James W. Bodden's Guide to Books & Booze

Time to grab a book and get tipsy!

Back by popular demand, Books & Booze, originally a mini-series of sorts here on TNBBC challenges participating authors to make up their own drinks, name and all, or create a drink list for their characters and/or readers using drinks that already exist. 

Today, James W. Bodden throws drinks at the characters in his latest novel Coffin Riders:

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Deep in the bowels of the hell, Bloom and the rest of the stiffs laze about and wait out eternity in the beaches of an assisted afterlife facility called Paradise Cove.

Bloom dropped to the underworld after getting tricked into a botched, double suicide by his ex-girlfriend, Lorraine. A modern day Dante, he journeys through the nine circles of hell to find a way back to the world of the living and get the revenge he thinks he is owed.

Death is a spiral: the deeper you go the worse it gets.

Bloom: Kamikaze

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      Equal parts vodka, triple sec and lime juice served straight-up in a cocktail glass.

Sip it or shoot it, but always take the kamikaze plunge. This refreshing cocktail is exactly what a serial suicide like Bloom needs to plan his escape from hell and get the revenge he thinks he is owed.

Lorraine: Bloody Mary

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      A zesty blend of tomato juice spiced with salt, pepper, bouillon cubes, lemon juice, Tabasco, and a dash Worcester sauce. Add vodka, generously.

A hot, red cocktail that matches Lorraine’s bloodstained past; she’ll mix her drink with her revolver and tempt you to deep-throat the barrel and pull the trigger every time.

 Leroy: Mojito

 Scramble mint sprigs with sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice in a Collins Glass. Pour a two shots of white rum over ice, add soda water, and enjoy.

A cold Mojito hit the spot just right for this blind denizen Paradise Cove. Leroy is Bloom’s psychopomp and good-time buddy; he’s a man that knows where all the bodies are buried.

The Reaper: Negroni

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      One part gin, one part Campari, and one part sweet vermouth. 

A strong, elegant cocktail for a cool night in the bowels of hell. The reaper of the dead is the sheriff of the underworld; the only creature down there that can keep the dead in line.

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James W. Bodden is the author of the novels the Red Light Princess, and Coffin Riders. He’s down some dank Cold War bunker, helmet on, and braced for impact.