Rating: 
Summary: Dark fantasy satisfies with twisted ending
Review: Minor spoiler ahead.
Zod Wallop is a very wierd, dark book: a twisted childern's book come to life. My opinions mirror those of the previous folks who reviewed this work in most part.
Where the book really succeeds is in the ending. Throughout the book there is foreshadowing of a possible ending. Harry is the author of the book- he can change it (and the reality he is experiencing) to become whatever he wants. I was ready for the cheesy, happy ending, but Spencer pulls the rug out at the last second and delivers an finale that is darker but still hopeful: far more satisfying than the obvious.
Highly recommended
Rating: 
Summary: his worst
Review: A best-selling fantasy novel that, based on exerpts, is not just a loss, but completely unreadable? That's the case with the novel within the novel we face here. When you add in main characters that one cares nothing about, and generally poor writing throughout, this is the pits. RESUME WITH MONSTERS is far better, funnier in parts than Christopher Moore or Terry Pratchett.
Rating:
Summary: Blinding. Stupefying. Cruel and beautiful...
Review: A virtuoso novel studded with phrases & images will shine and sting in the mind's eye for weeks. Zod Wallop kicked a hole in the roof of my head to let the starlight in. The most important book I've read in five years. It will no doubt be compared to Carroll's Land of Laughs, but is something both darker and more joyful. Even better than the author's superb Resume with Monsters (itself a must-read). To quote the book itself (reviewing the eponymous children's story) "an instant classic."
Muscular, vibrant, luminous prose. I read it in a single afternoon, unable to put it down. I actually laughed out loud in 3 taxis and found myself crying in a cafe waiting for friends. As soon as I finished it I started reading it again and found it even better the second time. And better still the third. Spencer deserves some kind of medal for the unerring precision of his ear, the scope of his reveries and his ability to articulate the inarticulable.
Practically an owner's manual for human courage and superhuman imagination. The characters are lovingly drawn and continually surprising. The book is several stories in one: the pursuit of a grieving children's author and a group of mental patients by unscrupulous pharmaceutical warlords, a fantasy about the rupture and leakage between the "real" world and a literary creation, a loving glimpse at the intricate clockwork of sadness and creativity and miracles, a painful catalog of lunacy and its lures, a faithful documentary of very real ways that people escape tragedy and emerge from it greater than the puzzle of their pieces.
You will be richer for having read it, so much richer you will be afraid of robbers. If you don't buy this book immediately for yourself and everyone you know, you deserve your fate
Rating:
Summary: A Poetic Tale of Unproportional Weirdness
Review: Bill Spencer wrote his novel with masterful zeal. I read Resume with Monsters, enjoying the humor, the darkness, and the theme of having to work in a grueling office environment, being that I work in this type of gruel. But Zod Wallop is different. It's a poetic attempt to reveal that each of us are lunatics living in a delusional group in the face of howling chaos. Enjoy this novel. I'm telling you.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful and surreal.
Review: Harry Gainesborough was a successful writer of children's books until the death of his daughter. Now an obsessed fan who is convinced the worlds Harry created are real has gotten hold of his last novel, and attempts to enlist Harry's help in saving the world. So begins a hallucinatory journey that turns quest fiction on its head.
Not quite as good as 'Resume with Monsters', 'Zod Wallop' is still a fascinating read. Spencer has a great writing style, one I would compare to Neil Gaiman's. I just think the plot could have been a little tighter.
Rating:
Summary: Madness, mayhem, monsters, & the chance to change the world
Review: Harry Gainesborough's life is more depressing than a country-western song. His daughter has died, his wife has divorced him, and he's spent a stint in a psychiatric
institute as a result of a botched suicide attempt. Now, he
just wants to be left alone. Only, the monster that's just
eaten the paint off his car has other ideas. . .
