Braineater Jones
Written by Stephen Kozeniewski
Published by Red A Dept Publishing in 2013.
Braineater Jones is a noir style pulp fiction zombie novel set in prohibition era Chicago. It’s told in the style of a journal written by our lead character, Braineater Jones.
I promise not to do this too often, but, I want to begin the synopsis for this book with an excerpt from the first couple pages of the story:
So, after waking up dead (dead dead). Braineater Jones ends up on a mission to figure out who snuffed him out, and how to adapt to his new existence in un-life. His journey introduces you to Lazar, who kind of takes Braineater under his wing and introduces him to how things work for the undead of Chicago. His first lesson is that zombies need booze to slow their brains from rotting to the point of turning breather-eater. Braineater Jones eventually becomes the zombie slum’s local private eye and after solving a few cases he finds himself on the trail of his own murder and some other pretty nefarious schemes happening in his city.
This book was a fun pulp fiction style read. I absolutely loved how well-researched this book was and, in particular, loved all of the colloquial language from the time period that Kozeniewski used. Those two pages I posted above… yeah, that’s exactly how long it too me to decide that I loved this book and would be reading it many times over in the future. The characters we meet have all the styling of your classic noir tale, but with delightful zombification twists. For example, when Braineater Jones follows a lead on a case to the local zombie brothel. He discovers that the un-dead ladies of the night offer some very unique and gruesome features that come with their services.
For someone, like me, who may be getting a little tired of the usual “survive the zombie apocalypse” tale, this was an incredibly invigorating and enjoyable take on the zombie genre.
I give this book 5 out of 5 blood spattered stars. It is a great gore-filled story of mystery told with heaping dollops of black humor to round it all off.
To anyone who enjoys pulp fiction, classic noir, zombies, mysteries, or books that play in a field of phrases like, “queerer than a squid on Tuesday” you should read this book.
You can find yourself a copy by clicking over HERE
And you can author-stalk Stephen Kozeniewski on any on the following links:
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What noir anti-hero are you?
Quiz: http://uquiz.com/6Nrf40
I’m apparently The Fall Guy. lol
“Whether you’ve been double-crossed or a victim of circumstance, it seems you’re always the one left holding the bag. You’re not a bad egg, but you find yourself second-guessing your own decisions. It’s as if someone is always two steps ahead of you and chances are, someone is.”
Horror Made 
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