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Bring Me Flesh, I'll Bring Hell
Vitus Adamson is falling apart. As a pre-deceased private investigator, he takes the prescription Atroxipine hourly to keep his undead body upright and functioning. Whenever he is injured, he seeks Niko, a bombshell mortician with bedroom eyes and a way with corpses, to piece him back together. Decomposition, however, is the least of his worries when two clients posing his most dangerous job yet appear at his door looking for their lost son.
Vitus is horrified to discover the photo of the couple's missing son is a picture-perfect reproduction of his long dead son. This leads him to question the events of his tormented past; he must face the possibility that the wife and child he believed he murdered ten years ago in a zombie-fugue have somehow survived . . . or is it just wishful thinking designed to pull him into an elaborate trap?
Unfolding like a classic film noir mixed with elements of a B-movie, Bring Me Flesh, I'll Bring Hell is an imaginative spin on the hard-boiled detective genre and a new twist on the zombie novel. In Vitus Adamson, you will find a protagonist you can care about and invest in as he takes you through his emotional journey of betrayal and quest for redemption.
Vitus is horrified to discover the photo of the couple's missing son is a picture-perfect reproduction of his long dead son. This leads him to question the events of his tormented past; he must face the possibility that the wife and child he believed he murdered ten years ago in a zombie-fugue have somehow survived . . . or is it just wishful thinking designed to pull him into an elaborate trap?
Unfolding like a classic film noir mixed with elements of a B-movie, Bring Me Flesh, I'll Bring Hell is an imaginative spin on the hard-boiled detective genre and a new twist on the zombie novel. In Vitus Adamson, you will find a protagonist you can care about and invest in as he takes you through his emotional journey of betrayal and quest for redemption.
232 pages, Paperback
First published October 14, 2014
36 people are currently reading
479 people want to read
About the author
Martin Rose
8 books24 followersMartin Rose writes a range of fiction from the fantastic to the macabre, holds a degree in graphic design, and resides in New Jersey where he is concluding work on a zombie detective novel, Bring Me Flesh, I'll Bring Hell, to be published by Skyhorse/Talos in the near future. More details are available at www.martinrose.org
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
April 14, 2021
I don’t write reviews.
I tried, oh god did I try! This... this was the hell brought to me. I WANTED to like it! That’s why I didn’t give up on it. But one cannot accept this kind of zombie story so readily. The main character has parts grafted onto himself. The transplants work and he can feel normal sensations. He has a sense of taste and smell, but he’s supposedly rotting at a quick rate. Too much, far too much, of the physicality of zombie-hood is described herein. It rained on the parade. One has to overlook corpse truths in order to become immersed in zombie lore.
I think this could have been a successful novella or short story. Much was almost verbatim repetition without exposition or character development. There was a steady monotony to everything, including the dialogue. Mostly it seemed like a man’s self-pitying thoughts on repeated play mode.
Not to mention the lines that went:
Isn’t that your signature?
Yes, but... I didn’t know what I was signing!
As you can see it’s a standard CIA application form.
Maybe the sequel spurred the horse into the race? Possibly? I’ll attempt it. I won’t give up!
I tried, oh god did I try! This... this was the hell brought to me. I WANTED to like it! That’s why I didn’t give up on it. But one cannot accept this kind of zombie story so readily. The main character has parts grafted onto himself. The transplants work and he can feel normal sensations. He has a sense of taste and smell, but he’s supposedly rotting at a quick rate. Too much, far too much, of the physicality of zombie-hood is described herein. It rained on the parade. One has to overlook corpse truths in order to become immersed in zombie lore.
I think this could have been a successful novella or short story. Much was almost verbatim repetition without exposition or character development. There was a steady monotony to everything, including the dialogue. Mostly it seemed like a man’s self-pitying thoughts on repeated play mode.
Not to mention the lines that went:
Isn’t that your signature?
Yes, but... I didn’t know what I was signing!
As you can see it’s a standard CIA application form.
Maybe the sequel spurred the horse into the race? Possibly? I’ll attempt it. I won’t give up!
October 27, 2014
Bring Me Flesh, I’ll Bring Hell is a genre-aware horror noir novel. There seem to be a few of those lately, which is something I’m pleased about. Now zombies aren’t really my thing, but I don’t think it’s quite fair to call Vitus a zombie. More of an undead private eye or a Hellboy kind of thing. Minus the brawls.
