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Blood Lust 2: The Carrion by Rhys A. Wilcox
01/09/2007 . Source: Sue Davies 
pub: RAW! 212 page enlarged paperback. Price £13.95 (UK). ISBN: 978-1-4303-0014-4. Buy Blood Lust 2: The Carrion in the USA - or Buy Blood Lust 2: The Carrion in the UK  check out website: www.thebloodlust.co.uk
If, like me, you read the original, 'Blood Lust', and can't remember anything other than it was set in Leeds, don't be expected to get much help from the sequel. We are going back at least to 2003 when the first episode of this trilogy(?) came out to an unsuspecting world. Since then we have had 'Shaun Of The Dead' in the cinema and I can't help feeling sorry for Mr. Wilcox that Mr. Pegg has already cornered the market in dead comedy meat.
The story so far, for those of you who are zombie virgins, is that Cameron and Gillian, the star-crossed lovers, are dead. They haven't let that get in their way, though. Cameron the vampire has successfully re-animated Gillian in a bizarre ritual that seemed to work because 'he wanted it to'. They have escaped Leeds, lucky for them, as no one else has. Having nowhere else much to go, Cameron decides to introduce Gillian to his alcoholic father who, unhappily for some, lives in Portsmouth.
Cameron, who has friends who specialise in vampire slaying, finds he has an even weirder family. There's Auntie Anne, married to Jonathon, who's about to sacrifice her to keep his life eternal. He's used to it by now and finds it only a minor inconvenience. Her friend Linda is a daughter or Satan or the Lord of the Flies, as she likes to call him during the Satanist meetings. You can see where this is going and it's not good. Having said that, Linda turns out to be on the side of the light, if not on the side of the angels, and Jonathon gets what's coming to him early on. The trouble is there is a big fat Satanist called Gruner and a possessive demon that are quite keen on re-creating hell on earth, starting with Portsmouth. Yes, there are zombies. Yes, they like to munch on humans. Yes, there is a bucket load of death. Oh and the military.
I was a big fan of the first 'Blood Lust' and I enjoyed this one, too. The opening chapters are a bit wobbly and seem to meandering dangerously before putting on their seatbelt and accelerating gently. Eventually, I felt orientated enough to fall back into my seat and enjoy the movement. I think it needs Cameron and Gillian in at the beginning, even though the first couple of chapters are introducing the new supporting characters, it doesn't anchor the reader enough. If I had not been reviewing it, I doubt I would have bought it from its opening.
Once it gets going, though, it is bizarre, funny and gripping with a side of gross. If you thought there weren't any visual gags about zombies and removable body parts, you are so wrong. There's plenty more mileage in that and by the way, if you live in Portsmouth be afraid, be very afraid.
Sue Davies
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