BRAINEATER
JONES
by Stephen Kozeniewski
by Stephen Kozeniewski
Book Description
Braineater Jones wakes up face down in a swimming pool
with no memory of his former life, how he died, or why he’s now a zombie. With
a smart-aleck severed head as a partner, Jones descends into the undead ghetto
to solve his own murder.
But Jones’s investigation is complicated by his crippling addiction to human flesh. Like all walking corpses, he discovers that only a stiff drink can soothe his cravings. Unfortunately, finding liquor during Prohibition is costly and dangerous. From his Mason jar, the cantankerous Old Man rules the only speakeasy in the city that caters to the postmortem crowd.
As the booze, blood, and clues coagulate, Jones gets closer to discovering the identity of his killer and the secrets behind the city’s stranglehold on liquid spirits. Death couldn’t stop him, but if the liquor dries up, the entire city will be plunged into an orgy of cannibalism.
Cracking this case is a tall order. Braineater Jones won’t get out alive, but if he plays his cards right, he might manage to salvage the last scraps of his humanity.
But Jones’s investigation is complicated by his crippling addiction to human flesh. Like all walking corpses, he discovers that only a stiff drink can soothe his cravings. Unfortunately, finding liquor during Prohibition is costly and dangerous. From his Mason jar, the cantankerous Old Man rules the only speakeasy in the city that caters to the postmortem crowd.
As the booze, blood, and clues coagulate, Jones gets closer to discovering the identity of his killer and the secrets behind the city’s stranglehold on liquid spirits. Death couldn’t stop him, but if the liquor dries up, the entire city will be plunged into an orgy of cannibalism.
Cracking this case is a tall order. Braineater Jones won’t get out alive, but if he plays his cards right, he might manage to salvage the last scraps of his humanity.
My review
A guy wakes up floating facedown in a swimming pool
with no memory of who he is, where he is, how he died and a number of other
questions. Now a zombie, he has to quench his hunger for human flesh with booze
that can only be obtained in the only speakeasy in Ganesh City. He gets
acquainted with a few people there and starts his own investigation.
The book starts off as a cross between a zombie novel
and a detective story spiced with humor. The combination of these makes
Braineater Jones a funny, well-structured read where the mystery is not
revealed until the very end, and the readers are kept in the unknown craving
for more.
I loved the way Jones tried to figure out who he was, especially
when he and Alcibé—nothing but a severed talking head—worked together when
solving mysteries.
Braineater Jones was a really fun read. I didn’t know
what to expect when I started the book, but it turned out to be well-written,
original and witty.
*Thanks a lot to Stephen Kozeniewski and Red Adept
Publishing for providing me with a review copy of this book.
About
the Author
Stephen Kozeniewski lives with his wife of 9 years and cat of 22 pounds
in Pennsylvania, the birthplace of the modern zombie. He was born to the
soothing strains of “Boogie With Stu” even though The Who are far superior to
Zep, for reasons that he doesn’t even really want to get into right now. During
his time as a Field Artillery officer, he served for three years in Oklahoma and
one in Iraq, where due to what he assumes was a clerical error, he was awarded
the Bronze Star. The depiction of addiction in his fiction is strongly informed
by the three years he spent working at a substance abuse clinic, an experience
which also ensures that he employs strict moderation when enjoying the
occasional highball of Old Crow. He is also a classically trained linguist,
which sounds much more impressive than saying his bachelor’s degree is in
German.
