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Living With the Dead #2.5
Shambling With the Stars
Avery Andrews is her name and directing celebrity telethons after tragedies is her game. But the Northwestern Zombie Outbreak isn't your average tragedy. . . and once the infection spreads to the studio, Avery and her crew will have to worry about staying alive, not rating.
31 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 15, 2011
6 people are currently reading
696 people want to read
About the author
Jesse Petersen
22 books537 followersA Facebook application once told Jesse Petersen that she'd only survive a day in a zombie outbreak, but she doesn't believe that. For one, she's a good shot and two, she has an aversion to bodily fluids, so she'd never go digging around in zombie goo. Until the zombie apocalypse, she lives in the Tucson with her husband and two cats and writes snarky urban fantasy about monsters and zombies. Find out more about the author at www.jessepetersen.net.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
November 15, 2015
3.5 stars
'Shambling with the Stars' is a short story by Jesse Petersen; number 2.5 of her Living with the Dead series. I’m a huge fan of this series. Her zombie series kicks off with Married with Zombies, one of my favorite books of all time.
‘Shambling with the Stars’ opens to character Avery Andrews directing a celebrity telethon for the recent ‘sickness’ outbreak. Her lead host Blake is in the middle of conducting an interview with Dr. Lithstone when he attacks him and begins a chain reaction of reanimation.
This short story definitely leaves you with wanting more awesome zombie action! It'll be interesting to see if she expands on Avery and Kyle's characters since this short story definitely leaves you hanging! I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for future novels.
'Shambling with the Stars' is a short story by Jesse Petersen; number 2.5 of her Living with the Dead series. I’m a huge fan of this series. Her zombie series kicks off with Married with Zombies, one of my favorite books of all time.
‘Shambling with the Stars’ opens to character Avery Andrews directing a celebrity telethon for the recent ‘sickness’ outbreak. Her lead host Blake is in the middle of conducting an interview with Dr. Lithstone when he attacks him and begins a chain reaction of reanimation.
This short story definitely leaves you with wanting more awesome zombie action! It'll be interesting to see if she expands on Avery and Kyle's characters since this short story definitely leaves you hanging! I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for future novels.
April 18, 2012
Celebrity telethon for a zombie outbreak? Ridiculous sounding…but it could totally happen…
Ms. Petersen. Congrats on being able to make me laugh and be a little scared while thinking “Yeah…this would totally happen.” Being just a regular plain Jane, not a part of the Hollywood scene, it seemed foreign to me. But Petersen did a great job of describing the set up with Avery and her crew in the control room and how after the shit hits the fan and celebrities start chomping on each other, the personalities of each person in the control room react.
What I think Petersen did best was how fast she moved the story along. From the first bite to the mad dash out of the studio for Avery and her assistant, this story was a fast read. I read it in about 30 minutes. I was a little sad when I got to the end because I really did want more. This (and her collection of zombie short stores In The Dead) is an amazing little vignette morsel of yummy blood soaked goodness. But it’s not just a scary story, it’s one that makes you laugh and make you think about what would you do when the zombie apocalypse comes? Will you freak out and kill yourself by sticking keys into a high voltage piece of equipment? Will you be in denial? Or if you’re bitten, will you do what you can to help your friends survive until you’re not yourself anymore?
Ms. Petersen: Thanks again for making me laugh at the absurdity of humanity and what would happen if Zombies started roaming around. Much appreciated.
Ms. Petersen. Congrats on being able to make me laugh and be a little scared while thinking “Yeah…this would totally happen.” Being just a regular plain Jane, not a part of the Hollywood scene, it seemed foreign to me. But Petersen did a great job of describing the set up with Avery and her crew in the control room and how after the shit hits the fan and celebrities start chomping on each other, the personalities of each person in the control room react.
