
Urban fantasy at it's best.
July 21, 2020
Another great book
I really enjoyed both books of vampire hunter. The story line was great and kept me reading. Many other books drag on with useless nonsense. Thanks for writing the book.
I really enjoyed both books of vampire hunter. The story line was great and kept me reading. Many other books drag on with useless nonsense. Thanks for writing the book.
Read
September 20, 2022Had nothing to do with Vampires and it's all about the zombies. The only vampire killing was in the opening scene, which was pretty good. The rest of the book, however, was not what I expected it to be.
May 28, 2017
Great book with lots of action. I don't normally read zombies but this was fun.
June 17, 2017
Awesome and better than the first book.
July 24, 2017
Better then average.
An intresting take on a increasingly stale zombie genre. The protagonist is mostly a background character. The surprise villain is obvious
An intresting take on a increasingly stale zombie genre. The protagonist is mostly a background character. The surprise villain is obvious
April 9, 2023
Big improvement over the first book even though I enjoyed that as well. The only vampire in the book is at the very beginning. Then it's like one of the Winchesters vs Dawn of the Dead.
April 30, 2017
Another awesome book
I absolutely loved book one and book two did not disappoint. I rated them both a five, but I preferred book one as it dealt with vampires instead of zombies. Book two was a great read, full of the same hilarious dialogue and fantastic nonstop action. I am a huge fan of this author. The only problem is, I now NEED book three ASAP!!! My only critique is to give me more vampires please. Lol. Please keep writing. I love your style man.
I absolutely loved book one and book two did not disappoint. I rated them both a five, but I preferred book one as it dealt with vampires instead of zombies. Book two was a great read, full of the same hilarious dialogue and fantastic nonstop action. I am a huge fan of this author. The only problem is, I now NEED book three ASAP!!! My only critique is to give me more vampires please. Lol. Please keep writing. I love your style man.
April 19, 2017
Non-stop Action
I liked the first in this series, but I felt like the personal relationships bogged it down a bit. This one? Crisp and speedy, excellent surprises, and oddly......no vampires. But there's lots of zombies. People even quote Shakespeare. It's a lean, well-edited monster story, with plenty of gore and intrigue and dead sorcerers and a bar that Elvis once visited.
I abandon a lot of indie books because the proofreading and editing are often awful. Kincade has clearly sent this book through the wringer, because it's tight and well-crafted, with just enough information about the characters to make them interesting, and excellent pacing.
I liked the first in this series, but I felt like the personal relationships bogged it down a bit. This one? Crisp and speedy, excellent surprises, and oddly......no vampires. But there's lots of zombies. People even quote Shakespeare. It's a lean, well-edited monster story, with plenty of gore and intrigue and dead sorcerers and a bar that Elvis once visited.
I abandon a lot of indie books because the proofreading and editing are often awful. Kincade has clearly sent this book through the wringer, because it's tight and well-crafted, with just enough information about the characters to make them interesting, and excellent pacing.
April 27, 2017
Love it!
Waited so long for the 2nd installment of the series but it's well worth It! Not your everyday hunter story but a fun read with tons of actions!
Waited so long for the 2nd installment of the series but it's well worth It! Not your everyday hunter story but a fun read with tons of actions!
April 20, 2017
He’s back. Alex Rains, antihero of The Devil’s Mouth—the best “horrifying, romantic, tragic, comic, SciFi cowboy detective novel” I’ve ever read—is even more badass, vulnerable, funny, and deadpan snarky than ever. He’s in Las Vegas, mixing a bit of katana-slashing vampire suishi business with a plan to take a vacation pilgrimage to Vegas kitsch and Elvis memories. Until, that is, his (friend? contact? handler?) Cooper sends him to a dying desert town with an ancient photo of a very young Elvis, and a story about a woman who wouldn’t stay dead.
What he finds is Prosperity, the “postcard picture, circa 1955” town left behind when the freeway and the last half-century passed them by. Prosperity has some excellent examples of mid-century commercial architecture, a bar where Elvis played, and a growing number of very recently-deceased citizens with an unhealthy interest in snacking on their living neighbors.
As the body count rises, Alex and the handful of living survivors band together to try to outwait the events of Hell Night. Unfortunately, it soon becomes apparent that these zombies are not your usual shuffling mindless brainzzzz-noshing garden-variety walking ead. Instead, they show a disturbing ability to reason and plan—unless they are actually being controlled by one of the members of Alex’s group of survivors.
