Book Review and Teaser: DELIRIUM by Susan Kaye Quinn

Title: Delirium

Series: Debt Collector, #1

Author: Susan Kaye Quinn

Published: March 20, 2013

Format: Ebook Novelette

Source: Author

Genre: Futuristic Science Fiction

What’s your life worth on the open market?
A debt collector can tell you precisely.

Lirium plays the part of the grim reaper well, with his dark trenchcoat, jackboots, and the black marks on his soul that every debt collector carries. He’s just in it for his cut, the ten percent of the life energy he collects before he transfers it on to the high potentials, the people who will make the world a better place with their brains, their work, and their lives. That hit of life energy, a bottle of vodka, and a visit from one of Madam Anastazja’s sex workers keep him alive, stable, and mostly sane… until he collects again. But when his recovery ritual is disrupted by a sex worker who isn’t what she seems, he has to choose between doing an illegal hit for a girl whose story has more holes than his soul or facing the bottle alone—a dark pit he’s not sure he’ll be able to climb out of again.

 

Teasers: Only I’m not healing him, I’m killing him. If only it didn’t feel so damn good. - 14%

I don’t pay attention to the payoffs—they’re all brilliant or famous or something. Making the world a better place with their brains and their lives. - 21%

But then the transfer starts, and it kills any desire in me to smile. Ever again. - 32%

I’m going to regret this. I know I am. - 56%

She glances at me, then crosses her arms across her red slicker. The movement reminds me that I still don’t know what’s underneath. - 58%

Review: Susan Kaye Quinn’s Delirium sets up a great introduction to her new episodic series, Debt Collector. 

Delirium sweeps the reader into Lirium’s world. As a debt collector, his job is to take the life energy from a dying person and transfer it to the people who will make the world a better place—or so they say. Each transfer creates a blot on his soul. Lirium is dark and tragic, yet I cheered for him and felt connected to his plight. Apple Girl is brave and full of an inner light that makes the reader care about her. She’s a good foil to Lirium. I love how Quinn sets up the minor characters and creates a distrust in the ones with “high potential” as well as the life energy accountants.

This fast-paced episode does its job to set up the main character as well as future problems that could happen in the storyline. The present tense gives an intense edge and sense of immediacy to the story. The amazing futuristic setting is dark, gritty, and has a noir feel—minus the detective. Quinn’s writing rips open the emotions—sadness, horror, smiles, and smirks. I feel like we’ve just scratched the surface, and I can’t wait for future episodes.

The first of nine episodes, Delirium by Susan Kaye Quinn has the reader craving for more, just like a debt collector taking a sweet hit of life energy.

 

Five Bookworms = I loved it!

Teaser Tuesdays: L'IL GAL AL AND THE ZOMBIES OF AMARILLO by Christine Rains

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 

L'il Gal Al and the Zombies of Amarillo by Christine Rains

Pg. 5 of Word Doc.

It looked a bit yellow. Everything around there was just too yellow.

 

Do you have a teaser? If so, leave it or a link to one in the comments. By the way, this novelette is free on Smashwords.

Book Review: L'IL GAL AL AND THE ZOMBIES OF AMARILLO by Christine Rains

Title: L’il Gal Al and the Zombies of Amarillo

Author: Christine Rains

Format: Novelette ebook

Source: Author

Genre: Western Horror

Goodreads 

Alma Sweeney might be scrawny, but the last yahoo that called her “L’il Gal Al” got shot in the foot.

Using her frontier skills to protect travelers and businesses alike, Alma escorts a group of settlers into Amarillo, a town with too many yellow flowers, drunks, and zombies. Within minutes of her arrival, she finds herself doing the sheriff's job. He's a nice enough fellow, but a little green, and he has no clue how to stop the horror dragging itself into his town.

Lucky for the sheriff, he has Alma. Her first night in town yanks her into a foul mystery. Zombies walk the streets and people are driven from their homes and businesses. Alma thinks it easily solved, but in the desert, things aren't always as they seem. The clock is ticking and the zombies are swarming. Alma needs to know where to point her gun or else be torn into pieces.

Review: A scrawny yet spunky heroine, zombies, and a good ol’ western standoff fill the pages of Christine Rains’ L’il Gal Al and the Zombies of Amarillo.

After leading a group of travelers safely to Amarillo, Alma Sweeney is ready to mosey on out of town for the next job. But when she stops a drunk man with a shotgun, the sheriff wants to make her his new deputy. She declines the offer, but she is willing to stick around—for a day or two. Yet not all is well in Amarillo. They need L’il Gal Al’s help, but for once, the danger might be too great for this feisty frontier lady.

L’il Gal Al and the Zombies of Amarillo throws the reader back into the Old West. The characters are well written, especially Alma Sweeney. Rains excels in creating strong female characters. I don’t think I’ve ever read anyone like Alma, but she quickly wins the reader over. She’s quick, intelligent, strong-minded, and spunky. Her strong-will and no-nonsense attitude almost become a detriment when faced with the supernatural. The plot is fast-paced like novelettes should be. The zombies are delightfully gruesome, and Rains had me guessing until almost the very end on what was causing the zombies to rise from the dead. The writing style suits shorter fiction and horror very well, and I love how the dialogue gives a hint of the period without going overboard.

Take a bite out of L’il Gal Al and the Zombies of Amarillo by Christine Rains, a wonderful horror story set in the Old West. I’d love to see more of Alma Sweeney and her adventures.

Five Bookworms = I loved it!