Keep Mama Dead

by S. James Nelson

In Keep Mama Dead, Thomas Baker has to prevent his family from resurrecting his mother.In the midst of a zombie invasion.Good luck, buddy. __________________________________________________________________"S. James Nelson is a brilliant ingenious in his creativity, with an eye toward elegant prose, with stories that hit you like a heavyweight boxer's blow to the gut."--David Farland, NYT Bestselling author of Nightingale__________________________________________________________________ content of this book is appropriate for teens and older. For more information about the author's other work, visit www.sjamesnelson.com.

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Zombies

313 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 21, 2011

Reviews

[Whitney Oaks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had every intention to give this Amazon freebie a 5 star review until I got to the ending. I am highly upset about what happened and I even cried. I don't even have words to describe how horrified I am. It was still a good read and I enjoyed all but the last bit.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love an author who does his homework. This book has zombies in it, but not the George Romero variety that have overwhelmed popular culture ad nauseum. Nelson has gone back to the spiritual beliefs and practices of Central Africa where the idea of zombies originated, and postulates the effect of those beliefs on Western Civilization at the end of the 19th Century. And I have to say he does so convincingly, given the requisite willing suspension of disbelief,of course.
I have never had any desire to read a zombie book or see a zombie movie. I admit that the title of this book put me off somewhat. But, having had the book recommended to me by friends I trust, I read it. I'm glad I did.
Many self-published books are pretty rough, both in maturity of writing and the mechanics of simple copy editing. This one seemed polished by comparison. Nelson is good. He has a way of getting under my skin. His stories are fast paced and exciting, but they also call up deep subtexts in my psyche on important life concepts like faith, duty, family and responsibility. He touched nerves. I know the reader brings elements and issues to the reading experience that the author could not have intended nor foreseen, but I have had that experience acutely with both of Nelson's books I have read. I can't say that about many authors. For example, the scene where the hero desperately tries to get his uncooperative mother to come to a place where she will at last find peace shook me to the core. It was a disturbingly accurate portrayal of experiences I've had with my Alzheimer's-inflicted mother.
Some reviewers have mentioned a "twist" at the end of this book. I didn't experience that. I foresaw every detail of the end from about the fourth or fifth chapter, but that didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book. (OK. I admit that I didn't foresee the Lover's Leap.)
All in all, I would highly recommend this book.

[Ciscokid · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit that I didn't think I'd like this book, or even read past the first chapter. I downloaded it for free and decided to try it just because of the title,expecting something silly that I wouldn't like. Boy, was I wrong. I couldn't put it down once I got into the story. I thought the characters were well developed and the story surprising interesting. I liked the "twist" on the whole zombie thing.....since I was really expecting the usual "brain eating zombies that take over the world" type of zombie. I still don't think I completely understand about "second life days", resurecting the dead, etc....., but that's part of the appeal of the book. It kept me wondering the whole time I was reading and maybe that's why I was completely taken by surprise with the ending. I loved it, plain and simple. I really wish we could give half stars because I think "Keep Moma Dead" deserves at least 41/2 stars.

[Kati · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Keep Mama Dead' is self-published, and although well written, the lack of professional editing does show in some places. The prose isn't fully polished, there are rare but present grammatical errors, and a few details where the book contradicts itself or has a math error. That said, none of these are severe enough to make the book difficult to read, and it is a darn good story. It normally takes me between 2 weeks and a month to read a book of this length; I blasted through this in just over a weekend because I absolutely could not put it down. The world-building is excellent. The zombies in the story have more in common with folklore than modern horror movies, and the author makes good use of the readers' (and characters') ignorance of how they'll behave. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys alternate history or lighter fantasy.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really quite enjoyed this book. The idea was an interesting one. The author could have done a little better job with explaining more about the blessings and second life days, but other than that the story moves at a good pace and has a very interesting story line. I have read several reviews that complained about the ending so I kept expecting some horrible ending, but I was actually quite please with the ending. Everything came together and the story worked itself out. I will definitely be keeping my eye on this author.

[CJ Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nineteenth century Utah Territory farmers deal with drought, family, and zombies.
This was fun. An inventive magic system and a unique world. There were a few times I was frustrated by the 'mysterious puzzlers' which were about as obvious to me as the murder mystery that has two characters (perhaps this was written as a YA book, and the author felt he had to be less subtle?) but the characters felt comfortable and I was always keen to find out what happened next.
Warning: A dog dies, so if you were traumatized by Old Yeller...

[MJ Schrader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Odd book. The title caught my interest. The story was good, with just enough elements to keep me reading.

It's a story about the past, except things turned out quite a bit different from our past. It fits with the current Zombie love.

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was well written and had a good story. The ending was a little contrived.

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not get into this. 17% into it and I had to put it to rest. I just couldn't buy the story line, and couldn't get interested in the characters.

[AH]

Kindle free download 7/5/12

[Katrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this book. I found that the blessings were innovative. I hadn't seen an author take that route. It was a zombie book, but very innvative. Not your average zombie read.

[Meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never knew I could thoroughly enjoy a good zombie book. Add in some magic, family drama and romance. All in familiar locations. Super!

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I grew up in the area I found it really fun to read. The storyline was interesting. I liked this book.

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It's a bit YA, but I found it to be well written, interesting, and awkwardly comical.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really different. Very interesting book. Has zombies but really isn't about zombies. A lot about life in the guise of a really interesting and very unusual story.

[Sam]

couldn't get into it

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story!