In my review of The Devil’s Mouth, the first book of this series, I noted that it contained tropes from horror thrillers and from classic westerns. I also noted that I don’t like horror stories. Or westerns. As I stayed up all night racing tearing through this fabulous mashup, however, I wished I could have given more than five stars. I had the same reaction to Hell Night, only this time the mashup genres were more Jack Reacher meets zombies.
Some of my favorite tropes from the Jack Reacher genre (and let’s face it—he practically IS his own genre!) are re-interpreted in Hell Night:
* Busman’s holiday: Although professional vampire killer Alex just wants a few days of vacation to unwind after the grisly events of Book 1, he soon realizes, “…it’s startin’ to look like I gotta update my resume.” Zombies needed re-killing. Lots.
* Creds: Jack Reacher is constantly reminding us of his military police background, while Alex matter-of-factly refers to his vampire-fighting experience, which some might make the mistake of thinking glamorous.
[START QUOTE] “Oh, man,” said Josh. “Are you serious? A vampire hunter? Like, real vampires? That sounds so cool. Do you have, like, superpowers? How do you get to be a vampire hunter?”
Alex pondered the question. “Well, mostly, folks get into the business after they have everything they ever loved in their life taken away, everything what gives ’em meaning or joy, leaving ’em a hollow, burnt-out shell of a human being, with nothin’ to sustain ’em but the thought of revenge.”
Josh looked crestfallen. “Oh. I was thinking, like, a trade school or something.” [END QUOTE]
* No such thing as coincidence: Just as Jack Reacher always just happens to stumble on very bad people doing even worse things, Alex’s vacation puts the one person who can stop the apocalypse right at ground zero. Only where Reacher is wearing 3-day-old clothing and carrying nothing but a folding toothbrush, Alex is styling it—“You mean to tell me you’re cruising through the desert in a classic hot rod, wearing a cowboy hat, a Hawaiian shirt, aviators, and snakeskin boots…”
*Every car is a Pinto: Face it. These are thrillers, so cars will explode, especially if someone shoots into their tank. Who doesn’t love a car turning into a giant fireball? It’s probably required in the fine print of any future screenplays. So it would be quite petty of me to point out the MythBuster episode that debunks that notion. After all, if the walking dead can shuffle around eating brainzzz, and (even more amazing) if Jack Reacher can get women to have sex with a stinky drifter who hasn’t changed his underwear in days, exploding cars really just require a teensy willing suspension of disbelief.
* All hail to the Snark. Reacher is very good at this one. “Spread love and understanding,” Reacher said. “Use force if necessary.”(― Lee Child, Never Go Back). From the perfectly chosen lead-in quotes, Hell Night is all deadpan snark.
[START QUOTE] Buffy: Who Don't I just put a stake through her heart?
Giles: She's not a vampire.
Buffy: Yeah, well, you'd be surprised how many things that'll kill. —Buffy the Vampire Slayer [END QUOTE]
* Big Damn Heroes: As every thriller knows, it’s not just about saving the day. You have to save it in the last possible nick of time. With that last bullet you’ve been saving for that very thing. It’s just your job.
* Not all that nice: As both Jack Reacher and Alex remind constantly, they may be knee-jerk good, but they’re just not particularly nice.
[START QUOTE] She stared him down and whispered, "I don't usually like to fu*k
nice guys."
Alex leaned back in his chair. "Well, I ain't that awful nice.
Sometimes I'm a right asshole." [END QUOTE]
* High functioning sociopath: The pile of corpses that Jack Reacher leaves in his wake makes him a serial killer by any estimate. Alex Rains knows that his targets are for the most part only former humans, but you don’t get to be an evil overlord without employing a lot of henchpersons, and both Jack Reacher and Alex Rains mow through henchfolk like a hot katana through butter.
[START QUOTE] Harbaugh said, “I always was too damned righteous for my own good. If I could have just learned to look the other way and ignore things, I’d probably be the police commissioner of Las Vegas by now.” He sighed again, jammed the last of his candy bar into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. “You’re right, though. I had the wrong idea about you.”
