Book Reviews

Book Blurb

— If you want honey, prepare to get stung. —

October 1907, Honeyhill
Twenty years into the zombie Plague

Victor is a man of delicate sensibilities, not fit to do backbreaking labour on a farm ran by the mob. Upon arrival in Honeyhill, he decides he needs an anchor, an alliance with one of the guards, if he wants to survive. That anchor comes in the form of Crunch, a hunky ex-sailor with a pair of tight leather trousers and a ruggedly handsome face.

But from day one, Victor knows he won’t last long with the hard physical work assigned to him and the torment he suffers at the hands of a sadistic guard. He needs to run, and his new alliance might prove to be a burden instead of solace.

If Crunch wants Honeyhill liberated, he needs to focus on his job, not on protecting Victor, one of many new arrivals on the farm. Distraction is the last thing he needs after months of undercover work. But it’s hard not to get seduced by Victor’s big brown eyes and fingertips that don’t know work. Hundreds of people depend on Crunch keeping his identity a secret, revealing it could be fatal for both him and Victor, and a failure of his mission.

Thankfully, Victor would never be dumb enough to try and escape through a forest that’s swarming with zombies. Would he?

***

“Stung” is a standalone book and a part of the “Zombie Gentlemen” universe.

Themes (may contain SPOILERS): zombies, prisoner/guard, beekeeping, gore, deception, undercover agent, captivity, romance, brutality, forced labour camp, murder, farm, torment, forbidden romance, Victorian

Erotic content: explicit m/m sexual scenes (including dubious consent)

Genre: dystopian homoerotic thriller

 

Book Review

I can honestly say that more than half of the appeal to read this story was because I absolutely love the cover. It's one of the best book covers I have ever seen and since I'm getting close to having read six hundred books this year, so far, I know what I'm talking about. The description intrigued me because I like zombie stories and this is the first gay romance I've read that features them. K.A. Merikan is a new author, to me, and I enjoy delving into a writing style that I am not familiar with, plus the world building here was fantastic.

Victor was rousted out of his home by two thugs working for the Dal mob and put in a train car stuffed with other people who all share one thing. They've done an injustice against the Dal family. Except, Victor has only had contact with Frey Dal one time and that was to give him a compliment, or so he thought. Victor ends up at HoneyHill, a gated property to keep the zombies out and forced to work slave labor at the farm. Victor's father owns a business and has money, so Victor is decidedly unprepared for this kind of life. On the first day he meets Crunch, a guard, and figures he can make an ally and perhaps have someone for some protection and a little help.

Crunch is a member of the Humanists and has spent six months undercover at the farm and he only has one week left. Then, the arrests can be made, the farm shut down, and the prisoners liberated. Crunch spots Victor the instant he steps off the train and he's never seen anyone so beautiful. Crunch is amazed when Victor is sizing him up because it's been a long six months since Crunch won't stoop to rape as the other guards do. Their first night in a secluded guard tower reminds Crunch how long it's been since he got tenderness from anyone.

The work at the farm is hard, the guards are sadistic, and the prisoners that have been there awhile are starving and weak. This is not how Victor wants to spend the rest of his life. He begins talking to the other recent arrivals about banding together and escaping through the forest, even though it's full of zombies, or rotters as they call them. Crunch can't reveal his true nature to Victor, he can only keep encouraging him to keep his head down, do the work, and not cause trouble. Crunch also can't help his doubts that Victor is only flirting and having sex with him to get the extra food and privileges even though Victor says it isn't so. Crunch knows that if they had run into each other back in London, Victor wouldn't have looked twice at Crunch.

This was a very interesting book and definitely kept my attention throughout. I liked the way the author mingled the love story within the intrigue and secrecy of the camp. I would have loved some more backstory on the Humanists and the revolution they were planning, but perhaps there will be another book? Since 'Stung' ended with some unresolved drama, I'm certainly hoping this isn't the last of Crunch and Victor that I see. A very good, intense, and sexy drama.

 

 

 

 

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Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novel, 127 pages/50000 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	29-October-2013
Price	$3.99 ebook, $9.99 paperback
Buy Link	http://amzn.to/2c5Ljvr