Gil's All Fright Diner

By: A. Lee Martinez

Narrated by: Fred Berman

Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Welcome to Gil's All Night Diner, where zombie attacks are a regular occurrence and you never know what might be lurking in the freezer....

Duke and Earl are just passing through Rockwood county in their pick-up truck when they stop at the Diner for a quick bite to eat. They aren't planning to stick around-until Loretta, the eatery's owner, offers them $100 to take care of her zombie problem. Given that Duke is a werewolf and Earl's a vampire, this looks right up their alley. But the shambling dead are just the tip of a particularly spiky iceberg.

Seems someone's out to drive Loretta from the Diner, and more than willing to raise a little Hell on Earth if that's what it takes. Before Duke and Earl get to the bottom of the Diner's troubles, they'll run into such otherworldly complications as undead cattle, an amorous ghost, a jailbait sorceress, and the terrifying occult power of pig-latin. And maybe - just maybe - the End of the World, too.

Gory, sexy, and flat-out hilarious, Gil's All Fright Diner will tickle your funnybone - before ripping it out of its socket!

©2009 A. Lee Martinez (P)2009 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Fans of Douglas Adams and Joe R. Lansdale...will happily sink their teeth into this combo platter of raunchy laughs and ectoplasmic ecstasy." ( Publishers Weekly)

The whole meal with a chocolate shake

I recently finished listening to Gil's All Fright Diner written by A. Lee Martinez and narrated by Fred Berman.

In this humorous modern fantasy novel Duke and Earl, a werewolf and a vampire, find their beer laden rusty pickup heading toward an all night diner. The waitress/possible owner Loretta seems nice enough, but reacts quickly when some Zombies hit the restaurant. It's pretty clear this isn't her first time dealing with the things.

She offers them some coin, a place to sleep, and grub if they can both solve her zombie problems and fix her gas line. Unbeknownst to all of them Tammy, a servant of the old gods is about. She knows pig Latin, the language of the old gods, and isn't afraid to use it.

Fred Berman, the chosen narrator, did a stellar job with the story. He managed to communicate the seriousness of the tale, while also delivering on the moments of wry humor implied.

Conclusion: This is a great modern fantasy tale that is more than a bit tongue in cheek about the story. The narrator, Fred Berman did an excellent job here and the story is even better for it. I highly suggest this to anyone that likes humorous modern fantasy.

love all his books

the humor and all of the character interactions and the second listening to there's a lot of foreshadowing I never caught on to until the ending

Martinez has too much fun, sometimes.

What made the experience of listening to Gil's All Fright Diner the most enjoyable?

Narration was great. Characters were all distinct and believable when heard through the narrator's voice.

What did you like best about this story?

It was humorous without being heartless. It managed to hit all the right chords when it came to characters, places, and action. This is a story that is just plain fun, with just enough pathos to remind you that life isn't all jokes and tropes.

Any additional comments?

What a a fun book. Martinez loves to make quirky, flawed characters that all seem to feel like they are the protagonist. The two heroes of this story are just plain ridiculous, and it works.

I wanted to hate it, but...

I wanted to hate it. I rolled my eyes continuously. the tropes the hill billy accents on every character. I said to myself, "I'm returning this." But then I wouldn't. I would laugh at the ludicrous entirety of it all. and suddenly it was done and I was smiling. This is like a movie. It is bad. Yet somehow it achieves a level of badness that is endearing and enjoyable.

Fun fun fun

What did you love best about Gil's All Fright Diner?

red neck monsters

What was one of the most memorable moments of Gil's All Fright Diner?

I love the zombie cows

What about Fred Berman’s performance did you like?

good voice characterizations

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

we got zombie cows

Any additional comments?

we need more A. Lee Martinez on audible

Fun romp!

This was a fun romp, having irreverent play with vampire, werewolf, ghost and dark magic lore. My favorite book from this author is Emperor Mollusk vs the Giant Brain....non stop action and comedy!

Really entertaining!

Listened on my way to work and back. Kept my mind off traffic. Im sure other commuters wondered why I was laughing so hard.
It was really entertaining and fun!

Fun comedy

Someone found an abridged version of the necronomicon. A Duke of werewolves and an Earl of vampires traveling around in a pickup. That and true love. It found a nice balance between stupid and serious that i liked.

fun story

great story I really enjoyed the narrator the characters were great nice take on the monster genre

very fun

much more tame than I was thinking it would be. but still enjoyable and pretty original.