Alex shrugged. “Well, I am a stone killer. You wasn’t wrong about that. But there’s some things in this world what need killin’.” [END QUOTE]
* Girl du jour: You can’t be the wandering knight errant who crosses the country righting wrongs and protecting the innocent if you have to pay for UPPAbaby Cruz strollers, worry about getting VampKiller Jr. into the right preschool, or save up for the kids’ braces. And it’s really hard to maintain street cred if you drive a minivan and vacation at Disney. So these series books are never about the Happily-Ever-After, or even the Happily-After-This-Week. Luckily (and surely this can’t have a thing to do with being written by a man) both Jack Reacher and Alex Rains have no trouble getting beautiful women to sleep with them and then move on. It is a fantasy, remember?
[START QUOTE]She took his hat off and set it on the roof next to him. “It’s the end of the world cowboy. Don’t read too much into it. Just relax.”[END QUOTE]
Then of course, there are all the zombie tropes. Author Matt Kincade basically makes a list of each one and crosses them off even as he subverts them. How do his characters learn about zombies? From the teenage fan of zombie movies, of course. What happens when their zombies go off-Hollywood-script? The survivors realize not only that My Zombies are Different, but that one of their own number is responsible for the Apocalypse.
Hell Night is violent, bloody, funny, touching, profane, and occasionally icky. One of the appeals of characters facing a major change in everything and almost everyone they’ve ever known is the chance to see who will step up, find the courage to fight a seemingly undefeatable enemy, and step outside of their pre-apocalyptic roles. Of course, with people dying so quickly, there is very little chance of character development. But the teenage couple are convincing as they take fragile first steps toward love. The older survivors show their true natures—both heroic and cowardly—while the evil overlord is suitably difficult to kill despite ever more gory attempts.
So while I still hate horror movies, I wouldn’t hesitate to give Hell Night an unqualified 5 stars. (And with all those severed body parts lying around, several bloody thumbs up as well.)
*I received this book from the publisher or author to facilitate an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
What he finds is Prosperity, the “postcard picture, circa 1955” town left behind when the freeway and the last half-century passed them by. Prosperity has some excellent examples of mid-century commercial architecture, a bar where Elvis played, and a growing number of very recently-deceased citizens with an unhealthy interest in snacking on their living neighbors.
As the body count rises, Alex and the handful of living survivors band together to try to outwait the events of Hell Night. Unfortunately, it soon becomes apparent that these zombies are not your usual shuffling mindless brainzzzz-noshing garden-variety walking ead. Instead, they show a disturbing ability to reason and plan—unless they are actually being controlled by one of the members of Alex’s group of survivors.
In my review of The Devil’s Mouth, the first book of this series, I noted that it contained tropes from horror thrillers and from classic westerns. I also noted that I don’t like horror stories. Or westerns. As I stayed up all night racing tearing through this fabulous mashup, however, I wished I could have given more than five stars. I had the same reaction to Hell Night, only this time the mashup genres were more Jack Reacher meets zombies.
Some of my favorite tropes from the Jack Reacher genre (and let’s face it—he practically IS his own genre!) are re-interpreted in Hell Night:
* Busman’s holiday: Although professional vampire killer Alex just wants a few days of vacation to unwind after the grisly events of Book 1, he soon realizes, “…it’s startin’ to look like I gotta update my resume.” Zombies needed re-killing. Lots.
* Creds: Jack Reacher is constantly reminding us of his military police background, while Alex matter-of-factly refers to his vampire-fighting experience, which some might make the mistake of thinking glamorous.
[START QUOTE] “Oh, man,” said Josh. “Are you serious? A vampire hunter? Like, real vampires? That sounds so cool. Do you have, like, superpowers? How do you get to be a vampire hunter?”
Alex pondered the question. “Well, mostly, folks get into the business after they have everything they ever loved in their life taken away, everything what gives ’em meaning or joy, leaving ’em a hollow, burnt-out shell of a human being, with nothin’ to sustain ’em but the thought of revenge.”
