Bring Me Flesh, I'll Bring Hell: A Horror Novel (Vitus Adamson Series Book 1)

Vitus Adamson is falling apart. As a pre-deceased private investigator, he takes the prescription Atroxipine hourly to keep his undead body upright and functioning. Whenever he is injured, he seeks Niko, a bombshell mortician with bedroom eyes and a way with corpses, to piece him back together. Decomposition, however, is the least of his worries when two clients posing his most dangerous job yet appear at his door looking for their lost son. Vitus is horrified to discover the photo of the couple's missing son is a picture-perfect reproduction of his long dead son. This leads him to question the events of his tormented past; he must face the possibility that the wife and child he believed he murdered ten years ago in a zombie-fugue have somehow survived . . . or is it just wishful thinking designed to pull him into an elaborate trap? Unfolding like a classic film noir mixed with elements of a B-movie, Bring Me Flesh, I'll Bring Hell is an imaginative spin on the hard-boiled detective genre and a new twist on the zombie novel. In Vitus Adamson, you will find a protagonist you can care about and invest in as he takes you through his emotional journey of betrayal and quest for redemption. Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors. It’s noir of the living dead in this detective novel that’s “part Chandler, part Romero . . . This book is what zombie fans have been waiting for” (Joe McKinney, Bram Stoker Award–winning author). Who does a zombie detective go to when he’s falling apart? For Vitus Adamson, mostly upright and functioning, it’s Niko. Whenever Vitus is injured, the bombshell mortician with bedroom eyes, a Bettie Page bob, and a way with corpses, helps to piece him back together. Decomposition, however, is the least of his worries when two clients looking for their lost son draw the private investigator into his most dangerous job yet. Vitus is horrified to discover that the couple’s missing boy is a dead ringer for his own long-deceased son. Questioning the events of his tormented past, he faces the possibility that the wife and child he thought he’d eaten ten years ago in a zombie-fugue have somehow survived. Or is it just wishful thinking designed to pull him into an elaborate trap? In “this hard-boiled homage to zombie fiction,” an emotional, blood-spattered journey of betrayal and quest for redemption begins (Publishers Weekly). The result is “Dashiell Hammett meets Max Brooks and James Ellroy . . . I think [Vitus] can safely expect to ‘live’ in the annals of genre fiction for many years to come” (Scott Kenemore, bestselling author of Zombie, Ohio). Cover; Title Page; Copyright; Dedication; Part 1: Lazar House Blues; Part 2: Lord of the Flesh Eaters; Part 3: Knight Rising; Part 4: Goodbye to the Bones