Shakespeare Undead (Shakespeare Undead #1) by Lori Handeland

Something wicked this way comes . . . and it keeps coming and coming and coming. . . .

William Shakespeare was one of history's greatest writers, a master of words with a body of work that is truly impressive . . . some may say a little too impressive for a single man to accomplish in one lifetime. Perhaps, as many have speculated, he had assistance. Or perhaps the explanation is more . . . unusual.

Who was William Shakespeare?

Who was the Dark Lady of the Sonnets?

Why are the undead stalking the alleyways of London?

And can they be stopped?

Something is definitely rotten in the state of Denmark.

So brace yourself for a wild ride through twisted streets and shadowed graveyards of Elizabethan London, where you'll discover how the Bard got his Bite.

I have Zombie Isand on the review pile and thought I'd better read the first book. Something told me I would be better off reading these in order (don't faint). So, off I went to the library. Of course the person who had checked it out hadn't brought it back and it was a few weeks overdue. So, I had to wait for the interlibrary loan to come through. What does this have to do with the book? Not much, just wanted to remind you to return your library books. Someone may need it for an upcoming review! ;D

This book takes Shakespeare and makes light of him and his works. So, staunch Shakespearians beware. You must have a sense of humor for this book. The story was a mixture of Shakespeare in Love and paranormal elements. Will is a vampire who has the ability to raise the dead. Kate is someone who was taught to kill zombies from her nanny. Their love story does follow the movie closely and in fact I could see many of the movie elements I recognized in my head. Actually, that sort of made it fun for me.

The parts I didn't care for in the book was the mixture of language. Will would speak in his poetic form but would often suddenly switch to "normal" speech. There was also a back and forth POV between Will and Kate and sometimes it was jarring as you would forget who was speaking for a minute. I had to reread some chapters over because of this. My last complaint is the mixture of contemporary film within his play ideas. It just didn't make sense to me, but I did see where the author was going with those segments. However, I feel it would have been best to have stuck with the plays he wrote at this time.

I give this book 3 stars. Despite my complaints I still found it entertaining. If nothing else, it did make me want to see Shakespeare in Love again. At least this one has a better ending!

(YaY! I finally got my first book up for this challenge!)