Not Dead Enough by Mina Carter

Hello everyone,

The hero is a zombie! You all know I love zombie based romances, I blame The Walking Dead, but I’ve never read one where the hero was a zombie. Therefore I couldn’t resist reading Not Dead Enough by Mina Carter.

The book:

Brett Perkins was a soldier until the Project killed him. Now he's finding that life after death isn't so hot. With the Project base destroyed, he and his team have been tasked with running down and destroying a group of rogue Bloods. Unfortunately the vampires always seem to be one step ahead. Then they start kidnapping women...

Thanks to her soon-to-be ex-husband, Julia Collier is despised and reviled in the small town of Greenwood. His stories have painted her as everything from an air-headed gold-digger to a nymphomaniac serial killer. She can't even shop in the local store without suffering abuse from her fellow townsfolk, and that's before the late night calls or her ex's bully-boys following her.

When her home is broken into Julia assumes it's her husband making good on his threats to 'deal with her for good'. She never dreams that it will lead a descent into another, terrifying world. One inhabited by werewolves, vampires... and zombies. Or that zombies could be so damn hot. Especially one certain example who makes her heart pound and all her common sense disappear over the horizon. After all, what woman in her right mind would fall for the undead?

My thoughts:

Why couldn’t this book be longer! It was one of those books that I couldn’t stop reading but didn’t want to finish. Mina Carter has reinvented the zombie, making them hotter, stronger and faster; instead of the sluggish brain-eating monsters of popular culture. Brett and his friends were part of a top-secret government project but have since gone rogue and are now hunting down a group of Bloods (vampires) that are kidnapping women. Our heroine Julia is one of these kidnapped women but manages to escape and runs straight into the arms of Brett.

“Electricity arced between them at the first touch of her fingers. He gasped, the air snatched from his lungs as the darkness, the non-human part of him that craved blood and death, surged forward as though pulled towards her’.

Mina Carter embraces the paranormal nature of her characters and incorporates the uniqueness of each race into the romance. This can been seen in the attraction between Brett and Julia, which is fuelled by darker desires due to Brett’s Zombie nature. But for those who like sex-scenes on the more vanilla, don’t worry Not Dead Enough doesn’t go BDSM crazy. I appreciated this element of the romance as it reinforced the fact that Brett wasn’t human. Although Mina Carter has radically re-invented what a Zombie is, she doesn’t shy away from the mythology she has created. None of the altered humans pretend that they are still normal, even those who haven’t  fully accepted what they have become. The romance between Brett and Julia develops at a fast pace, partly supported by the instantaneous lust they have for one enough. Also as is common with most post-apocalyptic Not Dead Enough is a fast paced, action driven romance where the hero and heroine are put into extreme circumstances. So although they did have tender moments this is perhaps not the book for people who enjoy more slow-burn romances.

‘Sweetpea. You’ve been hiding a bad-ass survivor under all that cuteness. The type that eats nails and spitz razor-blades. The type that takes what life has given her and uses it to protect others’.

One of ways Mina Carter expresses the growing tenderness between Brett and Julia is through the use of endearment. While reading this book sweetie became one my favourite terms of endearment. Something about the way Brett used it when talking to Julia was hot and adorable all at the same time. As with all great couples Brett and Julia supported, comforted and protected each other without being co-dependent. They are both strong characters willing to fight for what they believed in. While reading Not Dead Enough I got the impression it was the first in a spin-off series, and certainly Brett’s three teammates (also Zombies) were all intriguing enough to warrant their own stories. If you are in the mood for an action-packed and unusual take on the post-apocalyptic genre then I would recommend you give Not Dead Enough a read.

My rating:

Happy reading and see you next time!