Gil’s All Fright Diner
Gil’s All Fright Diner, by A. Lee Martinez
Published: May 1, 2005 by Tor Books
At A Glance: Welcome to Gil’s All Night Diner, where zombie attacks are a regular occurrence and you never know what might be lurking in the freezer…
Duke and Earl are just passing through when they stop at Gil’s for a quick bite to eat. They aren’t planning to stick around – until Loretta, the eatery’s owner, offers them one hundred dollars to take care of her zombie problem. Given that Duke is a werewolf and Earl’s a vampire, this should be easy money.
But the shambling dead are just the tip of the iceberg. Seems someone’s out to drive Loretta from the diner and is more than willing to raise a little hell on earth if that’s what it takes. Duke and Earl suddenly find themselves facing such otherworldly complications as undead cattle, an amorous ghost, a jail bait sorceress, and the terrifying occult power of pig Latin.
And maybe – just maybe – the end of he world, too.
What the Goose? This is Martinez’s debut novel, and as a story, it’s got some promise. I admit I liked the ideas of zombie cows, and there’s a Magic Eight Ball that made me laugh out loud when I first came across it. And that Eight Ball has a lot more to do in the story than at first glance would reveal. Duke and Earl are fun, as I’d never imagined redneck werewolves or wimpy vampires.
What really surprised me the most, and this isn’t a good surprise, was the inside front cover. Why? This is where the publisher decided to put the fact that this book was awarded Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Assocation. This despite the fact that there’s extensive profanity from page one (yes, page one) and quite a bit of teenage promiscuity. Thankfully, there weren’t any detailed sex scenes.
But, come on! The profanity alone is going to keep me from ever reading another A. Lee Martinez book. And when you add in the jail bait sorceress using sex as a means of controlling her dimwitted minion or lusting after the overweight werewolf just because he had morals and knew better… It was just a bit much for me. Much less recommend it to anyone under the age of 18! This just shows me how little you can trust awards, or the Library Association.
Sorry, A. Lee. Interesting premise, decent story-telling, but… I just can’t swallow it.
Oh, and the dedication. Sorry, while he probably meant it as a joke, it comes off as rather arrogant to dedicate the book to himself: To Me, because I wrote it. Well, good for you, Lee. Good for you. Please excuse me while I find my Dresden Files.
That’s my $0.02.
I’d go as far as to call that review “scathing”. Clearly, we have different tastes.
Not too surprising, given that one book… what was it called…? Oh yeah!
Driven. :)
Ah, yes, I gave Driven two stars, so I trust you’d have given it four or five. Good call.
When are we going to realize that young adults under the age of 18 are not children. They do not want to read boring childish books. Sex and what some would consider “bad” language are a part of their lives. Anything else would be considered unrealistic. As it is completely normal and natural for young adults (especially those as old as 16 or 17) to be sexually active, how can it be in any way damaging to read about sexuality? The book in question absolutely deserves the well earned award from the ALA.
My thought is simply this: Yes, perhaps some of our youth are sexually active. But why foster it? Why promote it? Why allow it to be viewed as something normal? I believe that it is best to hold out until marriage to have sex, and that it should be kept to that person and no one else.
And I’m not saying teens are children. There are plenty of books out there that are not childish for teens to read that don’t include sex or, for that matter, profanity. (Profanity, by the way, isn’t so much “bad” language as it is a lack of vocabulary.)