Dan Shamble ‘Slimy Underbelly’ Update

September 26, 2013 at 9:24 am | Posted in Books, Fantasy | Leave a comment
Tags: dan shamble zombie pi, kevin j. anderson, slimy underbelly

Author Kevin J. Anderson has been hard at work on the fourth book in the Dan Shamble, Zombie PI series titled Slimy Underbelly. Kevin has been posting some fun updates on Facebook, Twitter and his blog. Here’s a recap of the updates to get readers up to speed on Slimy Underbelly.

August 19: Brian Herbert and I are writing HELLHOLE INFERNO for delivery by the end of the year, and I have a fourth Dan Shamble, Zombie PI novel (SLIMY UNDERBELLY) to write and deliver by October.

September 4: Having a ball putting together Dan Shamble #4, SLIMY UNDERBELLY. Bad guy is a tentacle-faced demon underdweller named Ah’Chulhu (gesundheit). His parents were Senior Citizen Gods. “Don’t you mean Elder Gods?” “No, Senior Citizen Gods get discounts.”

September 9: from Dan Shamble #4: What do you call a mad scientist’s henchman who uses only Apple equipment? iGor.

September 9: Packing car and computer for drive to Silverton CO tomorrow. Will be doing 30 epic miles on the Colorado Trail—and start Dan Shamble #4!

September 12: I just did nine Dan Shamble chapters in three days (also did 37 miles on the Colorado Trail)

September 12: 20 miles yesterday on Colorado Trail, 17 miles today. Nine Dan Shamble chapters written. Sore feet but inspired imagination

September 19: ready to go out and dictate two more chapters in Dan Shamble #4, SLIMY UNDERBELLY. Time to get messy.

September 19: SLIMY UNDERBELLY will be out in time for DragonCon next August, but there’ll be a Dan Shamble Christmas story out soon, too.

September 20: “Being a supervillain is just a goal to aspire to. That would certainly change the world. And I wouldn’t have to be an EVIL supervillain.” Dan Shamble #4, SLIMY UNDERBELLY

September 22: “When a huge hulking ogre steps through the office doorway, you tend to take notice. I was just glad he decided to turn the knob and enter the traditional way instead of just smashing his way through, as ogres often do.”—Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. SLIMY UNDERBELLY

September 24: two more chapters done in SLIMY UNDERBELLY. Dan Shamble, Zombie PI is in another big mess.

September 25: prepping to hole up in an off-season ghost-town ski resort in the mountains to edit HELLHOLE INFERNO & write Dan Shamble SLIMY UNDERBELLY

On top of the updates from Kevin, Amazon also has a blurb for the book…

There’s something fishy going on in the sewers beneath the Unnatural Quarter. The catacomb dwellers are getting restless, plumbing backs up around town, bodies are found floating face-down in the Zombie Bathhouse…and not by choice! Dan Shamble has to go to the slimy underbelly of the Quarter, where he finds himself up to his neck in unpleasantness, discovering a half-human, half-amphibian villain with a diabolical plot to collapse the Unnatural Quarter and fill it with raw sewage…all part of an ambitious real-estate scheme to create more sewer-front property for rich underdwellers!

The villain (whose name is AH’CHULHU, to which the usual response is “Gesundheit!”) was discarded as a baby by his horrified amphibious-demon parents (mother had a sordid affair with a human, resulting in this halfbreed), and now Ah’Chulhu has been working his way back to prominence. Our villain’s henchmen consist of sentient (but stupid) gator-people, former pets flushed down toilets when they were small. And it’s up to Dan, Robin, Sheyenne, and McGoo to stop the stinky horror before the Unnatural Quarter goes down the drain!

The B-storyline consists of a feud between two weather wizards (one of whom has a black cat for a familiar, but the cat and the wizard can’t stand each other). As the weather wizards feud, the Quarter is beset with unpredictable snowstorms, heat waves, sheeting downpours, and sunny days. In this novel is also introduced a new character, ALVIN, a teenage office assistant and go-fer who is a bit of a pest, but earnest. (Alvin’s parents named him after the chipmunk movies, thereby damaging him for life.) Alvin is a young vampire — and imagine the horror of being trapped permanently in the awkward teenage years, his voice cracking and will never change, perpetual acne; he writes a blog, “I Was a Teenage Vampire.” He has a little (still-human) sister who has now grown up while he always remains a teen.

If you haven’t checked out the series yet, you can head on over to Kensington Publishing which has links to all the books in their various formats. Or you can check out Kevin J. Anderson’s site Wordfire for some bundle options.

Posted By: Skuldren for Roqoo Depot.