Best of 2026 Reviews and Some of Mine. I just love it when my readers “get” my books. I’ve read 50 books so far this year. Read the reviews from my favorites.
Zombie Turkeys by Andy Zach is a wild horror comedy about one very unexpected apocalypse. When small town reporter Sam Melvin discovers turkeys that won’t stay dead, what seems like a strange local story quickly turns into nationwide chaos. The birds can’t be killed, they just come back stronger, and soon the country is overrun. Teaming up with his sharp, no nonsense editor Lisa, Sam chases the biggest story of his life while trying to avoid becoming turkey dinner himself. The tone is fast, gory, and deliberately over the top, mixing satire with full blown absurdity. If you enjoy horror that doesn’t take itself too seriously and like your apocalypse with a heavy dose of dark humor, Zombie Turkeys is a chaotic, entertaining ride
Restarting the Apocalypse – Old Trials Anew – Book 4
Len and his friend Rich continue to prepare the world for a massive apocalypse of mana bursting out of storms and dungeons. They both got new lives after they died when this happened previously. They found themselves in their 18-year-old bodies with all their knowledge of years of surviving when the apocalypse first occurred.
Now, in the fourth book, they must prepare for and face the first dungeon outbreak. Powerful creatures, twice as strong as Len and Rich, come boiling out of the dungeon by the thousands.
And there’s a civil war going on in their country, at the same time.
Rich and Len have prepared a fortress and a city to withstand the outbreak. Will it be strong enough, or must they destroy all their work to save the world?
Best of 2026 Reviews – Summary Blurb
Civil war is brewing, but Harmonia’s dungeon might end Yorel before the first banner is raised.
Len steps out of Kreni Hall without Rick or the other Titans, Daniela, and Dennis.
King Eardin, whose death sparked the Plynthia Civil War in his last life, is alive and well, summoning Rick to a ball in Eskon City. A ball where he aims to reassert his dominion as King of Plynthia.
An outcome that neither his sons nor their supporters desire. Rick is needed, and Len will go. Now is not the time Goran wants to be drawing the attention of others. Not when their focus is on Harmonia’s growing threat. They’ve changed the Titans’ fates, brought Dennis and Daniela into the fight, and pushed their skills past anything they had in their last lives.
It’s not enough. Harmonia dungeon spawns Rare grade creatures, over a hundred levels stronger than even Len. The Goran Army has been growing stronger, but not strong enough to face this threat head-on.
If the dungeon’s creatures ever break free, nothing on Yorel can stop them.
Threshold doesn’t just guard Goran or Plynthia—it’s the line between Yorel and annihilation. If the dungeon’s creatures escape, if Threshold falls, Yorel falls with it.
They’ve already watched Yorel die once. If they fail to control Harmonia, they’ll watch it happen again.
And this time, there’s no reset.
Best of 2026 Reviews – My Undead Mother-in-law
My Undead Mother-in-law cover. Click to get yours.
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I got a new review! Someone likes Diane Newby.
My Undead Mother-in-law: The Family Zombie With Anger Management Issues (Life After Life Chronicles)
Barbara
Fun adventure with some twisted humor
March 22, 2026
Once more, Andy Zach has transported us into his odd but wonderful world. This story is a bit different from his first two books, which introduced us to a new type of zombie and the regular folks who had to step up and deal with these regenerating monsters. This time, a new threat is introduced, and our heroes have to learn to control zombies in order to face it. Ian Fleming would have been a fan of this adventure. I loved reading this book and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys an action-adventure mystery with a bit of twisted humor.
My mother-in-law’s a zombie. And she has anger-management issues.
My mother-in-law, Diane Newby, zombified by accident. She still volunteers at her church bake sales and cooks pot roast for her daughter and son-in-law, Ron Yardley. What ticks her off is when people don’t treat her like a normal human being—with glowing red eyes and super strength and speed. And if she doesn’t get her own way, look out. She explodes and leaves broken plaster and body parts in her wake. Nothing stops her: not brick walls, the federal government, or middle-aged spread.
But the world’s most powerful criminal plans to control zombies. His only problem with zombies is that they have way too much free will. He has a solution for that. But will it work with Diane Newby?
The world divides into pro-zombie and anti-zombie factions. Battles break out everywhere. Which side will you take? Who will live and who will die?
You might not survive this book. But at least you’ll die laughing.
Belated Mothers Day to My Undead Mother-in-law! What do you give to a mother-in-law who is nearly unkillable? How about new readers?
I’m giving you every excerpt I have about this delightful, middle-aged, zombie woman with anger management issues. This is every excerpt I have on her throughout my ten-year career as a self-published author.
Here’s an info dump on Diane Newby, the undead mother-in-law.
My mother-in-law’s a zombie. And she has anger-management issues. My mother-in-law, Diane Newby, zombified by accident. She still volunteers at her church bake sales and cooks pot roast for her daughter and son-in-law, Ron Yardley. What ticks her off is when people don’t treat her like a normal human being—with glowing red eyes and super strength and speed. And if she doesn’t get her way, look out. She explodes and leaves broken plaster and body parts in her wake. Nothing stops her: not brick walls, the federal government, or middle-aged spread.