Vitus has spent a decade being dead and slowly falling apart, when a couple of clients shows up at his doorstep with a photo of their son, who has gone missing. Only the picture is actually a photo of Vitus’s son all grown up, even though he’s supposed to have died ten years ago in Vitus’s hands. At the time, Vitus was more of a traditional zombie and had fed on his wife and kid, before the people responsible for his condition came up with a drug that keeps him human (as much human as a decomposing corpse can be anyway). Now he takes a dose every few hours, lest he loses control again.
Anyway, he takes the case if only because he needs to figure out what the hell is going on and if his son is actually alive. As per noir guidelines, this throws him down a rabbit hole of increasingly bizarre and complicated situations: A hooded figure following him around everywhere, trying to kill his clients; a femme fatale (almost literally, she’s a mortician) that heals his wounds and weird clients that keep ”rising” from the dead.
I’ll try not to spoil anything, as I believe discovery is half the pleasure in a novel like this. I found the book to be very well written, if a little ”purple” in places. However, any purple prose is satisfyingly gory, grim or funny. Nothing about sunsets and beautiful vistas, all about sinew, rotting flesh and fatalism. The plot is meaty and complicated, but not overly so. It really is a noir tale, which in my experience is rare to find, even when it says so right on the cover. Many an evening has been wasted reading The Maltese Falcon retreads.
The premise might seem ridiculous from the outside, but is handled deftly and doesn’t stress your suspension of disbelief too much, even when the really bizarre stuff happens. The last third of the book moves along on a brisk pace, with revelations just around every corner and it’s a pretty good ride if I may say so.
Check it out if you like: horror noir, grim humor or the Sandman Slim books.
Vitus has spent a decade being dead and slowly falling apart, when a couple of clients shows up at his doorstep with a photo of their son, who has gone missing. Only the picture is actually a photo of Vitus’s son all grown up, even though he’s supposed to have died ten years ago in Vitus’s hands. At the time, Vitus was more of a traditional zombie and had fed on his wife and kid, before the people responsible for his condition came up with a drug that keeps him human (as much human as a decomposing corpse can be anyway). Now he takes a dose every few hours, lest he loses control again.
Anyway, he takes the case if only because he needs to figure out what the hell is going on and if his son is actually alive. As per noir guidelines, this throws him down a rabbit hole of increasingly bizarre and complicated situations: A hooded figure following him around everywhere, trying to kill his clients; a femme fatale (almost literally, she’s a mortician) that heals his wounds and weird clients that keep ”rising” from the dead.
I’ll try not to spoil anything, as I believe discovery is half the pleasure in a novel like this. I found the book to be very well written, if a little ”purple” in places. However, any purple prose is satisfyingly gory, grim or funny. Nothing about sunsets and beautiful vistas, all about sinew, rotting flesh and fatalism. The plot is meaty and complicated, but not overly so. It really is a noir tale, which in my experience is rare to find, even when it says so right on the cover. Many an evening has been wasted reading The Maltese Falcon retreads.
The premise might seem ridiculous from the outside, but is handled deftly and doesn’t stress your suspension of disbelief too much, even when the really bizarre stuff happens. The last third of the book moves along on a brisk pace, with revelations just around every corner and it’s a pretty good ride if I may say so.
Check it out if you like: horror noir, grim humor or the Sandman Slim books.
August 12, 2014
As far as horror stories go, Bring Me Flesh, I'll Bring Hell, certainly starts out with a fresh one. You're the monster, or rather, the first person narrator is. Vitus Adamson, sole survivor of Virus X, a little military science experiment gone awry. At first, considering your jaw has fallen off due to a bit of too much enthusiasm in brushing your undead choppers, this feels like a hardboiled gumshoe novel with a strange comedic edge. And then the story develops and it turns intp a mix of love story with body horror and a refined dose of pure mental anguish the likes of which I don't think I've seen as well used in a horror tale before. It made for wonderful reading, and it had that mesmerising quality of forcing your eyelids back open to read what you don't want to read. You feel intensely for everyone and the ending-well, spoilers. It's not what you think, but if you're clever, you may see it rushing towards our hapless rent-a-cop cadaver. You just won't be able to yell a warning before the gut wrenching end. Highly recommend it and it does the actual job of scaring you without grossing you out, a lost art.
