Apex Back Catalog Tour - Desper Hollow

This month I am teaming up with Apex to help promote some of their back catalog. When I heard about their plan for a month-long event, I reached out to them and am thrilled to be taking part.  

TITLE: Desper Hollow
AUTHOR: Elizabeth Massie
PUBLISHER: Apex Publications
PUBLISHING DATE: June 3, 2013

FROM GOODREADS: It begins when mountain matriarch Granny Mustard decides she wants to live forever, but then is killed. Her slow-witted but equally hardheaded granddaughter Jenkie decides to pick up the ball and run with it, taking Granny's unperfected immortality moonshine recipe, a socially-inept friend named Bink, and dreams of fame and fortune to an abandoned trailer up in Desper Hollow. 

But slow-witted can't stand against the terrible power Granny initiated. Jenkie's experiments only worsen the troubles with Granny's original recipe, bringing dead critters and a few stray folks back to a state of hungry, vicious, mindless animation. Now a stash of the living dead is locked up in the back of the trailer, a howling herd that has Jenkie terrified. And Armistead, one of the red-eyed living dead, seems way too alert for comfort. 

Mountain resident Kathy Shaw and Hollywood pitchman Jack Carroll, who is looking for the next hit reality show, find themselves caught up in the growing horror surrounding Desper Hollow. They can't avoid it and must face it head on. So must Armistead, who fights the fog of his ghastly condition to discover the truth of who he really is. 

MY THOUGHTS:  I read this book pretty much in its entirety over Labor Day and it was a perfect way to spend a relaxed afternoon.  One night most of the mining town near Desper Hollow goes up in flames.  Granny Mustard, the moonshine running matriarch of the Mustard clan dies in the fire.  However, what most don't realize is that Granny was working on the key to mortality and may have been "dead" when she died.  Her granddaughter Jenkie wants to continue her plan and in the process, is creating mutated undead critters and people and locking them up in a rundown backwoods trailer.  A Hollywood producer shows up because Jenkie has pitched a rather unique reality show.  But will he make it out alive when people are turning up dead all over the place?

Like I mentioned, this book was just so much fun.  It was pretty much non-stop action and there is quite a wide variety of characters.  The fact that it takes place in the backwoods of Appalachia makes it even more atmospheric and scary.  Jenkie was not a likable character, but even so, I had to admire the fact that she really wanted to prove to her family she was capable of doing important things.  There is also one particular zombie, Armistead, who is different from all the rest and I kept waiting to find out what his purpose was, and when I did, it was a prefect ending.

I also feel like I have to mention this cover.  Apex truly has some wonderful covers out there and this one is no exception.  The cover represents the tale perfectly.

If you like action-packed zombie tales, then definitely give "Desper Hollow" a try.

RATING: 4 PAWS

Also, Apex is offering 25% off everything in the Apex store all month long with discount code SEPTEMBER.  Check them out HERE.