Dead America

Found this by accident. Loved the first chapter and will read more when I have time. Have starred and will back.
Graham Lench
The Eighth day

the metaphors could not be more overt: the dead hold down jobs in mcdonalds -- and whenever they screw up my order i often wonder if they are really humans ; necrophilia no longer a crime -- we all need to carry a card like a donar card, so that i can donate my body to the perverted when i die. -- here the analogy of american liberalism. the zombie genre is potent and rich in political and ideological critique.

You are totally fantastic, Luke! :) How can I thank you enough for backing my memoirs book? :)
God bless you. :) Love, Susie :) p.s. I just looked to see if I had ******-ed your book & I had :) - could you please ****** mine, too? :) Every ****** -ing & backing moves our books closer to the editor's desk :) I want to ask you if you could please keep my book on your bookshelf as long as possible because I'm 12 from the editor's desk & need to be in the top 5 by the end of November :) - I had a mini-stroke last Wednesday with slurred speech for an hour & numbness of tongue still & 5 smaller ones since & I"d sure like to cross the finish line of the editor's desk after 9 months trying on authonomy. :) Thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me :) - I have lost 3 sisters to strokes & my last sister, Mary had 2 heart attacks earlier this year.

Why the hell is this only on two bookshelves? Very interesting book, well done.

Hi
Yep, I like this.
Would love to see more chapters so I'll be back to read more.
Backed for sure by me.
Stay Alive
Neil

Dear Luke
Please tell me how this one got by me. Your book cover is gripping, your short and long pitch grabbing. HOw could I then put this read down. I had to as I need sleep so I have not read it all but will carry on. This is not my genre, but you know it is not just about backing books that 'I like" no it is about seeing talent for what it is and giving the backing for the skill and talent. You have this and much more.CONGRATS. on a well crafted book , original and characters that are so real they are still in my head.
BACKED BY ME FOR SURE
I do hope you will review my book, comment and most of all BACK it. but either way the BEST of luck with yours
Denise
The Letter

Dear Luke, I got so excited when I saw that you had backed, "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not." :) Thanks so very much. :) Since I have already backed your book, I will put your book on my watchlist. Could you please take a moment to back my completed unedited memoir version, "Tell Me True Love Stories?" I'd be ever so grateful. :) Thank you. :) Love, Susie :)
authonomy quote: "Every time you place a book on your bookshelf, your recommendation pushes the book up the rankings. And while that book sits on your bookshelf, your reputation as a talent spotter increases depending on how well that book performs."
Here is the response I received from authonomy concerning backing:
When you back a book, it only improves the ranking of that book, not yours. However, the author whose book you are backing may decide to back your book also, in which case yes, your ranking would be improved."

Hi Luke, The narrator voice brought me in and his tough attitude about the undead made their descriptions very intriguing. The hint of humor underlies that part while the death of the girl in this situation is immediately suspenseful as it seems she could rise to be the undead too. Snappy dialogue and entertaining with the narrator’s asides. The horror is subtle, prodding one on. Shelved – Katherine (The Swan Bonnet)

It's great to read something different, jerking the genre out of rigidity.
Rosalind
Good for Him

Dear Luke, I love your wonderful sense of humor, "the undead work at McDonalds" "the corpse wasn't moving" - what a fantastic detective story with even life after death - creavtive & innovative with fantasy & humor. :) Before I began to read your book, I was prepared by your recap/pitch,which was very well done. :) Your story is good because you create interest by having short paragraphs & lots of dialogue, which makes me want to keep reading to find out what's going to happen next. I'm "backing" your book: When you back a book, it only improves the ranking of that book, not yours. However, the author whose book you are backing may decide to back your book also, in which case yes, your ranking would be improved...authonomy. :) Please "back" my TWO memoir books, "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not" & my completed memoir unedited version? "Tell Me True Love Stories," which tells at the end, my illness now & 6th abusive marriage." Thanks, Susie :)
p.s. Remember: Every time you place a book on your bookshelf, your recommendation pushes the book up the rankings. And while that book sits on your bookshelf, your reputation as a talent spotter increases depending on how well that book performs. :)

Different, interesting and really good, best of luck with it. E.Loraine Royal Blood Chronicles book one

I saw this sitting on someone's shelf and decided to drop by and take a look. This is a gritty well thought out read. A zombie read with a zest for life to it.