September 7, 2014
not anything like what I expected. was expecting a mystery/detective story along the line of Farnsworth, RIPD & Hell boy without the humor. super disappointed in the lacking storyline.
May 11, 2022
I'm a fan of zombie stories especially when they differ from just the mindless brain eating type. This is part zombie story and part mystery. I enjoyed it for the most part, but I do wish certain things in the story was explained more. That being said the twist at the end really threw me for a loop, I had no clue.
June 25, 2020
It's a bit funny I found this novel on the romance section in my bookapp. But I was interested and tried it out, and oh zombie! I couldn't stop reading, had to know what was going to happen next. A real page turner!
November 7, 2014
About 3.5; quite promising for a first novel, but with a certain amount of first novel unevenness as well - still, well worth reading for those enjoy appreciate their zombie fiction clever and offbeat.
November 21, 2014
Don't read much horror at all but found this to be a really easy, enjoyable read.
July 10, 2015
3.5 stars. This is a wild book. Noir meets B-movie was a spot on description. Bizarre and interesting, a different take on the zombie genre.
April 30, 2024
Vitus Adamson is theoretically a zombie P.I. thanks to a military experiment gone awry; he’s on meds to remain mostly human, and has a sexy mortician on call to patch his decaying body up after a skirmish or shootout. When tasked by a strange couple to find their missing son, however, his entire insane life gets REALLY crazy.
This book covers some heavy themes like military abuse of power, toxic masculinity, strained fatherly relationships, and what to do when tormented by the memory you ate your wife and child…you know, themes we all can relate to. While some of the verbiage is pretentious, the visuals created by the author are amazing and this would make a for a great film.
For Audible, Christian Rummel does an amazing job narrating several different voices, and does great impersonations of alarms and flies, too.
This book covers some heavy themes like military abuse of power, toxic masculinity, strained fatherly relationships, and what to do when tormented by the memory you ate your wife and child…you know, themes we all can relate to. While some of the verbiage is pretentious, the visuals created by the author are amazing and this would make a for a great film.
For Audible, Christian Rummel does an amazing job narrating several different voices, and does great impersonations of alarms and flies, too.
August 31, 2020
A man is turned into a zombie by a military experiment. He is kept reanimated thanks to his connected brother and a beautiful mortician. Reanimation allows him to think and function somewhat but his body is still in a state of decay. He is kept from literally falling to pieces through the help of a sexy mortician. He works as a private investigator and becomes involved in a case of a missing young man who eerily resembles the son he murdered. His investigation brings him to the ugly truth about what really happened.
the premise is interesting but the story meandered and the characters were not especially gripping. The ending was the best part but you had to slog through a lot of noirish nonsense and gross-out moments to get there. It had its moments but not my favourite.
the premise is interesting but the story meandered and the characters were not especially gripping. The ending was the best part but you had to slog through a lot of noirish nonsense and gross-out moments to get there. It had its moments but not my favourite.
February 23, 2022
A zombie book unlike any other I've read. We get to know the zombie, Vitus, as a person; as a pre-deceased. He's a government experiment. Gone wrong, so he thinks. He takes a pill every hour to stave off the hunger. He goes into the world to find out if he really did kill his son when he turned. I really enjoyed this. A slow burn as we get to know the character and have real emotions for him.
March 7, 2022
Good God this book is bad. It reads like the author caught a rerun of a private-eye movie late night while high,fell asleep, and woke up in the middle of a zombie flick. The authors living out his mall ninja fantasy through the book with lots of things no believable character would ever do. Bad writing, bad characters, bad pacing ,bad bad bad. Do yourself a favor and skip it.
February 17, 2023
Good God this book is bad. It reads like the author caught a rerun of a private-eye movie late night while high,fell asleep, and woke up in the middle of a zombie flick. The authors living out his mall ninja fantasy through the book with lots of things no believable character would ever do. Bad writing, bad characters, bad pacing ,bad bad bad. Do yourself a favor and skip it.
November 22, 2020
Pretty good. Kinda different than I expected but still interesting. Starting book two now.
February 5, 2021
Decent horror novel about a PI zombie.
June 10, 2022
There are tropes, it's unavoidable. But this book is fresh all the same. I truly enjoyed the ride.
August 4, 2022
Although I got through the book, I think my rating was the fact that it was not the type of horror I was expecting.