But the world’s most powerful criminal plans to control zombies. His only problem with zombies is that they have way too much free will. He has a solution for that. But will it work with Diane Newby? The world is divided into pro-zombie and anti-zombie factions. Battles break out everywhere. Which side will you take? Who will live and who will die? You might not survive this book. But at least you’ll die laughing.
The galactic black hole began eating another object. The planetoid survived far longer than the average planet or star due to its supernatural density. Forged long ago at an earlier age, the intense radiation from the whirling maelstrom and swirling magnetic fields did not affect it. Not until it spun near the speed of light did the immense tidal forces crack its surface.
Spinning ever faster, each fragment resisted the stupendous forces around the black hole until finally they shattered. Finally this unique element transformed into pure energy. It radiated in all wavelengths of visible light, and beyond, to light never seen before.
The radiation coalesced oddly, through forces unknown to science, into a single beam of energy radiating from the black hole. It swept out like a searchlight from the galactic core and across the light-years—straight toward Earth and its teeming multitudes.
Fortunately, Earth was twenty-five thousand light-years away from this cosmic conflagration. Unfortunately, this happened twenty-five thousand years ago.
Magic arrived on Earth.
Magic Arrives Except – Chapter 1– Tea
Sunday, October 4
I made our pot of tea, English Breakfast. Each morning Jane and I sip the hot beverage in our easy chairs in our living room. We had an early freeze that October, and the chill air gripped the house. We turned the heat down at night and up when we get out of bed. Our elderly Victorian home had an old furnace, and it took over an hour to warm the house.
But tea made everything better. I heard Jane settle into her easy chair. I could tell by the squeak when she rocked back.
In the kitchen, I poured a mug for each of us and added milk. “Jane, are you ready for your tea?”
“You bet,” Jane called. “And can you grab a biscotti for me too?”
“Sure thing. A biscotti sounds good to me too.”
I grabbed two biscotti out of our cupboard and took them and her tea mug to the living room, which stretched an echoing thirty feet. But our two leather easy chairs flanked the crackling fireplace, which Jane had started.
Jane smiled at me as I placed the mug and biscotti on her side table. I took a moment to take in the sincere love shining in her hazel eyes. I barely saw any gray in her blond hair. Forty years of marriage had not diminished our love. I took my biscotti and plunked next to her, enjoying the warmth from the fireplace.
“Thanks,” she said.
“You’re welcome. Thanks for starting the fire. I love not having to rush off to work in the morning, since I retired.” I’d worked as a programmer, trainer, and documenter in my career.
“Me too.”
Chapter 1– Tea – continued
Jane had been an office manager at a construction firm.
I opened my biscotti, took a crunchy bite coated with chocolate, and reached for my mug. It wasn’t there.
“Grrr!” I wrinkled my face like a gargoyle.
“What’s wrong?”
“I left my mug in the kitchen. I hate it when I do that.”
“Wouldn’t it be nice if it’d come when you call it?”
I laughed. “On little legs. I’d just say, ‘Come here, tea mug!’”
We laughed. We laugh together nearly every day. I rose and then stopped. I heard an odd tap-tapping. Almost like our little corgi but even smaller and lighter.
“What’s that? Is that a mouse?” We had mice in our house every fall until we trapped them.
“It doesn’t sound like one.”
From the dining room came my tea mug on four little legs, scampering across the floor. I reached down to pick it up, and it jumped into my hands. The legs disappeared.
“That’s different,” I said,
“Uh, that’s never happened before, not to us or anyone else I’ve ever heard of.”
“It’s like my wish for the tea mug got granted.”
“Exactly.”
“That’s convenient.” I sipped my tea. “That’s good tea.”
“Did you rub any magic lamps?”
“No. “
“Did you throw a coin in a wishing well?”
“No. I wonder if we can make any other wishes?” I sipped my tea. “Mmm.”
“Mmm,” Jane agreed as she took another sip.
The tea mug purred, “Mmm.”
Magic Arrives Excerpt – Chapter 2 – Pinky
Sunday, October 4
ARC Copy
I hugged my dragon, Pinkie, as we went outside to play. I’d had him since I was a baby. My mom had bought him for me. Lamar, my older brother, went outside with me. My mom, Shannon, had told Lamar that morning, “Lamar, if Shayla wants to go outside, you go with her. Don’t let her out of your sight. If you see trouble, both of you get out of there.” I knew trouble sometimes happened in our neighborhood.
She’d turned to me. “Shayla, don’t go running off without your brother. You listen to him and do what he says. I’ll be back at five.” Then she’d left for her job at Wal-Store.
Lamar and I walked out on a fine fall day. I watched the robins hop along the ragged grass in an empty lot. We hiked[JS1] to a neighborhood park a few blocks away from our apartment. Lamar pushed me on the swings and then on the merry-go-round.
“Shayla,” he said, “I’m going to play basketball with my friends over there. You stay here till I come back.”
