Skin Trade by Tonia Brown: Review

Skin Trade by Tonia Brown Blurb

Title: Skin TradeSeries: Skin Trade Series #1Author: Tonia BrownGenre: Historical HorrorPublished: January 13th, 2015Publisher: Permuted PressAge Recommendation: 16+Formats Available: Mobi, ePub

 Synopsis 

The Great Undead Uprising of 1870 devastated the western frontier and destroyed the Indian Nations. Though the Army was able to contain the menace before it could devour the entire country, the United States lost claim to her western territories as the survivors fled to the relative safety of the east coast.Samantha Martin is among the few folks traveling west, seeking asylum within the infected territories. Running from a past that threatens to consume her, young Sam dons the mantle of a male and hides in an all boys’ workhouse that borders these Badlands. From there she is thrust into the service of the skin trade–the terrible deed of trapping and skinning zombies for profit. The work is grueling and perilous, but along the way she finds out what it takes to be a man, why she misses being a woman, and most of all what it means to be human.Can Sam keep her masquerade up long enough to flee the Badlands, or will the outlaws that rule the western frontier find out she’s female before she can escape?Skin Trade by Tonia Brown Review5 STARS
I love zombie books and I love Westerns so when I saw the cover and read the blurb for Skin Tradeby Tonia Brown I knew I wanted to read it.  I was pulled quickly under the enchantment of the author’s powerful storytelling.  The characters interacted together believably as young orphans Sam and Pete begin an unusual apprenticeship and travel from the borderlands into the Western Badlands.

I was quickly pulled into the enchantment of the well-told story – eagerly following the orphans as they learn a terrible deception has been played upon them. Sam’s sassy wit and intelligence keeps the youngster in trouble, especially after Pete is lost.  I loved the alternate history that Tonia created to explain the zombie infestation – it made sense in an evil, conspiratorial way that I easily bought into. This is an exciting, fast moving adventure that kept me up late last night because I just could not put the book down to go to sleep until I had finished it. This book was provided through the JGBS Review Library

Reviewed by Laurie-J

About the Author 

Tonia Brown is a Southern author with a penchant for Victorian dead things. She lives in North Carolina with her genius husband and an ever fluctuating number of cats. When not writing she raises unicorns and fights crime with her husband under the code names “Dr. Weird and his sexy sidekick Butternut.”