Review: Snarky and tongue in cheek novella
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 26, 2013
This novella was added onto one of TW Brown's DEAD zombie novels downloaded for a Kindle reader - presumably as a sales promotion feebie for other "Ava" series. Since this is not the sort of read I'd normally consider planking down money to obtain, this counts as very smart move by whoever thought of this promotional wheeze.As a very light read Ava's adventures work well.  There's nothing deep-and-meaningful in her pages.  One day Ava, loser 30-something, loses hope but miraculously embarks on a new life as a flesh eating ghoul. That's right, she eats living human flesh...of certain types and qualities of provenance.  Right from the off, these stories are fueled by Ava's very funny and entertaining snarky perspectives on herself, the environments and characters she encounters.  Take these zingers away and the work would flop.  To this extent, Ava's genetic code draws heavily on the words and phrasing of cynical takes on life's condition put out there by Micky Spillane and cross-bred with those of Philip Marlowe.There's one little tinkling inconsistency here, I think, in the sense that Ava is 32 years old but comes across at times more like a precocious young woman ten years younger..but, not to matter, it clicks okay.  Perhaps at root Ava has always been a bit of a loose unit in terms of her social maturity?  If so, it's part of her charm and relatability.As mentioned, I liked the way Ava was wrapped in as a bonus value deal packaged with a more heavy-weight novel. It worked. I'm giving serious consideration to putting Ava on my Kindle shopping list and want to complement Mr Brown for having more than one string to his DEAD zombie wordsmithing powers - impressive and compelling as they are.Key words:  Funny, Engaging, Fast-moving, Original, Relatable, Diverting. Neat-o.