When a zombie epidemic breaks out, Captain Rescue, a bumbling and childish superhero, and his nemesis, Dr. Malevolent, band together with a ragtag group consisting of a bunny-costume-loving henchman, an overzealous cop with a penchant for guns and SHOUTING EVERYTHING, an intelligent zombie who surprisingly isn’t looking for a brain snack, and a plethora of expendable lackeys. They all work together to make their way through a city full of zombies and find a way to end the infestation.

First, I have to say that the series name, “The Absurd Misadventures of Captain Rescue”, keeps reminding me of that children’s book called “The Adventures of Captain Underpants” for some reason. And at times, it was probably about the same level of silliness. Also, Captain Rescue was often very childlike, so I guess it fits. Keep in mind though that this is a parody so silliness is par for the course. The plot was thin and more a backdrop for the humor, but again, not uncommon for a parody.

The character I liked best was Freight, the cop who has to SHOUT EVERYTHING HE SAYS! There was even a short time when he didn’t shout everything and I actually missed it. I also liked Stubbs, the intelligent zombie, though I don’t recall it ever being explained why he ended up more coherent and self-aware than the average zombie. Dr. Malevolent--who happens to be female and it took me awhile to get used to that--was acceptably snarky and a good foil for Captain Rescue’s stupidity and silliness.

Parodies come in different flavors. Sometimes they suit me and sometimes they don’t. Humor is very subjective. This one was more of the silly slapstick variety, which I think does better in a visual medium (think Mel Brooks or Airplane movies) that can take advantage of a sight gag. Though it gave me a smile occasionally, it didn’t really suit my sense of humor. I actually ended up putting this book down for awhile to read some other books and was not that inclined to get back to it. I did end up finishing it but I felt I had to push myself through it. I also felt the writing style was a bit awkward and didn’t flow well at times, which caused me to backtrack and reread sentences.

Now when it comes to parodies, I give a little leeway for inconsistencies as things don’t always happen in a logical way. However, there were some instances where I think it was just simply an inconsistency that was overlooked rather than an aspect of the parody.

My biggest issues were the typos and other errors. Some readers have mentioned that the typos were infrequent, but in my experience they were quite frequent and it got to be very distracting. And I don’t mean a handful of typos that you might get in any book. It was more like 75+ and that is a conservative count. I got this book in a giveaway in exchange for a review, but if I had paid for it I would not have been a happy camper. I don’t feel this book was ready for prime time (and I even read a later updated version) and it would benefit from a good outsourced edit and proofread. Apparently, this has not been a problem for some readers, but if you are more sensitive to being distracted by errors then you might want to take this into consideration.

Rating: 2 (It was okay, but could've been better) ( )

From Lilac Wolf and Stuff
Great cover, but I don't remember any zombies coming out of the ground. The first part of the book is pure wackiness as Captain Rescue dashes in to save the day when Dr. Malevolent decides to rob the Bank...yes The Bank...biggest bank in town...actually from the way it sounded the ONLY bank in town.

Captain Rescue is a complete idiot...like Batman without the brains...or stacked body. Dr. Malevolent can't believe who she has to work with. It takes nothing to put him in their truck and head off. But even a broken clock is right twice a day, and somehow he gets lucky when the truck crashes at the police station.

No one is super smart, or strong, or even coordinated. Everyone is normal. Dr. Malevolent's father was killed when she was a little girl, and in her mind it was a big faceless corporation that took him out (ignoring the fact that he was a street vendor and probably just hit by a car). And Captain Rescue's parents were killed by dolphins, he swore to protect people from the dangerous mammal and grew up to meet this goal only to discover that they are actually quite docile. LOL And his cave? Under a urinal cake factory.

So the police confiscate all the evidence and Dr. Malevolent and her crew are put in jail. The guys inventorying the bank goods were not any better. One of them actually drank a dangerous green liquid, and yes that's what started the zombie apocalypse. I about died when Captain Rescue realized what was going on and unlocked the jail cell, shut the door behind him and then threw the keys outside the cell. Actually thought Dr. Malevolent was going to kill him.

So they band together, along with a psycho police officer named Freight and a talking zombie they nick-named Stubs (ok that was Captain Rescue) to save the world. Dr. Malevolent realizes that there has to be a world in order to take it over.

This book really tickled me. It was absurd, farcical, down to earth, and occasionally realistic (when that was an absurd concept). You will never find a zombie apocalypse this hilarious! And you know Dr. Malevolent has a large group of lackeys to take on death for the rest of the heroes - once Freight even throws one through a door to make sure it's not a trap - LOL. ( )

Captain Rescue is an idiot and Dr. Malevolent is a woman (yes, women can be evil too! Hahahaha!). Throw in a henchman with dual personalities, one of which is a Furry Fandom in a blue bunny suit, a zombie with a brain and dislike for human flesh, Big Foots (as in many) and a genie and you got yourself a wickedly funny tale. ( )

This story has potential. Let me start off by saying that, so you'll understand better why I also say you should read this at your own peril.

I attempted to read this book twice, and both times I couldn't make it past page 15. The writer threw in anecdotes and asides that didn't have any impact on the story as it was in those first pages. That he can turn a phrase and do so well isn't really in doubt -- the problem I have though is that the mini stories didn't matter. If the ministory doesn't matter, then don't include it because the reader doesn't care.

The story is narrated to the reader for most of the book (I guess. I didn’t make it that far.) It reads like a NaNoWriMo story – great potential as the scaffolding for the REAL book that will take another two years to write. The author should go back to the drawing board and learn more craft: showing versus telling and what “Character Point of View” can do for the flow. The writing needs tightening as well as a very hard critique and edit by a professional.

So yes, this story has potential, but that's all it has going for it right now. ( )

Got this book throug the librarything give away program. The book is crossover between a parody to the superhero comics and English humor novels. It does try and I must agree that at times it made me smile. However the writing style somehow did not agree with me and I quickly found the tone of writing to become boring. Also, the story changes at a really fast pace which is good in general but does not really drags you into the story. The characters for a good superhero comic are all there but somehow they do not come alive in the book. The repeated suggestions to the Hitchikers Guide are put in in such a way that they are comical instead of annoying which is the danger in referring to such a work. All in all, I did not enjoy this read as much as could have been possible. ( )