What I think Petersen did best was how fast she moved the story along. From the first bite to the mad dash out of the studio for Avery and her assistant, this story was a fast read. I read it in about 30 minutes. I was a little sad when I got to the end because I really did want more. This (and her collection of zombie short stores In The Dead) is an amazing little vignette morsel of yummy blood soaked goodness. But it’s not just a scary story, it’s one that makes you laugh and make you think about what would you do when the zombie apocalypse comes? Will you freak out and kill yourself by sticking keys into a high voltage piece of equipment? Will you be in denial? Or if you’re bitten, will you do what you can to help your friends survive until you’re not yourself anymore?
Ms. Petersen: Thanks again for making me laugh at the absurdity of humanity and what would happen if Zombies started roaming around. Much appreciated.
November 20, 2011
This author is magnificently twisted. An infectious outbreak might be worth it if we got to watch vain Hollywood types meet their doom at the hands of a zombie.
October 22, 2013
this was a great story! I just wish it was longer! Perhaps they will meet up with Sarah and David later on??
July 31, 2017
Too short to really get into, but quite entertaining.
August 22, 2018
Meh. An unnecessary side-story in the series.
May 23, 2020
Man I'm crazy about zombie 🧟♀️ books!!
That one was a quiche novella but still funny to read !
That one was a quiche novella but still funny to read !
November 19, 2020
Love these books. Likeable married couple battling zombies together for a living.
May 4, 2022
This brings you back to the beginning of the zombie outbreak. Different characters introduced that we might see in the next one.
December 29, 2011
Just when I need a break from the vampire and ghost world, I find myself downloading the short story Shambling With The Stars by Jesse Petersen. The short story is set in the world of Living With The Dead, which I’ve reviewed the first two books in the series Married With Zombies and Flip This Zombie. I went into Shambling With The Stars with high expectations that were met.
The short story follows Avery Andrews, a Hollywood TV producer. A bunch of celebs get together to do a phone-athon fundraiser for the areas affected by the zombie outbreak and for research to reverse it. But little do Hollywood’s rich and famous know the outbreak is a lot closer than they think.
Avery finds herself battling to stay living with her assistant and a few other co-workers. Battling the infected is hard to do when it’s someone you’ve worked with everyday or a celeb you’ve been crushing on.
Shambling With The Stars holds the same kind of humor and sense of adventure as Petersen’s other books. I found myself drawn into the whole story and when it ended, I wanted more. Perhaps Sarah and David will run into Avery at some point in the next book in the series. This short story is just a taste of the collection of short stories Petersen plans to release August 1, 2011 entitledIn The Dead: Volume 1. It’s going to be a collection of stories, much like Avery, and their take on what happened to them before, during and after the outbreak.
Book Rating: 10/10
The short story follows Avery Andrews, a Hollywood TV producer. A bunch of celebs get together to do a phone-athon fundraiser for the areas affected by the zombie outbreak and for research to reverse it. But little do Hollywood’s rich and famous know the outbreak is a lot closer than they think.
Avery finds herself battling to stay living with her assistant and a few other co-workers. Battling the infected is hard to do when it’s someone you’ve worked with everyday or a celeb you’ve been crushing on.
Shambling With The Stars holds the same kind of humor and sense of adventure as Petersen’s other books. I found myself drawn into the whole story and when it ended, I wanted more. Perhaps Sarah and David will run into Avery at some point in the next book in the series. This short story is just a taste of the collection of short stories Petersen plans to release August 1, 2011 entitledIn The Dead: Volume 1. It’s going to be a collection of stories, much like Avery, and their take on what happened to them before, during and after the outbreak.
Book Rating: 10/10
July 5, 2011
Avery is a television studio director who believes that the zombie drama happening in the Northwest that her studio is doing a telethon for could never get close to her in L.A. After one of the star hosts uses the doctor he is interviewing on the set as a midafternoon snack, Avery realizes how wrong she is. She along with her entire crew is then rushing themselves out of zombie danger while looking to her for guidance. I loved seeing this different side of Petersen’s Zombie world and how it affects different individuals. I am looking forward to more of these short Living with the Dead short stories due out early August in In the Dead Volume I.