Could see this in cinemas too.
Happily shelved
Melxx
Impeding Justice

Luke,

I just finished all the chapters that you have submitted in your work thus far. First Chaoter has a typo (I'm found should be I've found).

I don't usually read your type work, but as a newer member of Authonomy, I want to be grounded in varying styles and genres. I don't like the language, but it is pure in its rawness and you have the cop/street language down. I guess I have never thought about zombies that don't eat brains. The interaction of the characters is great, and you expertly paint a bleak street life for your storyline.

You have a real talent for protraying reality even if it's not real --it seems real, therefore, I guess it is real. I started the first chapter and found myself in the last chapter. Sex with a dead woman --shades of necrophelia, but it's OK, everyone is doing it, I think, even the hero. She may have a hint of decay, but lust and passion have drowned out the stench --right?

Riots, murder, brutality, drugs, infidelity with a dead boy (yuk). Haven't experienced anything like that in my reading yet. You write like a pro, you weave a story like a seasoned grandfather (that would be me,) and you transition your scenes and chapters without flaw. Are you dead or alive?

I didn't like the sex, language, adultery, debauchery, or the heartlessness of living dead living people (no pun intended).

I liked the excitement, weirdness, "dead-pan" (Oooh), cop/crime/brutality/life ain't fair or safe approach. You did good, and I back your work. Nice style and strong syntax, nice editing and mostly free from typos and hitches. Well put together. I give you an A+ in wordsmithing. Besides, my son liked it, and he's an expert in cop things and zombies, and vampires, and writing good books.

The best of luck to you. You have a winner.

PawPaw Mike LaRiviere
Eden's Door

Great stuff. Gritty and raw like the classic noir, but with a new edge. I love the well thought-out background and the way the zombies play into regular everyday life. Awesome read.
D.E. LaRiviere (AKA Milo Saint) Six of One

Luke, what a wonderful storyline, I love witches and think you have created a story worthy of their caliber. Your writing style compliments this genre. The language is precise, it gave me a sense of atmosphere, and overall you have a winner
Great storytelling
Scott
The Esrevinu Chronicles/Secrets of the Elephant Rocks

This is a wild but wonderful story. You've obviously put a lot of thought into what the world would be like if zombies could vote - and it shows. The many details you've added to this makes it sound real. You've done the same good job with your characters. Bottomline: a clever, fun read. I’m adding this to my shelf. Burgio (Grain of Salt).

This is brilliantly done. The story carries you along with fluid writing and good imagery. I loved the pitch and the details of life as a zombie are ingenious . Summer is hell, cosmetic surgery, embarassed by rotting so they only come out at night and only needing to drink, all brilliant details that make up a believable world and made me laugh. highly recommended.

A terrific premise and artfully executed. Bravo! Consider yourself shelved. If you get a chance, I'd love to hear your thoughts on Go Down Hard.

Hi Luke,
I have only read a bit, but intend to read more as its reat stuff. I love the twist you have given to the whole living dead genre, and your first person style really helps draw you in to the world you have created. I also like the details that help flesh your world out, undead bars etc. I will def be backing this so I can come back and read on.
Steve

Having bought and read this, I can confirm - it's dead good.

I love first person present tense.
i love this idea. I would have backed this just by reading the pitch, seriously. This is ingenius.
That said, I did read some, as i always do and found myself hooked. This is fucking great. Wow I swore. that really means I liked it.
If I saw this in the bookstore I would buy two copies, one for me and one for my friend Jordan who would eat this up.
Your writing is reminiscent of Christopher Moore for me. Just the idea I think, it is out there but yet engaging and unable to look away.
is this done?
I would love to read it all. Just wondering.
The start is great. There is intrigue, a hook and the last line of the first chapter is pure gold.
backed
T.L Tyson-Seeking Eleanor

I loved this. Frankly, I read through chapter 5 and would still be here if you uploaded more. First person, present tense is tough to pull off, but you've done very well. The only improvement suggestion I'll leave you with is the end of chapter 3. It seemed a bit flat to me -- although its a tidy ending (as the reader I could put it down and rest) it didn't quite inspire me to turn the page -- too much introspection? The Steven Trask paragraph a bit convoluted (did you mean revive since you say corpse earlier - relive just seemed like a weird word?)? The cigarette a bit anticlimatic? Can't quite put my finger on it but just a bit too much watching I think. Beyond that though, again, great stuff. On my shelf.

