It was just supposed to be a shortcut back to the hotel. Dan Ferry and Ray Ford were exhausted from their music gig and just wanted to get some sleep. Unfortunately their shortcut puts them in contact with something they have never seen and cannot identify. They manage to escape, barely, but they are not alone. A bus full of people is not the best place to be when you’re infectious with…something. But Dan is very infected and as the infection spreads throughout the bus and then throughout the country, one has to wonder if humankind will survive to see another year.

Forget zombies, no problem. Ebola, no biggie. Suckers, on the other hand, well you better keep your head down when they come to call

An absolute horror classic. Thrilling page turner with detailed depth to characters and plot work. I couldn't put this down, it had some graphicly grotesque scenes but they added to the book. Very attentive to realistic details. A must read for any horror fan and an author comparable to James rollins. Excellent!

This was a quick apocalyptic novel - with the apocalyptic method of choice being flying leeches that cause those bitten to become vampires. It wasn't deep or moving at all, but it was a fun read that depicted friendship well. There were some gross parts and some funny parts, but the ending left a bit to be desired.

If you want a bit of an offbeat take on the vampire genre, you will probably enjoy this.

This was a great debut horror novel and I was thoroughly impressed.

While the beginning was a tad bit slow to get going, once the author found her footing it was a quick and easy read. The characters I felt were well developed and you could see the relationships between them clearly.

My only qualm is that it could have been much scarier than it was, if it hadn't focused so much on the characters. Although some people like that kind of thing, I just like it to be a bit more scary.

This is not only a pretty good horror novel but an excellently written story about friendship.

The main players in this book are extremely well developed and their different characters explored well. The story builds from the start and ends up being a thoroughly engrossing read. The characters are believable and act accordingly - they do things in situations that I would see myself doing which makes the book even more enjoyable. The Suckers are great creatures and the way their “birth” was described was a really well done “wow” moment and left me feeling quite nauseous - I love it when that happens!

The only little gripe I have, in what is a great story, is I would have liked a bit more interaction and perilous scenes with the “infected” - this is the only thing I think the book missed out on and would have taken it from a great read to a fantastic one.

Overall, a very enjoyable that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys this particular genre.

I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

When Dan and Ray walk back to their hotel after one of their show they get attacked by a bat-like creature. Ray walks away unharmed, but Dan is bitten. He is plagued by really bad headaches and feels like their are bees in his head and under his skin. This feeling only goes away when he drinks blood… His bloodlust increases by the day and Ray is their to help him out. What they don’t know is that Dan is not the only one who got bitten, and humanity might be in danger.

WOW! This book is so good; it takes everything in me not to type this review with my Caps Lock on. I wanted a good horror novel… well I got one! The bat-like creatures are thoroughly disgusting. The things Dan (and the other people who are bitten) have to go through are horrifying. There were multiple times this book actually made my skin crawl.

The horror is not the only thing I liked about this book. The relationship between Dan and his best friend Ray is another one. It is a big part of the story and it felt very real and heart-warming. They support and respect each other no matter what happens. I can’t really remember the last time I’ve read a book with a friendship like these two have. On top of that they are two very likeable guys who deal with all the weird stuff that’s happening in a very reasonable way. Not a single thing they did made me want to scream at them: WHY?! (as is usually the case in horror novels). No “let’s split up” or “let’s go out in the dark” (well almost none). With every decision made in this book I thought: “Yeah, that’s probably what I would’ve done”.

Also loved the music choices in the book. NIN, Black Rebel Motor Cycle Club, The Death Weather. YES! I also have to mention the insanely good-looking cover and the nice little drawings in the book of the bat-like creatures (not that there is anything actually nice about these things, but still).

Overall I loved SUCKERS. It was very well written and it contained a lot of elements I really liked: Dan & Ray being in a band, they listen to some very good music, the twisted sort of vampirism, and enough other freaky horror parts. So,so, so good! I would definitely recommend this to any fan of a good horror novel.

I received a free copy of Suckers in return for an honest review.

Dan and Ray decide to get some fresh air after their gig and instead of catching their ride back to the hotel they decide to walk. Unbeknown to the two, the short cut they take down an ally will result in an event that will not only change their lives forever, but will put their lives and those of everyone they know in danger.

Suckers was a really different take on vampires, zombies and a alien parasite that could wipe out the entire human race. It sounds like a mash up of different things when put like that I know, but it all works perfectly and comes together in what is a very good story.

The plot wasn't anything I could ever have expected or guessed it would be, it was unique and gave a fresh perspective to several different topics. Topics that if I am honest I feel have been totally overdone/rehashed by most and are cringingly cliché, but there is none of that happening in this story.