I watched him jog to the court next to the park. “Pinkie, what do you think of that? We gotta play by ourselves. What d’ya wanna do? You want me to push you on the merry-go-round? Okay, I’ll try.”
It wasn’t as hard as it looked. I worked it up to speed and then hopped on next to Pinkie. “I’m almost a big girl now. I can push the merry-go-round all by myself. And I started kindergarten this fall.”
I spun the merry-go-round again and again till I got tired. “You getting hungry, Pinkie? I am. What do you eat? Bugs? Huh. Whatever. Let me get you some.”
Chapter 2 – continued
I knelt on the grass next to the merry-go-round’s sandpit. The smell of the grass filled my nose as I poked around the dirt and found some ants and pill bugs. I put one of each in my hand and gave it to Pinkie.
“Num num! Tastes good, don’t it? D’ya want more? Okay.” I gathered more. Then I heard something like fireworks coming from the basketball court. “What’s that, Pinkie?” I picked up my dragon and ran to the court to check on Lamar.
Some big guys had guns. They were chasing the boys off with lots of yelling. “No little kids here! This court is for men, for our gang!”
Lamar ran in my direction.
More young guys came up. “Hey, what d’ya think you’re doing? This is our turf. Get out of here.” They had guns too.
Someone shot a gun. Then a whole firecracker string of shots rang out. Some guys dropped on both sides. The first group ran into the park, then hid behind the playground equipment and started firing again.
A bullet zipped over my head. “Get down, Pinkie!” I fell on top of him, protecting him. I peeked and saw Lamar running full speed toward me. Then he fell.
“Lamar!” I crawled to him. His blood oozed from his back, warm and sticky. He moaned.
I cried.
The blood spread over Lamar’s shirt like spilled tomato juice. He stopped moaning. I made my own wet spot crying over him. The bullets still zipped above us. I could taste my salty tears. Pinkie squeezed between us.
Magic Arrives Excerpt Chapter 2 – continued
“Oh, Pinkie, I wish you’d gobble up those guys with guns like you did those bugs!” I cried with all my heart to my magic dragon.
Pinkie shook in my hand. He felt like my mom’s cell phone when it buzzed. Then he grew out of my hand. My pink dragon ballooned to dog size, then horse size, then elephant size, then bigger. The shooters turned to my giant stuffed dragon, flapping his pink wings in midair. Both gangs shot at him.
Like a cat jumping on a mouse, Pinkie gobbled up a shooter, then the one next to him. Six more gangbangers disappeared into his huge pink mouth before both gangs turned and ran.
“Yay, Pinkie! You chased away those bad guys!” Then I saw Lamar again, quietly bleeding on the ground.
“Oh, Lamar, get up! You’ve got to take me home!” I lay on his still body, crying into his wet shirt.
* * *
Magic Arrives Excerpt Chapter 2 – continued
I cried myself to sleep. When I woke, Lamar was cold. The shadows were lengthening. Mom would be home soon.
“Lamar!” I sobbed again. A shadow covered me. Pinkie swooped down. The grass flattened under his big pink feet.
“What’s wrong, Shayla?”
“Pinkie, Lamar won’t get up. I-I-I think he’s dead!”
“You’ve got to wake him up, like you did with me.”
“Good idea, Pinkie.” I didn’t notice that Pinkie talked way clearer than he used to. I shook Lamar with all my might. “Lamar, get up! You’ve got to wake up, just like Pinkie. Get better right now!”
“O-o-h,” he groaned. He rolled over and looked at me. “What happened, Shayla? Why is my back all wet?”
“There was a fight between two gangs and y-y-you were shot. You’re bleeding.”
He took off his T-shirt. “Yuck! It’s all bloody.” Something fell to the ground. “What’s this?” He picked it up. “It was in my shirt. It’s a bullet! Why do I feel better? I remember getting shot now.”
“Lamar, I wished you’d get better so we could go home.” I peered at his back. “You’re all bloody, but there’s no hole in it.”
“And the bullet’s out.” He showed me the bullet, bloody and smushed on one side.
Pinkie landed next to us and burped.
Chapter 2 – continued
“What’s that?” Lamar stared at the huge dragon, his eyes bugging out.
“Pinkie, of course. I wished he’d eat up those bad guys with guns, and he did.”
“Let’s go home. Pinkie will have to stay outside. He’s too big to fit in our apartment. He’s too big to fit on the basketball court!”
Lamar was right. Pinkie’s butt and tail filled the basketball court, and he stretched across the grass to us.
“Nah. Pinkie, go back to your regular size.”
“No problem.” Pinkie shrank, and I picked him up.
“Let’s go.”
Lamar closed his mouth and followed me home. I knew the way. I just wanted Lamar for protection.
Magic Arrives Excerpt – More Books After Magic Arrives
Magic Arrives, Magic Wars, and Magic Rules spine art
I’ve got two more books coming in the series: Magic Wars and Magic Rules. I plan to start on Magic Wars this summer!
Here’s some cool spine art, courtesy of my illustrator, Sean Flanagan.
One More Thing . . .
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Barbara
