Valkyrie: Rat in the Dumpster

by Tony Bowman

Rat is a teenage girl living on the street. She's making her way to California, walking and sleeping under overpasses. In Little Rock, Arkansas, Rat finds herself all alone on the first day of the Apocalypse.Hell is all around her, but Rat is a survivor.Can she find the courage to not only save herself, but those around her?The lead-in short story to the four part series of novels, Valkyrie.

Genres: Zombies

37 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 12, 2015

About the author

Tony Bowman writes horror and thriller novels from his home in central North Carolina. He has written eight books and numerous short stories under this pseudonym and another sixteen under different pseudonyms.

A native of southwest Virginia's Appalachian Mountains, he and his wife Laurie have lived all over the country from northern California to Las Vegas to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. However, he is happiest when he is close to the mountains of his birth.

He is currently writing books that are part of his 'Appalachian Cycle' with novels about werewolves, vampires, witches, and ghosts in and around the hills of Virginia.

Reviews

[Wayne Triskelion · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came into this after reading Tony Bowman's book Turning the Darkness. The Valkyrie story is set in this same universe. A demon invasion has brought with it vampires, werewolves, ghouls, and witches. In the space of a few days, most of humanity is wiped out. The US is divided into three distinct areas: the east and west coasts where the demons rule with an iron fist, and the central states which are an anarchic no-man's land.

Valkyrie: Rat in the Dumpster tells the story of Rat, a teenage runaway who gets caught up in the first chaotic days of the invasion. She's one tough kid. She joins up with a small group of survivors and together they try to find a safe place to ride out the apocalypse.

This is the lead-in to Bowman's new Valkyrie series. I've just started the first book, Valkyrie: The Road, and I love it!

[martha s. williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rat in the Dumpster

Another fine example of Tony Bowman's style of writing. I am trying to go thru his books slowly since I can read much faster than he can write, so.... Anyway this is a short story about the beginning of the apocalypse and a girl named Rat's place in it. Now I have to read the next one. His books are rather addictive.

[Netanella · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 3-star rating is due simply to the fact that it's hard to get a really good feel for short stories, at least in my opinion. That being said, "Valkyrie: Rat in the Dumpster" is worth the read for any fan of post-apocalyptic action tales. It's a teaser short, an introduction to a world of ghouls, vampires, and werewolves that hasn't been completely explained. Rather, the reader is immersed right away into the world of Rat, a teenaged runaway whose first encounter with the apoc occurs under an interstate overpass with a group of pot-smoking vagrants. The story is told through her eyes, and she's a fun character. Smart and bold, she's been surviving on her own long enough to know how to avoid the nasties. Of course, it helps that one of the nuns who raised her was also obsessed with guns and target shooting.

All in all, this is a fun, short read, and I'm definitely interested enough to follow the series along once it is completed.