Zombie Apocalypse is my guilty pleasure. I love reading it. It can be realistic, it can be gory and scary, it can be light and humorous, and I’m not picky. I love Zombie Apocalypse. Petersen’s Living with the Dead series is great. This novella can be read as a stand-alone without having read any of the full length books. I’ve the full length books in this series. I highly recommend them to anyone who wants a book with wit, snark and laugh out loud humor.
Zombie Apocalypse is my guilty pleasure. I love reading it. It can be realistic, it can be gory and scary, it can be light and humorous, and I’m not picky. I love Zombie Apocalypse. Petersen’s Living with the Dead series is great. This novella can be read as a stand-alone without having read any of the full length books. I’ve the full length books in this series. I highly recommend them to anyone who wants a book with wit, snark and laugh out loud humor.
March 9, 2012
This is a very short-story of the series "Living with the dead". Chronologically it takes place after the 2nd book (Flip This Zombie). This story follows a TV crew trying to escape the building after the host of a celebrity telethon bites one of the invited guests. Soon there are more celebrity zombies than human ones - which it's quite entertaining, I must say! As previously pointed out in other reviews, you're left wanting to know a lot more about the characters that survive this zombie outburst on live television. Talk about good ratings!
September 14, 2014
I love Jesse Petersens zombie series, one of my favourites out there. So when i found the 2 short stories she did to go along side them, i simply HAD to have them!
Unfortunately, i felt disappointed with this story, it had literally just got going when it finished :0( The writing was still as fabulous as always, the characters nicely rounded and it was just as funny and gross as the others but it just left me deflated. A short story normally leaves me wanting more but this was a whole different ball game.
I hope though that the series continues, as i would continue to buy them!
Unfortunately, i felt disappointed with this story, it had literally just got going when it finished :0( The writing was still as fabulous as always, the characters nicely rounded and it was just as funny and gross as the others but it just left me deflated. A short story normally leaves me wanting more but this was a whole different ball game.
I hope though that the series continues, as i would continue to buy them!
April 6, 2015
Good Story. Very short, but I knew that going in. The reason for only giving three starts is the lack of any character development and or real story. The story is basically the opening to every zombie movie. Generic place, generic people and lots of poo hitting the fan. I would like to see where these characters go. I have read all the Married with Zombies books and enjoyed them all. I just wish this was a little longer. I wanted to see them get out into the world and see where the story goes.
July 19, 2011
I enjoyed this story tremendously. It gave an alternate look into the Living with the Dead universe, and my only complaint is that I wish it had been longer. In this story, the stars are having a telethon to raise money to fight the zombie menace, but as usual, someone has been infected, leading to a whole lot of gore and mayhem.
June 25, 2011
That was too short! I'd love to read an entire book with Avery and Kyle. I hope one is coming. Or, at least I hope we're going to see them again in Eat Slay Love. No one does laugh out loud funny in the middle of the horror of the zombie apocalypse like Jesse Petersen.
July 17, 2011
It was good. As I have said before Jesse Peterson does a great Zombie novel. Anxiously awaiting more of her work.
September 22, 2011
Eh it was ok the books were much better
October 24, 2011
I really liked this one. It's a short short, but so there's no wasted time. Yes, these people don't know how to act in a zombie invasion, but it doesn't take them long to learn. Good zombie story.
January 25, 2013
This short side story was awesome. I love reading about other people in the Jesse Petersen apocalyptic universe.
February 11, 2014
Fun short story from a series I love. I'm hoping we get to see more of these two survivors in future books.
April 29, 2014
So good, but I wish there was more!
April 12, 2023
Been meaning to finish out this series for ages. This was an well written, fast paced short story set in the 'Living with the Dead' world.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews