(Half/Life Chronicles, Book Two)
The Living Dead were making his life a Living Hell…
A year ago, Chris Csejthe was completely human…and then a blood transfusion from the Lord of the Undead changed everything. Now he is a hunted man, sought by human and vampire alike for the secrets he knows and the powers that his mutated blood may bestow. So far he’s dodged undead assassins, werewolves, a 6,000-year-old Egyptian necromancer, and Vlad Dracula himself. But now he’s really got problems.
The dead are turning up on his doorstep after dark to ask for justice and the police want to know where all those corpses on his property are coming from. Undead terrorists are testing a doomsday virus on his new hometown and he’s caught in the crossfire between a white supremacist militia and the resurrected Civil War dead. His werewolf lover, jealous of his dead wife’s ghost, has left him. And the centuries-old and still very beautiful (and very deadly) Countess Bathory is determined to have his uniquely transformed blood for her own dark purposes.
Now, more than ever, life sucks!
Some Reviews
In this lighthearted and somewhat jumbled contemporary vampire tale, a sequel to Simmons’s One Foot in the Grave, vampire Chris (Csejthe) has more problems than merely protecting his secret. He must contend with faction fights among the vampires, as well as pursuit by representatives of those factions and by a few other odd beings to boot, and he must distinguish real from fake psychics in New Orleans’ voudun community. (Csejthe) is also trying to keep his personal relationships straight, since his old lover, Lupe the werewolf, is potentially jealous of his new one, Deirdre, and a jealous werewolf can ruin your whole day. Plots and subplots and vignettes abound, involving Vlad Dracula, Erzebet Batory the Blood Countess, biotechnology and a biowar conspiracy using tailored viruses that makes less than cheery reading in the middle of the SARS epidemic. Simmons’s experience in the visual media probably explains the intense development of some scenes that otherwise seem the mark of a first-time author. Readers unfamiliar with Haim’s previous outing may have trouble getting into the story, but fans of the early Terry Pratchett or Eric Flint’s Joe fantasies will enjoy the humorous bits.
–Publishers Weekly
(Chris Csejthe) is back for a new and even greater (and funnier) adventure…Snappy dialogue, lots of amusing details, a clever plot, and a generally witty sense of humor…one of those rare novels that combine levity and the supernatural in just the right balance.
–Chronicle
(Dead on My Feet) works because it is simply over the top . . . I love the way Mr. Simmons plays with the standard action scenes¿for instance a philosophy discussion during a car chase…
–Philadelphia Weekly Press
William Mark Simmons’ Dead on My Feet tells of a human who is sought by human and vampire alike when his body is mutated by a blood transfusion. Solid action at its best, this presents Chris’ run from an entire world against him – and his troubles not only with undead terrorists, but a werewolf lover who has left him in the lurch.
Readers who desire something offbeat but humorous in their fantasy horror literature will want to read Dead on My Feet…this book is fun.”
–Midwest Book Review