2013 Zombie Awareness Month
The Book of Riley 2: A Zombie Tale by Mark Tufo
Read by Sean Runnette
Length: 2 Hrs 46 Min
Genre: Zombie Apocalypse with Talking Animals
Quick Thoughts: Today my dog Munch stops by with a guest review of this action packed Zombie Apocalypse novella featuring Riley, Patches and Ben Ben. This time, the pack passes through Vegas where some humans are up to no good. Another fun entry to the series.
Grade: B+
Today’s Special Guest Reviewer
Hello people who read this. My Name is Munch, Ace dog detective and 20 lb ball of ravenous fury that intimidate all who walk past my patio window. Many of you may know my human Bob. For some reason he likes to sit in front of this box and make annoying sounds with his fingers instead of taking me for walks and sniffing things. He never sniffs things. When he does take me for walks, he always picks up this thing that makes noises into his earholes. Not sure what it’s called, but I like it because it means he’s going to take me out for a walk, except for when it means he’s going to take leave me alone with my cat sister. Now, I’m an ace detective and keen observer and I’m unsure why he actually needs to shove things into his ears, but I tend to pick up some of the human words that come out. Bunch of stupid stuff. Talk about zombies, robots and angry people yelling objection and hiding out in buildings with a bunch of kibble. Why he doesn’t just pay attention to the scent stories floating around in the air, I don’t know.
Recently I noticed he was listening to another one about the dead humans eating live humans again, but there was lots of talk bout this Riley bitch…. a dog. This caught my attention. This dog was an American Bulldog, so they say, but we dog’s don’t really care about the color and shape of other dogs as much as you humans do. I hear humans even get mad over who is sniffing who. Whatever. One day when Bob left, my Cat sister Cali, who can read human words told me that Bob wrote about this Riley bitch and the human word stories she was telling. What shocked me was that Bob told all the others who read from boxes that I’m wouldn’t be a good zombie dog, just because I choose to be a bit picky since I have the luxury to. Human’s make no sense. Us dogs adapt to any situation, and if I need to, I can take down any human living or dead that I need to, even if they make sudden moves or walk strangely. As a professional detective and intimidating watch dog, I’d be the perfect zombie dog.
Munch on the Case
So, the next time Bob listened to his human word stories about this Riley bitch, I paid attention. It seems this Riley, his pack mate Ben Ben and his cat sister Patches had two herd two of their humans to a place called Collar Rado and on the way they have to pass through Vegas. Vegas is a big human place full of lots of lights and noise and bad people. I liked Riley, but I was often confused why she though of her humans as Alphas. Maybe it’s a bitch thing. I, myself am an Alpha, and my humans and cat sister cater to my every whim. Well, maybe not the cat.
Riley and Ben Ben made a strong team. Riley was put into a bad situation and the humans made her fight another dog, a Dober Man Pincher. I am part Miniature Pincher, whatever that means (I think the miniature refers to my stoic nature), but not a Dober Man. It sucked that Riley had to fight another dog because humans made her. I am always up for a fight, but I prefer using techniques like intimidating sniffing, tail bristling and sent marking to establish my dominance. Oh, and occasionally humping, in emergency situations. Riley was a smart dog. While she didn’t understand things like Eight and some human words, she knew her duty and did it, with the help of her Cat sister.
I found the relationship between Riley and her cat sister quite interesting. I like my cat sister. She’s one of the good ones. She gives me advice and helps me figure out human things, and in return, I eat her food when the humans try to give her medicine. Riley’s relationship with his cat sister was more contentious. (Cali says that means they fought a lot.) It was funny though. I had a couple good sniffs over their antics. I also like Ben Ben, who always found a way to get treats, even in the Pocco Lips, whatever that is. The story was full of lots of stuff that humans like, like large bangs, fast moving human coaches and the true heroic nature of dogs. No mating or face smooching, though, thank the rainbow bridge.
Munch’s Cat Sister Cali
The human talking guy, Sean Runnette was interesting. Bob seemed to like him since I heard him bark once or twice while listening. Humans are strange though, he was obviously a human male and Riley was a bitch. He definitely made Ben Ben interesting using human words. Also, Patches the cat sister was a smooth talker. I could see Riley falling under her catty spells. My human seemed to really like this talking word story. We actually took longer walks why he was listening, allowing me to sniff and mark things to I ran out of my sweet juices. I’m sure looking forward to more of these talking dog zombie Poco Lips tales, since I can get some more walks out of it. And some of my favorite meat sticks. Plus, I’m intrigued by this Bacon thing. Need to ask the cat about that.
Note: Thanks to Tantor Audio for providing me with a copy of this title for Review.
The Guilded Earlobe 
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