One Thousand and One Nights
By: Ruth Browne
Publisher: Ever After
Published: Sept. 30, 2013
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Rating:
Sheri spends her days fighting zombies and her nights chained to a wall, earning her every breath by telling stories to her captor Aleksy—stories that make them both forget the ruined world. Sheri could put up with the conditions—at least she knows her sister is safe in the community Aleksy leads—until she realizes she’s falling for him…even though he wants her dead.When Aleksy allowed Sheri and her sister into his compound, he didn’t know about the zombie bite on her back. It’s only a matter of time before she turns into one of the rising dead and threatens their existence, but Aleksy has a secret need for Sheri and her stories. For everyone’s safety, he chains her to his bedroom wall, hoping for just one more day. But how long will the community allow Aleksy to ignore his own rule: always kill the infected. Always.
In a world where the undead roam the streets, there are very few people who are still alive. Sheri is one of them but because she’s been bitten previously no one trusts her. Just because she hasn’t changed yet doesn’t mean that she won’t. So, she’s sent out on dangerous missions by herself and upon arriving to her “people”, she’s chained to the wall of the “King’s” chambers.
I was really hoping that this would be a good gritty zombie story. Yeah, I know, the girl who’s all about romance wanted horror. Not that the Stockholm syndrome wouldn’t have been a bonus but I was looking for a novel to get me in the Halloween spirit. This one just didn’t work for me. I felt like it was part of a previous story that I had not read. The author takes the readers back in time periodically throughout the story to try to make the characters more than 1-dimensional. We go back to when Sheri is picked up my the “King” and we even get glimpses of her life when the zombie apocalypse happens but I just didn’t really connect with it. I think had this been a full length novel (like I originally thought), the author could have taken the time for more character development as well as laying out more of the post apocalyptic world. Instead I felt like the story was a bit rushed and I didn’t connect at all with the characters.
I wish I had known that this was a short story (50 pages) prior to requesting it on NetGalley because I am not a fan of short stories. So that is totally my bad. So I will say that if short stories are your thing and you want something that is a mix of erotic horror, than you’d probably really enjoy this. The author’s writing was good and if she ever writes a full length novel spin off of this book, I’d definitely give it a try.
“You know what’s worse than being alone? Being chained to the wall like a dog.”
Oh erg. Yeah those short stories are rough. That’s why I haven’t ventured into entangled’s everafters. I love their other books but it’s really few and far between that a short story blows me away. Sorry to hear it didn’t give ya the zombie fix you were hoping :/
Bummer Kristen, the premises sounds cool and I see why you requested it, but like you I need my world and characters fleshed out. Hope your next read rocks.