Book Review & Giveaway: Working Stiffs by Lucy Leitner

Used by permission as posted on Tim’s Book Reviews.

Premise: Pro-Well Pharmaceuticals is Pittsburgh’s premiere pharmaceutical company, led by the former meth dealer Marshall Owens, developing drugs that treat diseases and ailments such as erectile dysfunction. When a terrible accident stops production, however, their dirty little secret is revealed: the factory workforce is actually full of zombies who only need payment in human flesh.

The office employees quickly go into survival mode, banding together or falling victim to undead hunger. They gather makeshift weapons of paper cutters and staplers in order to fight off zombie hordes as they try to escape the building before it’s time to clock out. Marshall Owens has barricaded himself in his fourth floor office, but his surviving employees might have plans of making him pay for his crimes against nature.

The zombie horde amassing outside the building makes their escape plans even more of a challenge, especially with no contact with the outside world. The outbreak has spread to other parts of the city, but the surrounded building isn’t enough to make these employees work overtime.

Themes: Survival is the key in any zombie outbreak, and that is no different in Working Stiffs. Improvisation is essential, especially when trying to find food, water, and weapons. Knowing your enemy is important as you make a plan for survival. The employees search for office supplies that can double as weapons and do their best to plan for escape from the Pro-Well building. We are given insight into the creativity needed for survival situations.

Romance sort of plays a role in the story, though a small part, even if it is unrequited or hidden between unlikely characters. Two employees make their secret romance known, while the goth girl on her first day of work longs for the gay pessimist who becomes the appointed leader of the survivors.

Pros: The dialogue is pretty funny if you aren’t offended by obscenity. The unique characters are probably the best part of Working Stiffs, being thoughtfully characterized without becoming too much of a caricaturization. I liked the fast pace of the action and the funny conversations, especially of the boorish O’Brien. And the loveable General will surprise everyone with his leadership. I also liked that no one is safe when it comes to becoming a zombie meal.

Cons: One of the problems I had with Working Stiffs was that I wasn’t convinced the improvised weapons would have been quite as effective as they were. I don’t think reams of paper and telephones with cords attached would smash a skull as well as they did in the story. A minor gripe considering the humorous nature of the book, I feel like it ended with a few loose ends unresolved while other things tied up too quickly. Perhaps it needed a bigger climactic event to have more payoff. I thought some of the content was offensive for the sake of being offensive, such as with the self-depreciating homosexual or the comments about obese people.

Recommendations: If there is such a thing as a lighthearted zombie gore fest, this falls into that category. Working Stiffs is humorous, full of violence, gore, profanity, and indiscriminately offensive toward all social groups, from geek to goth, including religion, race, age, sexual preference, weight, et al. Some people will be offended by these things while others will greatly enjoy the book because of them. I have a feeling after reading this review you will know which camp you fall into. Think of Working Stiffs as a cross between Office Space and Shaun of the Dead.

– Tim
Working Stiffs on Goodreads
Lucy Leitner on Twitter
Working Stiffs on Facebook
Buy Working Stiffs on Amazon
Necro Publishing

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And now for the giveaway!
We will pick two US/Canada winners to receive a signed copy and one international winner to receive an ebook. All you have to do is answer the question in the comments below:

“What would be your weapon of choice if you were stuck in an office building during a zombie outbreak?”

You can also get extra entries in the contest, but you must answer the question for them to count:
+1 Follow Lucy on Twitter @TheLucyLeitner
+1 Follow ZAI on Twitter @zpoc_awareness
+1 Tweet about the giveaway & post a link to your tweet
+1 Like Working Stiffs on Facebook
+1 Like Zombie Awareness International on Facebook

Make sure you post extra entries in your comment. Also let us know if you are a US/Canada or international entry. You have until 11:59 p.m. PT on Friday, October 26 to enter. Winners will be chosen from entries and contacted by email within 48 hours to get your shipping information. Good luck to everyone!

5,000 Facebook Member Giveaway

We have an amazing group of people who contribute information for survival on our Facebook page. We grew from a handful of friends to a devoted 5,000+ members who want to share awareness of threats, ways to be prepared, and knowledge for survival. As a way of saying thank you to everyone, we will be doing a series of giveaways throughout the summer, and hopefully for years to come. The first of these giveaways is simple: just leave a comment saying you wish to participate.  We have not one, but three prizes to give away this time. Here is what you can win:

Rite in the Rain Nº 935T-KIT
Universal 3 in x 5 in Kit
Tan Cordura® fabric Cover
Black All Weather Pen

We have three of these 3×5 Rite in the Rain kits to give away. The paper allows you to write in wet weather, as the name implies, the pen is all-weather and writes upside-down, and it fits in an easy to carry pouch. You never know when you will need to write something down, take notes, or draw a map in the rain in order to survive.

We want to make it easy for anyone to win, so all you have to do is leave a comment on this post to enter. You will need to enter a valid email address so we can contact the winners, but we won’t sell, share, or do anything else with the information you provide. Comments are moderated, so they may not show up immediately. Just one comment per person. We will use a random number generator to select winners.

Thank you and good luck to everyone! We have more giveaways to come.

The fine print:
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A purchase does not improve your chances of winning. Sweepstakes open worldwide, to those who are 18 or older. Giveaway winners under 18 must have their parent or legal guardian over the age of 18 claim their prize for them. To enter, comment on this post beginning at 8:00 p.m. Pacific Time (PT) July 2, 2012. Sweepstakes ends at 11:59 p.m. PT July 9, 2012. Duplicate entries will disqualify you from winning. Void where prohibited by law.

And the winners are…

Holden Rifat
David Brinegar
Tiffany Beal