This book is for anyone who likes dark fantasy, particularly
fans of Jonathan Carroll. "Zod Wallop" is "Bones of the Moon"
on illegal substances. The line between fantasy and reality constantly
wavers, and frequently disappears, as Harry Gainesborough and
his . . . friends? abductors? careen across America on a voyage
of madness, mayhem, and monsters . . . with, just possibly, the
chance to change the world at the end
Rating:
Summary: Un-freaking-believable
Review: I don't know what book "a reader" in Austin was reading, but this is easily one of the best novels I've ever read. The insight and understanding of the characters is no less than stellar, the imagery is wonderful, and the way everything comes together in the end is extraordinary. This is a book you can't put down and I only wish I could give it more than 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Un-freaking-believable
Review: I don't know what book "a reader" in Austin was reading, but this is easily one of the best novels I've ever read. The insight and understanding of the characters is no less than stellar, the imagery is wonderful, and the way everything comes together in the end is extraordinary. This is a book you can't put down and I only wish I could give it more than 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Spencer's Sinister Fantasy World
Review: I read William Browning Spencer's "Resume with Monsters" and was quite impressed. Here is an author who knows how to combine quirky plots, horrific elements, and great character development into a seamless blend of grand entertainment. Why this guy is not sitting on the bestseller's list is a mystery of the highest order. Several of his books are not even in print anymore, another crime that needs a remedy as quickly as possible. Fortunately, public libraries often save the day when one looks for out of print material. His books are magical in that once read, they stay with you forever. This may be due in part to Spencer's habit of pouring himself into his stories. The familiarity shown in both "Zod Wallop" and "Resume with Monsters" with psychological problems and the difficulties of coping in modern society give hints into the author's knowledge about such unpleasant incidents. Harry Gainesborough wrote a book called Zod Wallop after the death of his daughter Amy. The tragedy of his daughter's demise sent Harry into a tailspin, requiring a short stay in a mental asylum. A psychologist in the institution recommended Harry continue writing as a means of therapy, so Harry continued to work on Zod Wallop during his hospital stay. But the book he wrote while incarcerated took on a much grimmer, more dangerous tone than your everyday children's story. The characters in the land of Zod Wallop began to resemble some of the other patients and doctors in the ward. There are characters that bear a striking resemblance to Harry's literary agent. The problem comes when there are real life people who resemble the evil characters in the book because Zod Wallop is more than a book; it has the potential to become reality. Harry is now out of the hospital and living alone in an isolated cabin. Amy's death still troubles him greatly, but he manages to get through each day until a triumvirate of patients from the mental institution arrives on his doorstep. Led by the over exuberant Raymond Story, this gang of miscreants includes Rene, a troubled but beautiful young girl; Emily, Raymond's new wife and a total invalid; and Allan, a man plagued with fits of violent rage. Joined by Lord Arbus, a monkey, the group tries to involve Harry in their quest to go to Florida where a showdown with the evil Lord Draining awaits. As Harry and his literary agent take part in Raymond's seemingly delusional odyssey, reality starts to warp on an increasingly disturbing level. There is a perfectly (well, maybe) rational explanation for the strange encounters endured by Harry and his friends. Two executives from rival pharmaceutical companies take a significant interest in these escaped asylum inmates. The reasons are best left unsaid here, but it is safe to say that it involves something both men want very badly for research and development. As it turns out, Harry and his friends shared something special, albeit slightly sinister, during their residence at the hospital. As the executives take up the hunt, they too end up becoming a part of the fantasy of Zod Wallop. I enjoy how Spencer deftly blended reality with the looming world of Zod Wallop. The reader never knows what is coming down the pipeline in this book. One minute everything seems to be going great, the next minute brings an attack by a Ralewing. A mundane trip to a convenience store turns into a mind-blowing experience with the full force of Harry's past. The conclusion of the story witnesses startling revelations, total immersion in the world of Zod Wallop, and closure for Harry and his ex-wife. Spencer's book is a real hoot. This guy has a phenomenal imagination along with the ability to write engaging prose. Again, it is difficult to imagine why he is not considered a preeminent author. Both "Resume with Monsters" and "Zod Wallop" is enough to place Spencer head and shoulders above most of the drivel passed off on the public today. For those seeking a whimsical romp through the realms of unreality, Spencer is the man.
Rating:
Summary: Whats real whats not.
Review: Im going to make this short and sweet. This is a fantastic book! If your looking for a new auther to try out, give this book a try. I have passed this book on to 7 different friends and they all loved it. Give this and his other books a try. If you enjoy this, check out some books by Philip Jose Farmer.
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