The relationship between the two main characters Dan and Ray really stood out in this book, their characters are well fleshed out and I enjoyed the interaction and different aspects of the two characters. The other characters were also done well, I enjoyed them all as a whole and the friendships, with all their ups and downs, were portrayed excellently.

I did find the start a little slow and it took me a bit to get into the story, but before long I was totally hooked and turning those pages eager to see what happened next. I found myself sat on my own in the dark in the wee small hours, book still clutched in my hands as everyone slept, refusing to sleep till I had finished and finish I did, in one night!

Scarlet's Web Blog: http://scarletaingeal.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/review-suckers-horror-novel.html

Goodreads Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1119900999

BookLikes Review: http://scarletaingeal.booklikes.com/post/1085095/suckers-a-horror-novel-by-z-rider

Leafmarks Review: https://www.leafmarks.com/lm/#/users/14228/books/1041002/review

AmazonUK Review: N/A Review option not available on Amazon yet. Please see attached note.

Amazon Review: N/A Review option not available on Amazon yet. Please see attached note.

A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out. - Walter Winchell

This is one of the best horror stories - and one of the best stories about friendship - that I've read in a long time.

Dan and Ray have been best buddies since freshman year in high school and now are part of the touring band TWO TONS OF DIRT. The band - Dan, Ray and Jamie - travel with their staff of five in close quarters on their tour bus that smells like "farts and old socks" and are just on the last legs of a two year tour.

They finish their show in Asheville, North Carolina and Dan and Ray decide to walk back to their hotel. Should have taken that cab, boys, because some batlike creature flies down and bites Dan on the back of the neck.

I loved this story and I loved author Rider's writing style. The story started off strong, catching my interest right off the bat (couldn't resist) and it kept my interest to the final page.

Blood and guts don't dominate every page. The tension builds slowly. And the gag reflex moments actually are mostly gore-free, at least the ones that hit me the hardest. They hit me viscerally from other angles.

The author has a real talent in drawing word pictures. I was able to visualize the people, the creatures, life as a traveling band on the bus and in close proximity in hotel rooms, the world in chaos, and the friendship of Dan and Ray.

Oh, and I liked the cover art too. Great picture.

NOTE: I received a free advance copy of this book from Dark Ride Publishing, via NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review.

[Full disclosure: I requested and received a free ebook copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]

When I picked up this book I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the blurb. Would it be a bunch of musicians caught in the middle of a vampire outbreak while on tour? That’s what it seemed like until things got going. I was really glad about that because it was a sign of the unpredictable plot that would be the hallmark of this book for me.

I’ve read a lot of vampire books and a lot of general outbreak books but I’ve never read anything like Suckers. The bat-like creatures that are Z. Rider’s vampires are so unique, so interesting that in a way I wish we could have learned more about them. However, going into the science of the vampires would have been very unrealistic considering that the main character Dan is just a musician, not a scientist. He doesn’t know any scientists, he doesn’t have a desire to learn more about his vampire situation other than how to survive it so if Rider had gone in depth into the science it would have ruined the mysterious atmosphere surrounding the creatures. In that way, the world-building is fantastic. We’re given enough information to understand things and enough information about the world outside Dan’s little bubble that we know things are bad but it never devolves into an info-dump scenario. Again, considering the main character’s background, this is far more realistic.

The plot as a result of the aforementioned unique world-building was quite unpredictable. The world doesn’t immediately go all doomsday, post-apocalyptic everyone out for themselves sort of way. No, it’s more of a slow decay as the suckers start to infect more and more people before they reach a point where hospitals and emergency services can’t handle the influx of new patients. It’s not your typical doomsday scenario and as such is actually pretty unpredictable in terms of plot. In retrospect many of the plot twists make sense because of how the characters were slowly changing throughout the story. I can honestly say that I didn’t see the end coming but it makes sense when you consider the characters Dan and Ray.

Speaking of characters, I was really impressed with them. Dan is the main character and is sort of the leader of the band but Ray is sort of the person who keeps it all together. He takes care of Jamie when Jamie goes back on his drugs, takes care of Dan when his cravings for human blood become insatiable and stays true to himself throughout the novel. Ray could have become cynical and bitter about having to take care of a lot of people but he never did and even in the face of death he stayed true to his principles. Dan himself was of course a fascinating narrator as he slowly discovered (to his horror) that he craved blood but I have to say that Ray was definitely my favourite. All of the characters, both major and minor were well developed so I really can’t complain there.

So here we have a very suspenseful horror story with an interesting new type of vampire, lots of plot twists and really believable characters that you’ll love by the end. You really can’t ask for anything more and I’m definitely excited to see what Rider decides to do with her talent in the future.

I give this book 5/5 stars.