When the manager of Gil's All Night Diner asks transient customers Duke and Earl to lend her some assistance against an onslaught of zombies, the pair agrees to take on the task for $100, revealing after the job is done that they know something about the supernatural: Duke is a werewolf, and Earl, his best friend, is a vampire. What begins as a one-night job turns into a regular employment opportunity as it becomes clear that someone has targeted the diner for some unknown reason. A teenage witch, a lonely ghost, and a mysterious cult with one member round out the cast of characters in this laugh-out-loud comic fantasy that should appeal to fans of Spider Robinson's Callaha tales and Terry Brooks's Landover novels. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Adult/High School-Two friends-Earl (as in the Earl of Vampires) and Duke (as in the Duke of Werewolves)-are driving along one evening when their truck runs out of gas. They wind up at an all-night diner in Rockwood, a small desert town that has a bit of a zombie problem. They help Loretta, the diner's owner/cook, fend off the zombies that are drawn to her eatery. Impressed, she asks the two to stay on and help her take care of some other supernatural problems in the town and to learn who is raising the ghouls. Duke and Earl discover that Tammy (also known as Mistress Lilith, Queen of the Night) and her loyal but dumb boyfriend are plotting to end the world in order to resurrect the old gods. Similar in style and humor to the work of Douglas Adams and Joe R. Lansdale, and Shaun of the Dead, this comic horror-fantasy is packed with warped humor and action. The characters are likable, three-dimensional, and quirky. The story is fast paced, interesting, and unpredictable. Martinez carves out a nice little bit of entertainment with surprising depth.-Erin Dennington, Fairfax County Public Library, Chantilly, VA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Vampire Earl and his friend Duke, a werewolf, aren't looking for anything more than a quick bite to eat and a little downtime when they pull into the parking lot at Gil's All Night Diner.\b Not long after they sit down in one of the booths, several zombies storm the place. The proprietor, Loretta, is none too pleased or surprised by their arrival, but she is delighted when Earl and Duke fight them off. Tired of being plagued by zombies, Loretta hires Earl and Duke to replace her stove's gas line and take care of her ghoul problem. Though the pair easily trace the zombies to a nearby cemetery, they can't figure out who is raising the corpses. The culprit is none other than teen-queen Tammy, who likes to go by Mistress Lilith and is very frustrated when she learns Earl and Duke are standing in the way of her master plan to drive Loretta from the diner and bring back the old gods. Delightfully droll, this comic romp will be a crowd-pleaser. --Kristine Huntley Copyright 2005 Booklist From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.