A.M. Harte

Okay let's get this out in the open first. I LOVE zombies. I mean it. Those undead, rotting corpses just so happen to be one of my favorite fodders for a good story. Sure, they may not have a pulse. That doesn't mean that they can't be totally fascinating! So of course when A.M. Harte approached me to review Hungry For You, I instantly accepted. Anytime I see zombies and sexy (see the trailer) in the same paragraph, I have to wonder what is inside the pages. I dived right in like a zombie show more eating a brain!

Rather than review each story separately or choose my favorites, which would be hard because they are all great, I'll just give you my overall opinion. I can even give it to you in four simple words. This book is awesome. Seriously! Each story is so different, but so well-written. Picking a favorite is like trying to choose an ice cream flavor on a hot day. It's just too hard. What I liked best was that even if a story was a little slow, or weird, the next one will pick you right up again. Thus is the beauty of anthologies.

Anyhow Hungry For You is a testament to why zombies are so much fun to read. At their core they are still people, and they still have a humanity to them despite their decaying state. Each story in this anthology shows a little bit into the mind of these shambling past humans. Some are about love that grows stronger, others are about love that just won't die, and still others border on that obsessive lust that we sometimes see as love. Make no mistake, these aren't your typical zombie stories! There is a message in each short story, and that is what I loved so much about reading.

If you love zombies, or even have a slight interest in them, you're likely to enjoy Hungry For You! There is so much zombie goodness, without too much of the zombie gore. Sure, you might be a bit confused at times. I'll admit I had to re-read one or two stories again to understand exactly what they were getting at, but overall it is so worth it. Again I state, it is the humanity that these stories bring to zombie kind that makes me happy. I loved it and I look forward to more! show less

Hungry For You is a collection of short stories by A.M. Harte. The common thread that holds all of these stories together is love. This love is the warped, dark love that walks the line between life and death. I think A.M Harte said it best when she says, "Love is, you could say, very much like a zombie."

The stories that Ms. Harte has created takes a new approach on zombie love. What if being a zombie was common and couples not only had to deal with every day situations but had the added show more stress of decomposition to worry about? A perfect, and somewhat humorous, example is A Prayer to Garlic. Told from the wife's point of view, A Prayer to Garlic tells the story of what concerns a wife, who happens to be a zombie, has when her mother-in-law is coming over for dinner. But this isn't your average zombie couple. Mog and his wife happen to prefer pork over human meat which goes against everything the zombie mother-in-law stands for. Let's hope the garlic will disguise the pork and the mother-in-law won't notice the difference.

In The Perfect Song, Ms. Harte reminds me that there may be more than one way to become a zombie and affirms my decision to not drink tea at the same time. When a batch of contaminated tea is released as an herbal alternative to anti-depressants, Michael decides to give it a try in order to take his mind off of his current situation. Michael just wants to make Valerie proud of his music and in turn, proud of him. But how does a zombie stay focused when he is determined to get his next fix?

And last but not least, the story in which this collection is named after, Hungry For You. This story takes a much different approach than the rest of its companions. Ms. Harte shows us that there is more than one way to skin a rat...or in this case, more than one way to feed a zombie. In Hungry For You, zombies do not crave flesh, but rather crave sins of the flesh. It pays to have a pretty face as only the elite survive in this tale.

I strongly suggest everyone who enjoys zombies, love stories or even just twisted tales to read Hungry For You. It's a guarantee that you will love most, if not all, of these stories. show less

I rarely read short stories, and it's even more rare that I review collections of them, but Hungry For You by A.M. Harte was a worthwhile exception to this trend as it is unlike any collection - and really, unlike any book - I've ever encountered. And I mean that as an incredibly high compliment!

This work takes on the genre of zombies but rather than the typical approach to the zombie apocalypse with hordes of undead taking over the world (or classic literature), Harte uniquely examines show more zombies in a sympathetic light. In these stories, the undead are the heroes, the romantic leads, and the misunderstood protagonists of a wide variety of scenarios.

The entries in the collection range in scope of a few lines to several pages. Some are funny, some are disturbing but all are entertaining and well written. For those that appreciate the lighter side of zombie fiction and enjoy a chuckle with their chills, this is definitely a book to devour! show less

A while back, I remember a friend joking about how there were vampire romances, werewolf romances, ghost romances, and finally after musing over the different shades of paranormal romance out there, he said, "What's next? Zombie romance?"

A.M. Harte's Hungry For You answers that question with a resounding yes. It's a collection of short zombie love stories and poems. The topics range from zombies in love, to humans in love with zombies, to humans in love with each other fighting off the show more zombies, to humans facing their loved ones slowly turning into zombies. If zombies and love can be worked into it, Harte's written about it.

As writing from the point of view of flow of words, elegant prose, and vivid description, these stories were quite lovely. As writing from the point of view of world building and taking an old classic trope, the zombie, and spiffing it up for the modern reader, they are very well done. In fact, my only real complaint about this book is that it's a collection of short stories and not a novel.

There are so many intriguing questions raised by this collection: How did the zombie plague start? How did it end? Why? What happened to the zombies when it was over? and on and on, all of which I would have been very happy to know more about. It's high praise to tell a writer that you wanted more, but this collection was a bit like going to a really good restaurant, getting a plate covered in little tidbits, some are plate licking good, some are just tasty, but in the end, as you're staring at that empty plate, you're still hungry.

As with any collection of short stories, some of the tales were stronger than others. The first few in particular didn't seem like complete stories to me. I kept expecting the book to go back to those characters and tell me more about what happened. But they were left in eternal literary limbo. Once past them, I lost the sense of "Huh? That's it?" and enjoyed the stories that came next immensely.

So, if you'd like to expand your paranormal romance horizons, go grab a copy. It's well worth the money and time. And, maybe, if enough of us buy Hungry For You, we'll encourage A.M. Harte to write the full story of her version of the zombie plague. show less