Great stuff - I'd buy this without hesitation. Backed.

Sheena backed ya so I'm gonna do the same and get in on the ground floor! SHELVED!

When yuo get a chance I could use your comments on my book. Cheers!

JC
The Obergemau File

I'm comparing this to Joe Pitt. It's an obvious comparison, but into it, an unfair one.

I love Joe Pitt, I love this. It's brilliant, in a different way. Noir, zombies, realistic feeling cops, good dialogue, great setting. I saw absolutely not one single thing that I didn't like about this.

I read one chapter, I have to admit, but not because I got bored, because I have no time, being dead myself. The dead have to sleep sometime.

Can I swear? Why not, it's late. Fucking fantastic. If I see this in my local shop, I'll buy it. There's a few on here worth 6.99, and this is one of them.

Good luck with this, sincerely.

Craig

This is a fantastic take on the zombie genre- funny, eerie and fascinating. I've just finished absorbing the first chapter and will definitely be back for more. I just love everything about this. There is a glut of wonderful little details that come together to build up a world where the dead don't die, an intriguing premise if ever I saw one. I can't understand the low ranking and lack of comments but hopefully a thread will draw attention to this gem.
Excellent work.

Dave Loftus
End Time Gentlemen

Skimmed through the first chapter, Luke, and it impressed me sufficiently to forgive you for pinching Raymond Chandler's (my all-time favourite private eye writer) title.

I'm backing this but (as usual) due credit to Biffo for pointing me in the right direction. (Ta, Biff!)

Marko (Brief Encounters)

Hey - this totally rocks! I love it..! I don't know why there aren't more comments on it, it deserves to be higher up the charts, that's for sure. Technically, it's written very well. The pacing of the narrative and the dialogue are pitched just right to give that laid-back, gritty feeling but also to keep us on edge and waiting for the next thing to happen. The idea is great. I also love the way you've thought about all the ramifications and details to make it feel totally real; you haven't had a good idea and sold it short. The prejudice angle is especially interesting - you could write a paper on it! Unlike any other real-life prejudice, the hatred here is directed at a group of people you are guaranteed to one day be a part of. What does it say about peoples' feelings of death when you're confronted with reminders of your own mortality every day? Aside from all that, you've got a great mystery going on with the girl who has somehow stayed dead. It's all brilliant and I would definitely buy this if I saw it on the shelf at my local bookstore. (btw, it'd make a GREAT film). Totally shelved! W

Just completed the first chapter - original, funny, and very well-written. Looking forward to the rest.

Almost forgot...you repeat Douglas Hampton the 3rd in the same paragraph, and you say "I'm" instead of "I've found his Cherry." Later!

This is an interesting story and damn good writing to boot. I don't understand why it's not shooting up the charts. You're on my watchlist. I'll start rotating my bookshelf soon, and if your following chapters are as good as the first I'll back it. Good stuff!

Hello Luke Keioskie,

I really like your book so far and find that I wish there were more chapters available to read. I noticed some word use that pulled me out of the story and I didn't know if you would like me to list what those were. I've just uploaded my book a couple of days ago and am unsure of the site's etiquette. This is what I pulled out of Chap2. If this works for you, let me know and I'll set out the very few things I noticed in Chap1 and 3

Chap 2 - sleeps after Trask leaves--you describe him as 'waking confused, unkempt--the unkempt caught my eye because it doesn't seem to fit. Everyone could be called unkempt when they wake up.
- 'Trask could afford a hundred times more to get his rocks off' ----because the usual expression is 'a hundred times better' I was suddenly aware I was reading.
- 'lumbering as her grasps for his pants'--------it stopped me because the expected word would be grabs instead of grasps.

I saw that you have another book as well and will look at it as well. I like the style of your writing. The hook was a good one and the humour is dead on. My name is Jennifer Farlam and I've enjoyed reading your work. Keep going. You have me intrigued.