Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.
The Loving Dead by Amelia Beamer
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Kate and Michael are roommates living in the Oakland hills, working at the same Trader Joes supermarket. A night of drunken revelry changes their lives forever, but not in the way that anyone would expect. A slow-spreading plague of zombie-ism breaks out at their house party, spreading amongst their circle of friends, and simultaneously through the Bay Area. This zombie plague – an STD of sorts – is spread through sex and kissing, turning its victims into mindless, horny, voracious killers. Thrust into extremes by this slow- motion tragedy, Kate and Michael are forced to confront the choices they’ve made in their lives, and their fears of commitment, while trying to stay alive and reunite in the one place in the Bay Area that’s likely to be safe and secure from the zombie hoards: Alcatraz.
Star Wars: Clone Wars Gambit: Siege by Karen Miller
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On the Outer Rim, the planet Lanteeb has no strategic value, no political power, and one enormous problem: It has been invaded by an emboldened Separatist Alliance. To find out why, Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi have snuck onto Lanteeb—and now look oblivion in the eye. . . .
Hiding their lightsabers beneath their dusty disguises, Anakin and Obi-Wan draw on their Jedi skills to stay one step ahead of Lok Durd’s droid army on Lanteeb. The Jedi know that a captive scientist has given Durd the keys to a terrifying bioweapon. Durd knows that the Jedi are on his planet. With Yoda calling on the powers of the Jedi Council, with a new Separatist technology jamming the Guardians’ communications, and with a traitor at the heart of the Republic’s government, the wheels of war are turning. But the Separatists have blockaded Lanteeb. The finishing touches are being put on a weapon to destroy whole worlds. And it will be up to the two Jedi Knights and their most trusted comrades to liberate Lanteeb or forever suffer the consequences.
The Day the Leash Gave Way and Other Stories by Trent Zelazny
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Collected here are twenty-four dark, quirky, eccentric stories. Trent Zelazny will surprise you, entertain you, and take you places you’ve never been before. A new strong, confident voice has arrived. Zelazny could have chosen to make a career of covering the same ground that his father had already plowed. Instead he has chosen to strike out on his own and prove right out of the gate that he is his own man.
"Trent Zelazny is off and running. I have someone new to admire." -Joe R. Lansdale, Edgar Award winner and seven-time Bram Stoker Award winner
"Trent Zelazny is a master of tension, frisson, madness, and mayhem. I love the way he writes and read everything I can get my hands on. You should do the same." -Gerald Hausman, author of Time Swimmer and Castaways
"A gift for storytelling is in Trent Zelazny’s genes. It’s a pleasure to crack open his book and let him carry you away." -Charles Ardai, Edgar and Shamus Award winner
"You can tell Trent Zelazny is having fun when he’s writing, because his work is so much fun to read… You should try it sometime." -Brian Knight, author of Broken Angel and Sex, Death & Honey
"Trent Zelazny pulls off ideas most other writers wouldn’t dream of, never mind attempt. That he succeeds is testament to the length of his imagination and the breadth of his talent. He will not live long in the literary shadow of his father, but will soon take his rightful place beside him as one of the most important writers of the fantastic this country has produced." -Garrett Peck
More in Part II