Frankie works at the Happy Restful Sanitorium, a housing facility for those who choose to keep their loved ones around long after their death. With so many hungry bodies around, life is difficult—Especially when Frankie’s husband, George, somehow becomes infected. Frankie soon discovers that hiding an illegal zombie isn’t as easy as she’d thought.
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REVIEWS for FRANKIE & FORMALDEHYDE:
Review by: Zoe E. Whitten on Aug. 31, 2011 :
Frankie and Formaldehyde is a strong story right from the start, and it just keeps building on those strengths as the plot unfolds.
Take a zombie nursing home similar to the kind depicted in Michele Lee's Rot. But instead of magic animating these undead, a corporation, Osmosis, Inc. has created a compound to bring the dead back to life. But unlike most zombie apocalypse stories, Osmosis does not entirely lose control of the situation, and the undead are herded into arenas and fed. Afterward, the company is even selling the compound to grieving family members using predatory ad campaigns to prey on peoples' inability to accept death.
Enter into this cold world an elderly woman named Frankie, who, along with coworkers Shirley and Larry, shovels rotting meat to the corpses in one of the arenas. She works constantly because Osmosis has taken over her bank and swindled her on her home loan.
Did I mention that Frankie's husband is a zombie? George isn't like the others, and instead of being a violent "rogue" he passes most of his days watching TV and eating bacon raw. But when Frankie leaves her door unlocked in a fit of worrying, George gets outside and begins to uncover a plot by Osmosis to strip everyone's land. Only…George seems to have discovered this before, back when he was alive…
Enter into this mess a S.I.R. investigating office, Chuck. A retired cop now working to investigate and eliminate rogues, Chuck is rightly seen by everyone as the corporate errand boy of Osmosis. Like Frankie, Chuck is in denial about how bad things have gotten, but as the story unfolds, Chuck sees how scummy Osmosis really is. Eventually, he must come to terms with this, but not before confronting George and Frankie in a truly explosive finale.
But, this is not a fast-paced story. The cast's ages range from 40-70 in most cases, so the pace moves a bit slower, befitting the cast's age. But this is not to say the story is slow or dull. It unfolds at just the right pace and delivers a great ending. There's resolution, but Shirley predicts that there can be no happy ending. And this is perhaps the most realistic assessment of their future.
So to recap, this is a great story premise, a great cast of quirky characters, fantastic dialogue, and a romantic angle that's all about love and sacrifice and nothing about sex. The scenes were descriptive enough to rip shudders from my jaded black heart, and toward the end, I was giggling gleefully with every line from Shirley or Larry. Can I gush about this story further? Yes, but I'll spare you.
I give Frankie and Formaldehyde 5 enthusiastic stars and recommend it to all zombie and horror fans who like a little brains with their blood and guts.
(reviewed long after purchase)
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