August 16, 2023
Interesting concept, good pacing, but kind of predictable if you ask me.
April 4, 2025
perfect horror novel, thinking about how it is to be a rotting corpse and still have your mind.
December 8, 2015
Vitus Adamson isn’t just a three-time loser, an ex-soldier, an ex-husband and an ex-father who investigates the small-change domestic trivia which the police barely even consider crime. The rank miasma which hangs around him isn’t the usual mix of booze and fags and failure. His shuffling gait and unsteady handshake aren’t down to depression or PTSD. He’s a flesh-eating zombie – one who is firmly medicated in order to carry on the semblance of a normal life, right alongside everyday society.
This is a nifty set-up, which initially blends pulp fiction with semi-credible science. It’s snappy; self-aware, full of sassy one-liners and smart asides with a tip of the hat to the usual zombie apocalypse tropes. Then as he starts to search for a missing teenager, the narrative takes a step sideways, leaving behind the referential post-ironic comments and cranking up the suggestions of Unspeakable Awfulness in dark places.
You’re never sure if this is going to gestate into a full-on horror epic, or transform into a spiky expose of the human menace of the military-industrial complex… or just settle for being a story of personal redemption. It veers between pulp hack-n-slash horror and earnest debates on the nature of identity and the disintegration of the self; a mix of B-movie monsters and dime-store psychology. Ambitious, and tricky to pull off.
I hugely enjoyed the notion of the zombie PI and his unique situation. I wasn’t sure that the more extreme elements of the storyline sat comfortably alongside the real-world backdrop. The narrative and tongue-in-cheek dialogue, subtle and savage in the opening chapters, kinda slithered into platitudes in the latter part. Similarly, a steamily raunchy scene involving a plastic sheet and consenting partners, which made zombie sex seem a real possibility, was later replaced by doe-eyed sentimentality.
So ‘Bring Me Flesh’ grabbed me at the get-go but my attention flagged somewhat by the end. I’d probably have enjoyed a less involved investigation, one without so much personal baggage. That said, it’s is easily the most accomplished zombie noir I’ve ever read…
7/10
There's more details about plot and character over at
https://murdermayhemandmore.wordpress...
This is a nifty set-up, which initially blends pulp fiction with semi-credible science. It’s snappy; self-aware, full of sassy one-liners and smart asides with a tip of the hat to the usual zombie apocalypse tropes. Then as he starts to search for a missing teenager, the narrative takes a step sideways, leaving behind the referential post-ironic comments and cranking up the suggestions of Unspeakable Awfulness in dark places.
You’re never sure if this is going to gestate into a full-on horror epic, or transform into a spiky expose of the human menace of the military-industrial complex… or just settle for being a story of personal redemption. It veers between pulp hack-n-slash horror and earnest debates on the nature of identity and the disintegration of the self; a mix of B-movie monsters and dime-store psychology. Ambitious, and tricky to pull off.
I hugely enjoyed the notion of the zombie PI and his unique situation. I wasn’t sure that the more extreme elements of the storyline sat comfortably alongside the real-world backdrop. The narrative and tongue-in-cheek dialogue, subtle and savage in the opening chapters, kinda slithered into platitudes in the latter part. Similarly, a steamily raunchy scene involving a plastic sheet and consenting partners, which made zombie sex seem a real possibility, was later replaced by doe-eyed sentimentality.
So ‘Bring Me Flesh’ grabbed me at the get-go but my attention flagged somewhat by the end. I’d probably have enjoyed a less involved investigation, one without so much personal baggage. That said, it’s is easily the most accomplished zombie noir I’ve ever read…
7/10
There's more details about plot and character over at
https://murdermayhemandmore.wordpress...
March 16, 2015
Martin Rose's debut zombie story is an interesting spin on the standard zombie world that's in vogue these days. Rather than a colony of humans surviving an outbreak, we are introduced to Vitus, an infected person who takes regular medication to maintain his higher brain functions. Meanwhile, the rest of his body continues to deteriorate and fall apart.
Rose paints a hauntingly dark and gruesome picture of Vitus' prolonged existence as a "pre-deceased". Living alone in his pre-death house, adapting to people's disgust at his appearance and odor, and caring for what remains of his body, Vitus' life more resembles that of a sick dog refusing to die.