Josh looked crestfallen. “Oh. I was thinking, like, a trade school or something.” [END QUOTE]
* No such thing as coincidence: Just as Jack Reacher always just happens to stumble on very bad people doing even worse things, Alex’s vacation puts the one person who can stop the apocalypse right at ground zero. Only where Reacher is wearing 3-day-old clothing and carrying nothing but a folding toothbrush, Alex is styling it—“You mean to tell me you’re cruising through the desert in a classic hot rod, wearing a cowboy hat, a Hawaiian shirt, aviators, and snakeskin boots…”
*Every car is a Pinto: Face it. These are thrillers, so cars will explode, especially if someone shoots into their tank. Who doesn’t love a car turning into a giant fireball? It’s probably required in the fine print of any future screenplays. So it would be quite petty of me to point out the MythBuster episode that debunks that notion. After all, if the walking dead can shuffle around eating brainzzz, and (even more amazing) if Jack Reacher can get women to have sex with a stinky drifter who hasn’t changed his underwear in days, exploding cars really just require a teensy willing suspension of disbelief.
* All hail to the Snark. Reacher is very good at this one. “Spread love and understanding,” Reacher said. “Use force if necessary.”(― Lee Child, Never Go Back). From the perfectly chosen lead-in quotes, Hell Night is all deadpan snark.
[START QUOTE] Buffy: Who Don't I just put a stake through her heart?
Giles: She's not a vampire.
Buffy: Yeah, well, you'd be surprised how many things that'll kill. —Buffy the Vampire Slayer [END QUOTE]
* Big Damn Heroes: As every thriller knows, it’s not just about saving the day. You have to save it in the last possible nick of time. With that last bullet you’ve been saving for that very thing. It’s just your job.
* Not all that nice: As both Jack Reacher and Alex remind constantly, they may be knee-jerk good, but they’re just not particularly nice.
[START QUOTE] She stared him down and whispered, "I don't usually like to fu*k
nice guys."
Alex leaned back in his chair. "Well, I ain't that awful nice.
Sometimes I'm a right asshole." [END QUOTE]
* High functioning sociopath: The pile of corpses that Jack Reacher leaves in his wake makes him a serial killer by any estimate. Alex Rains knows that his targets are for the most part only former humans, but you don’t get to be an evil overlord without employing a lot of henchpersons, and both Jack Reacher and Alex Rains mow through henchfolk like a hot katana through butter.
[START QUOTE] Harbaugh said, “I always was too damned righteous for my own good. If I could have just learned to look the other way and ignore things, I’d probably be the police commissioner of Las Vegas by now.” He sighed again, jammed the last of his candy bar into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. “You’re right, though. I had the wrong idea about you.”
Alex shrugged. “Well, I am a stone killer. You wasn’t wrong about that. But there’s some things in this world what need killin’.” [END QUOTE]
* Girl du jour: You can’t be the wandering knight errant who crosses the country righting wrongs and protecting the innocent if you have to pay for UPPAbaby Cruz strollers, worry about getting VampKiller Jr. into the right preschool, or save up for the kids’ braces. And it’s really hard to maintain street cred if you drive a minivan and vacation at Disney. So these series books are never about the Happily-Ever-After, or even the Happily-After-This-Week. Luckily (and surely this can’t have a thing to do with being written by a man) both Jack Reacher and Alex Rains have no trouble getting beautiful women to sleep with them and then move on. It is a fantasy, remember?
[START QUOTE]She took his hat off and set it on the roof next to him. “It’s the end of the world cowboy. Don’t read too much into it. Just relax.”[END QUOTE]
Then of course, there are all the zombie tropes. Author Matt Kincade basically makes a list of each one and crosses them off even as he subverts them. How do his characters learn about zombies? From the teenage fan of zombie movies, of course. What happens when their zombies go off-Hollywood-script? The survivors realize not only that My Zombies are Different, but that one of their own number is responsible for the Apocalypse.
Hell Night is violent, bloody, funny, touching, profane, and occasionally icky. One of the appeals of characters facing a major change in everything and almost everyone they’ve ever known is the chance to see who will step up, find the courage to fight a seemingly undefeatable enemy, and step outside of their pre-apocalyptic roles. Of course, with people dying so quickly, there is very little chance of character development. But the teenage couple are convincing as they take fragile first steps toward love. The older survivors show their true natures—both heroic and cowardly—while the evil overlord is suitably difficult to kill despite ever more gory attempts.
So while I still hate horror movies, I wouldn’t hesitate to give Hell Night an unqualified 5 stars. (And with all those severed body parts lying around, several bloody thumbs up as well.)
*I received this book from the publisher or author to facilitate an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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