Living With The Dead Series Pt.1: Married with Zombies

The economy. Lust. Ego. Money. With so many things working against couples and making it hard to stick it out, its no wonder that the divorce rate is higher than ever. The good news is that there is one thing working to help keep couples together: The Zombie Apocalypse?!

That’s right boils and ghouls, The Zombie Apocalypse may just be the thing that SAVES your Marriage! At least, that’s the case for Sarah and Dave in the hilarious Zom-comedy romp that is Married with Zombies, the first of three books in the Living with the Dead Series by Author Jesse Petersen!

Lets paint a picture of how the Zombie Apocalypse can save your marriage:

1) It forces communication.
2) There is no time to bicker about your lovers flaws.
3) Nothing builds team-work like watching each other’s back!

All these lessons and a whole lot more are illustrated in the twisted tale of Dave and Sarah. Dave is your typical modern dude: A man’s man who likes drinking and video games and hates nagging. Sarah is your typical Chic Chick: independent, strong minded, and goal oriented.

After a few months of therapy (that they felt was getting them nowhere), Dave and Sarah were ready to call it quits… until the Zombie Apocalypse went and screwed it all up by fixing their relationship! From an insane Cult to killing friends and family, Dave and Sarah have no choice but to stick together, but to survive, they have to learn to effectively communicate, be patient and re-learn to trust one another.

In Married With Zombies Petersen does a brilliant job of starting the action quickly and keeping it rolling right along with the laughs! Anyone who has been in a serious relationship or IS married will relate to the humor and find themselves thinking, more than once, “been there, done that”. It may actually be safe to say that Petersen writes with such authority because she actually lived through the Zombpocalypse with her marriage in tact!

One of the unique aspects of Petersen’s writing style is that her books are penned as if Sarah is narrating the story in an on-camera interview. Readers live through the story while the characters relive it! Petersen makes readers feel claustrophobic when the characters do and as you read you will find yourself wondering what cluster-truck (like how we avoided a fowl word there?) the characters will find themselves in next, not to mention how the hell they’ll get out of it! Like any really good book, Married with Zombies is insanely hard to put down and actually IS laugh out loud funny!

Another great feature is that readers learn about how fast and far the infection spreads as the characters do. Most Zombie books will flat out show you the picture by telling you what is happening. Petersen forces readers to watch as the picture is painted and her masterpiece unfolds through the eyes of her characters.

Want to meet the characters? Here’s a breakdown from Petersen’s website (that also gives a great peek into her twisted little sense of humor):

Sarah
Our intrepid heroine. A frustrated woman on the edge of divorce. She works a dead end job and she’s about to discover she might have a dead end (um… undead end?) life. But can she get over her issues and work with her husband instead of against him to survive the apocalypse? I could see her being played by Rachel McAdams or even Alyson Hannigan.

David
Sarah’s husband. After he gave up school, he was really at odds and ends, and his lack of motivation has put a strain on his relationship. He knows he’s got to do something, but isn’t sure what that should be. A zombie apocalypse sets him straight and puts him on the path of a future. Uncertain, but a future. Picture him played by Nathan Fillion mostly because I have a huge crush on Nathan Fillion.

Dr. Erica Kelly
The marriage counselor Sarah and David have been seeing for over six months. Also, their very first zombie. But hey, her advice might just save their lives so you sort of have to count her as a major character, don’t you?

Amanda
The silliest little neighbor who ever lived. A pretty, empty-headed girl in a bad relationship who has no idea how to take care of herself so she needs a dysfunctional couple, right? I would guess Barbie would be the best pick to pay her. Cheerleader Barbie.

Gina
David’s older sister, a teacher and Martha Stewart type. She doesn’t think Sarah is good enough for her baby brother and she’ll let you know. But her home may be the only safe place left in the universe. Or not. Either way, that’s where Sarah and David are heading.

The Zombies
This wacky crew just wants your brains! What’s wrong with that? Oh yeah, they have to totally kill you to get them and turn your corpse into the Living Dead. But other than that, they’re a fun group just roaming the earth for all eternity and teaching life lessons to our hero and heroine. Will they win? Will they lose? Will they die if you karate chop them in the temple? Read to find out!

This book is written with so much brains that the Zombie horde couldn’t possibly go hungry! The story is heart-warming, terrifying, funnier than Mike Tyson being kicked in the nuts then knocked out by a Clown! Most importantly, the book keeps readers wanting more. The best part? This is just the beginning!

Petersen follows up her first Zomb-romp with the sequel: Flip This Zombie, but we’ll save that for our next review! Until then, pick up the first book on Amazon.com!