The story is pretty solid, with enough twists and deception along the way to keep you sucked in. Without giving any spoilers away, Vitus discovers that his dead son may indeed be alive. Let the investigation begin! Deception, conspiracy, betrayal, murder, all the elements you would expect to find in a decent detective noir. And the characters, while not likely to win any "Person of the Year" awards, are compelling enough to keep you reading what happens next.
That being said, two major complaints really made this book less enjoyable than it otherwise should have been. One, the repetitive descriptions of Vitus' body. Practically EVERY. SINGLE. PARAGRAPH. contained some reference to his rotting flesh, or decayed organs, or missing body parts. The repetition gets so bad that Vitus comes off as almost whiny and off-putting, rather than the hardened war-veteran that he is.
The other problem I had was the weirdly metaphysical twist at the ending battle that really made no sense. I tried to ignore it. I really did. After all, zombie stories naturally require some suspension of disbelief. But it just seemed so bizarre and out-of-place. And the fact that it was the driving force behind what should have been the most exciting part of the book left a bad taste.
If you're looking for a quick distraction, "Bring Me Flesh, I'll Bring Hell" is a fun read. But frankly, I don't expect to re-read it any time soon.
Rose paints a hauntingly dark and gruesome picture of Vitus' prolonged existence as a "pre-deceased". Living alone in his pre-death house, adapting to people's disgust at his appearance and odor, and caring for what remains of his body, Vitus' life more resembles that of a sick dog refusing to die.
The story is pretty solid, with enough twists and deception along the way to keep you sucked in. Without giving any spoilers away, Vitus discovers that his dead son may indeed be alive. Let the investigation begin! Deception, conspiracy, betrayal, murder, all the elements you would expect to find in a decent detective noir. And the characters, while not likely to win any "Person of the Year" awards, are compelling enough to keep you reading what happens next.
That being said, two major complaints really made this book less enjoyable than it otherwise should have been. One, the repetitive descriptions of Vitus' body. Practically EVERY. SINGLE. PARAGRAPH. contained some reference to his rotting flesh, or decayed organs, or missing body parts. The repetition gets so bad that Vitus comes off as almost whiny and off-putting, rather than the hardened war-veteran that he is.
The other problem I had was the weirdly metaphysical twist at the ending battle that really made no sense. I tried to ignore it. I really did. After all, zombie stories naturally require some suspension of disbelief. But it just seemed so bizarre and out-of-place. And the fact that it was the driving force behind what should have been the most exciting part of the book left a bad taste.
If you're looking for a quick distraction, "Bring Me Flesh, I'll Bring Hell" is a fun read. But frankly, I don't expect to re-read it any time soon.
September 15, 2014
Unfolding like a classic film noir mixed with elements of a B-movie, BRING ME FLESH, I’LL BRING HELL is an imaginative spin on the hard-boiled detective genre and a new twist on the zombie novel. Martin Rose writes with lean, mean, in-your-face prose that sizzles with Chandleresque dialogue, a morbid sense of humor, and snappy characters that jump off the page. In Vitus Adamson you will find a protagonist that you can care about and invest in, as he takes you through his emotional journey of betrayal and quest for redemption. Fans of Richard Kadrey and Jonathan Maberry will be delighted.
August 16, 2015
Sigh.
I love zombies. They're my favorite. There's nothing better then a good zombie novel.
I wanted so much to like this book. But I just couldn't. I couldn't get into it. It took me almost 8 months to finish this book. Usually, I devour zombie books.
Nothing about this book held my interest. I could care less about the characters. The story line was meh.
The only reason I finished this book is because I hate to leave a book unfinished.
I love zombies. They're my favorite. There's nothing better then a good zombie novel.
I wanted so much to like this book. But I just couldn't. I couldn't get into it. It took me almost 8 months to finish this book. Usually, I devour zombie books.
Nothing about this book held my interest. I could care less about the characters. The story line was meh.
The only reason I finished this book is because I hate to leave a book unfinished.
May 18, 2015
I have to say this is the first book I've read where I had to force myself to turn the page. Not a fan of this book at all and I was more than disappointed. Yes there were great parts in the book including the ending but the rest of it was so scatter brained and wird. Some things just didn't add up in this book until the ending which I will say was was the best part
November 19, 2015
A solid mash-up of zombie and noir. Not perfect, but well worth reading. The complete review is on my blog.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews