Beautiful Corpse

Jubal Van Zandt #2

by Eden Hudson

The best thief in the history of the Revived Earth is back, and this time it's personal.

A deadly plague is ravaging the world's population and threatening to kill the only person Jubal Van Zandt cares about—himself. If he doesn't find a cure soon, he's dead.

The most promising lead is buried in the ruins of an ancient sunken city stalked by savage predators, cunning parasites, and the twisted souls of long-dead mages. It would take an army to get Jubal inside ... or just one of the most renowned knights in Guild history. The one Jubal betrayed and left for dead eighteen months ago.

First Jubal has to convince her not to kill him. Then he has to convince her to help save him.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction

224 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 9, 2017

About the author

I am being forced against my will by Goodreads to have a capital E at the beginning of my name, even though the correct spelling is "eden." So there's that.

But also . . .

I am invincible. I am a mutant. I have 3 hearts and was born with no eyes. I had eyes implanted later. I didn't have hands, either, just stumps. When my eyes were implanted they asked if I would like hands as well and I said, "Yes, I'll take those," and pointed with my stump. But sometimes I'm a hellbender peeking out from under a rock. When it rains, I live in a music box.

But I'm also a tattoo addict, coffee junkie, drummer, and aspiring skateboarder. Jesus actually is my homeboy.

Reviews

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful Corpse (A Jubal Van Zandt Novel Book 2) by eden Hudson is the second book in this great series. Jubal is so annoying and lovable at the same time! But in this book he gets a plague called the Beautiful Corpse, it makes you looks better and better while locking up the joints, seizures and more problems. They die like a gorgeous manikin. He is already gorgeous, just ask him! Wink and finger gun!

[Tim McBain · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant, addictive, hilarious sequel.

Thief Jubal Van Zandt is back, and this time he's not in it for the cash or the prestige. He needs a cure for the plague -- pronto -- or he's going to contract a pretty bad case of death. The doctors give him something like 90-180 days. Oh, and to find that possible cure? He needs the help of Carina AKA the Bloodslinger, the girl he betrayed and left for dead last time out.

Yikes.

Jubal and company embark on a fast paced journey, loaded with action. There was a very vivid action sequence featuring swamp-splosions, and another memorable sequence involving an underwater creeper fight. Definitely more on the fun, exhilarating side of the action/adventure tale rather than the grim, dark side, in my opinion, and I liked that a lot.

But the heart of this series remains the relationship of the main characters for me. I don't want to give anything away, but there are some interesting developments in this part of the story -- new complications that only ratchet up the intrigue.

So yeah, this sequel not only built on the first book, it enhanced my enjoyment of the series and world greatly. It was a lot of fun to get back to Jubal and company, and even though I expected it to be good, it surprised and impressed me well beyond what I anticipated.

The writing is entertaining to a point that's hard to describe. Every detail is so clever. Every exchange of dialogue is so witty. The overall effect is dazzling, mesmerizing, better than real life. It's literary hard drugs, dude. I tore through it in 3 sittings over the course of a day and loved it from start to finish, and I'm quite ready for more.

Jubal Van Zandt has lived in my imagination for about 9 months now, and I think our relationship has changed. On some level, I was hesitant to let my affection for him develop. He's hilarious, cunning, and capable. Very witty. But he is also mean. Cruel. A lone wolf who cares for no one. I found him intriguing and very entertaining, and that was as far as it went. Something has changed. With this new book, I've come around to loving him despite his flaws. He doesn't know any better. He is the roguest of rogues, and that's awesome. So I'm happy to have Jubal occupying a little room somewhere in the folds of my brain. I hope he stays a long while -- several more books worth, at least.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books of 2017. Seriously.

I don't normally gush about books, but Jubal Van Zandt has to be one of THE most interesting characters I have ever read. Furthermore, the "Revived Earth" that Eden Hudson has created is weird enough to be interesting, and also mysterious enough that you're constantly wondering about what the heck happened. I don't know about anyone else, but I am constantly wondering about the back-story. However, I think that the mystique adds to the enjoyment of the series, and it would spoil it if she spent the first chapter explaining everything.

The main character, Jubal Van Zandt, is a narcissistic a-hole who came from a pretty dysfunctional childhood. His list of character defects is as long as your arm, but you can't help but feel alternating amusement and sympathy at his often outrageous behavior. The other characters are not quite as complex, but this is definitely not mindless "pot-boiler" schlock.

The story has some action and adventure to go along with the dramatic interactions between characters. All in all, I think this is one of THE best books of 2017, and I think the story would make a great television series. Hopefully a series by someone that doesn't suck.

This book is the second book of the series, and I would recommend reading "Revenge of the Bloodsinger" first. The cliffhanger ending left me frustrated, wanting to read more! I need my own flame kigao to warn me when the book is about to end!

[Silvia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Madcap caper

This second book in the series continues about a year and a half after the first one ends. I find the narcissistic Jubal in a race against time to find a cure for the plague he's contracted. He's got about 3 to 6 months before this fatal disease turns my beautiful hero into a Beautiful Corpse. And my oh my, he needs the help of Carina to find the cure. Yes, the very one he "cut loose" from his life. Can he reignite the spark of what must now be a dying ember? Hmmm, read on.

So the madcap chase is on to find a cure that includes treks through various types of terrains with mutants of every size, shape and Carina's fiancé. Oops, let's back up a few steps. Did I just mention Carina's fiancé? Lordy, I sure did! Nick Beausoleil is his name and jealousy is his game. Can you blame him? I literally was laughing so hard I had tears rolling down my face as Jubal exaggerates his history with Carina to the befuddled and not so amused Nick. The combination of Jubal, Carina and Nick is the perfect formula for a rip roaring good time. But like the first book, just when I thought I was getting comfortable I got to the last line in the book...uh oh....wtf? My rating for this crazy caper is a solid 5 stars.

[Maraya21 (The Reading Dragon) · Rating 3 out of 5]

💋 "Jubal is here!" BR with my gurl Elinor, housed in Maraya's Cave Of Freaking Wonders 💋


3.5 Stars


I adore Jubal, I really do, but this book fell a bit short compared to the first.

I felt like nothing really happened in this book beside people trying - and failing half the time - to one-up each other and give us some info.

I am not sure if this would have been better as a inbetween short or as it is. Either way I did enjoy it, just not as much as the first one. I can't wait to get to the next book!

[Carlos R. Bisquertt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a blast reading Beautiful Corpse, just as with revenge of the Bloodslinger. It expands on the universe of the Revived Earth and its main characters, while keeping the dark humor that made the first one so unique.

I'm eagerly awaiting for the next installment. Also, as another reviewer mentioned, it would make a terrific live action series... or, since it's pertinent to the book, an RPG in the vein of KOTOR.

[Peter Carlstrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

Jabal is as conceited and belligerent as always although this time he is under an imminent threat of dying which doesn’t dampen his arrogance nor narcissism. He appears the be slowly falling in love with Karina or whatever Jabal thinks love is. The adventures were fast, brutal and violent and oh, soo good.

[Elinor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jubal Fucking Van Zandt is the fucking best. Also that ending ??

[Viking Jam · Rating 2 out of 5]

https://koeur.wordpress.com/2017/06/2...

Publisher: Shadow Alley

Publishing Date: June 2017

ASIN: B072M1HVRG

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 2.4/5

Publishers Description: A deadly plague is ravaging the world’s population and threatening to kill the only person Jubal Van Zandt cares about—himself. If he doesn’t find a cure soon, he’s dead.

Review: I really loved the Bloodslinger. It encompassed a poetic blend of witty repartee’, great action and sexual tension all residing within a diverse world. In Beautiful Corpse the one liners are so constant, that it detracts from the storyline and character development. The sexuality is forced and overt, rendering the characters as one dimensional. The elegance in the first novel gave way to this idea that if you liked the first , then hitting you over the head with Jubal in the second, will be even better.

Narcissistic sociopaths are usually rendered with a darker side, sans the witticisms, and usually embark on any venture with a high level of manipulation. They rarely admit their weaknesses and are not so glib as to share those machinations in casual conversations. So subtlety is eschewed in favor of entertainment. I get that, but not while sacrificing depth of character. The quest falls flat in terms of movement and the ending is truncated and obtuse.

A short read that still had a some funny moments.

[D.J. Bodden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some people might think this is a book about how much of a dick Jubal van Zandt is, something he'd be the first to agree about both on the importance of the question and its veracity. Or at least he would if he wasn't terribly busy dying a few burning, crystallizing cells at a time.

Others might be distracted by the typical Emden chimerical wonders like siren-cockatrices and giant crabs whose brains and vitals are in their forelegs, parasitical glow worms in human hosts and a tribe that skins people alive, but that's largely window dressing.

Like Revenge of the Bloodsinger, Beautiful Corpse is a series of events centered around a dialog between Jubal van Zandt and Carina Xiao, with asides by Carina's fiancé Nick Beausoleil. There's probably more substance to the Carina/Nick relationship, but the story is told from Jubal's perspective and he's not that interested, though I was pleased to see he actually does like Nick, on some level, even if he tells Carina he's going to destroy their relationship.

Because Jubal's a dick.

But it's more a story about Carina embracing her distant and not so distant past honestly - there's a strong Speaker for the Dead vibe to it, though she's doing it while everyone's still alive. There's a really neat moment where she says her past can't hurt her because she owns it, and it's nice to see that level of internal growth. Nick provides some interesting off camera play as well; since Jubal and Carina are both so alike, Nick is better than them at a lot of things and thinks some of the stuff the master manipulators obsess about is trivial. I feel like he gets unfairly discounted by both protagonists.

*MAYBE SPOILERS*
The book ends on a cliffhanger with a new tech-cult on the rise and Jubal's disease unresolved. Jubal himself feels milder toward himself and Carina, while lashing out more cruelly against others, possibly because the overlap between the two has blurred the lines of individuality.
*END SPOILERS*

All in all, it was a fun romp, and a neat and sometimes raw introspective journey.

[Mr Tdj · Rating 5 out of 5]

a nice follow on from book one plenty of new character development in there and of course a few more twists n turns, on to book 3 :)