Book 2

SUDDARD DE LA MUERTE

The second novel set in the Suddard universe, written by Sarah Coolbeans, author of "Wrath of the Honey Badgers" details the further adventures of the Suddard characters. Set one year after Book one, Suddard is a broken man. Feeling remorse for his murders, he has developed a drinking habit and moved to Mexico to escape his evil past. Benji Handslam, the sole survivor of the first book decides that the town where he lives just doesn't feel right without the elderly killer and so, with the help of his friends Sally Wu and Johnny Grease, sets out on a road trip to Mexico to save his would be killer.

Featuring a brilliantly crafted chapter in which a depressed suddard imagines what life without him would be like though an interaction with a cobra in a wheelchair, Suddard de la muerte is a piece of literary gold. Written due to the success of the first book, it was almost turned into a movie after sales rose but was later cancelled due to a combination between lack of production funds and the director's obsessive cocaine addiction, the latter fueling the former.

A flashback in this novel also details how Old man Suddard originally died. He fell into a wood chipper. Many believe that this is the true origin story of Suddard. Below is an extract from the book.

"Benji pulled the car over to the side of the sandy road, "Wow, that road sure is sandy," he said to the others as he looked out onto the sand. He could not wait to get to Mexico and save the man that had killed all of his best friends. It was the least he could do. He knew that the anniversary of the death of Old man Suddard was conveniently coming up in the next few days and he wanted to save Old man Suddard by then. There was a strong smell of Suddard in the air. "We are close," Benji whispered in a calm but also slightly mysterious for some reason voice. Then he restarted the engine and began to drive once more. Then he noticed that he was going in the wrong direction but turned around and continued on his suddardy journey."

Trivia

The author, Sarah Coolbeans, spent two years on a farm in Mexico gathering research before settling on it as her setting for the majority of the novel. Her other original ideas for Suddard to escape to included China, Rome or a supermarket off the M8.

Benji Handslam was originally intended to die in this novel during a failed attempt to sneak across the Mexican border dressed as an Alsatian but due to character popularity, Coolbeans decided against it and removed the death from her final draft.

The final chapter where Suddard and Benji have a dance off was also cut from the final draft in favour of a game of Rock, Paper, Suddard.