Gil's All Fright Diner - Book Review
March 12, 2022
A funny, light hearted read about the end of the world, along with a side order zombies, ghosts, and of course burger and fries.
Synopsis
Welcome to Gil's All Night Diner, where zombie attacks are a regular occurrence and you never know what might be lurking in the freezer ...
Duke and Earl are just passing through Rockwood county in their pick-up truck when they stop at the Diner for a quick bite to eat. They aren't planning to stick around-until Loretta, the eatery's owner, offers them $100 to take care of her zombie problem. Given that Duke is a werewolf and Earl's a vampire, this looks right up their alley.
But the shambling dead are just the tip of a particularly spiky iceberg. Seems someone's out to drive Loretta from the Diner, and more than willing to raise a little Hell on Earth if that's what it takes. Before Duke and Earl get to the bottom of the Diner's troubles, they'll run into such otherworldly complications as undead cattle, an amorous ghost, a jailbait sorceress, and the terrifying occult power of pig-latin.
And maybe--just maybe--the End of the World, too.
Gory, sexy, and flat-out hilarious, Gil's All Fright Diner will tickle your funnybone--before ripping it out of its socket!
Details
- 2005
- Tor Books
- Written by A. Lee Martinez
What's the Book About?
What to say, what to say? A werewolf, a vampire, and a slew of hilarious events are to be found in Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez.
The story begins with Duke, our werewolf, and Earl our vampire heading down a county road towards the town of Rockwood. With their beat up pickup running on empty, they stop by a diner to grab a bite to eat (food of course, not people) where they meet Loretta, the current caretaker of Gil's Diner (Gil has gone missing — no one knows what happened to him).
Duke, after munching down some of his burger and fries, and Earl, (who wasn't hungry ... he had already, uhm, "eaten") help Loretta fend off an attack of zombies. Impressed, Loretta offers them a job to get a gas line connected to her new stove — little do they know that their stay in Rockwood might just end up stopping a world ending apocalypse from happening.
My Review
This is one funny novel. A. Lee Martinez does a great job telling a story and building his characters.
We have our heroes Loretta, the proprietor of the diner, Duke, our gruff werewolf, and Earl, our grouchy vampire facing off against the villainous Mistress Lilith (well, her name is actually Tammy, but she prefers Mistress Lilith) our 17 year old teenager, aspiring to become a goddess by helping the old gods return to the world.
The book is full of very funny interactions between each of the characters. From Earl yelling at Duke over the silliest of things, to Tammy keeping her horny henchmen/boyfriend Chad in check, to the back-and-forth banter between the old couple at the hardware store this book focuses on relationships more than the actual apocalypse.
Don't get me wrong, the apocalypse is coming, but it's not an ever-present fear smothering the atmosphere of the book — think of it as the eventual bill to a very enjoyable dinner out with a friend.
There were parts to the book where I laughed out loud. It was an easy read — the characters were humorous and the setting, while filled with zombies, black magic, and other paranormal entities, was urban enough that the paranormal parts seemed just about normal in the town of Rockwood.
The book is a diverse variety of happenings. Rockwood isn't just a small town in the middle of nowhere, it's a bustling centre for weirdness — from zombie cows, to a woman who turns into a piranha thing-a-mabob every three months, Rockwood is not boring. The people of Rockwood have come to accept this and go about their business — which just makes the story funnier.
Would I Recommend this Book?
Yes, I would recommend this book. If you are looking for a funny, light hearted read about the end of the world, along with a side order of fries, then this book is for you.
