Title: Boneshaker

Author: Cherie Priest

Genre: Steampunk/SF/Horror

Publisher: Tor Books
Publication Date: September 2009
Paperback: 416 pages

Stand alone or series: Book 1 in the Clockwork Century series

In the early days of the Civil War, rumors of gold in the frozen Klondike brought hordes of newcomers to the Pacific Northwest. Anxious to compete, Russian prospectors commissioned inventor Leviticus Blue to create a great machine that could mine through Alaska’s ice. Thus was Dr. Blue’s Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine born.

But on its first test run the Boneshaker went terribly awry, destroying several blocks of downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas that turned anyone who breathed it into the living dead.

Now it is sixteen years later, and a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city. Just beyond it lives Blue’s widow, Briar Wilkes. Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenaged boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing. Until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history.

His quest will take him under the wall and into a city teeming with ravenous undead, air pirates, criminal overlords, and heavily armed refugees. And only Briar can bring him out alive.

How did we get this book: We bought our copies

Why did we read this book: It’s Steampunk week and Boneshaker has been praised to the skies by Steampunkers, reviewers and recently even made into Library Journal’s list of “Core” Steampunk titles.

REVIEW:

First Impressions:

Ana: Boneshaker is another book I had been looking forward to reading for a long time and holding off to until we had our Steampunk Week. Given the amount of praise it received, the fact that very recently it made into Library Journal’s list of core Steampunk titles and the fact that Cherie Priest seems to really know what she is talking about, I had great expectations about the book. And they were sort of met, as overall the book proved to be a solid read. I liked most specially its sympathetic duo of mother-son protagonists, the lovely writing, and the setting (an alternate 19th century Seattle). Plus, Zombies and Pirates = fun! However, upon reflection, the very premise of the book did not hold to close scrutiny and ironically, that includes the very Steampunk nature of the story.

Thea: I have to agree wholeheartedly with Ana on this one. I was ecstatic with Boneshaker’s unique premise – Civil War Era Steampunk Zombies! Hiyo! Sign me up!

And…well, Boneshaker is a bit of a mixed bag. The premise is wonderfully imaginative, but, as Ana says, kind of implodes on itself when subjected to any level of scrutiny. This history is a mess as is the actual source of the zombification of Seattle’s inhabitants – and I’m not exactly sure I’d label this as a true work of Steampunk. That said, I enjoyed the overall story and the horror aspects of the book, and certainly read it eagerly enough, which counts for a lot.

On the Plot:

Ana: It’s the 1880s, and the United States is still plagued by the legacy of the Civil War. In Seattle it has been 16 years since the eccentric scientist Leviticus Blue built his Boneshaker, a tunnelling machine built to drill through the ice fields of Alaska. The machine went berserk in the middle of the town basically destroying it all and in the process hitting the underground reserves of a mysterious gas – the Blight – which, if inhaled, turns people into Zombies. The inhabitants of the town fled, authorities built a huge wall which has been keeping the gas and the zombies (or “rotters”) in.

Briar Wilkes and her son Zeke leave just outside the walls and try to make do with her meagre salary as a worker at the water treatment plant (filtering the effects of the Plight) . Their lives are not easy since Briar is the widow of the infamous Leviticus Blue and no one will let her forget that, including her son. In an attempt to prove that his father was in fact not the criminal that everybody thinks he is, Zeke sneaks into the walled City in search for clues sand a desperate Briar goes after him when his only viable way out collapses after an earthquake and in the process discovers that are people still living inside. She must find him and quick, before the rotters – or someone worse – find them first.

As plots go, Boneshaker’s start off with a lot of potential. The impetus for the story – a mother who admitted not being the most perfect and open of mothers, in search of her son and to try and mend their relationship spoke to me like only a character-driven story can speak. It is also undeniable that Cherie Priest’s prose is lovely and enticing. I have nothing to say against pacing (it is rocketing good fun!) or against the overall plotting: mother searches son in parallel stories, both run from zombies, run into pirates, danger abound, there is a villain who might or might not Leviticus Blue himself. It is all actually pretty good.

It is just when you think about the details that things start to fall through.

For example: there is a lack of real science. It puzzled me for example, that it had been 16 years since the accident happened and yet there were no scientists studying the phenomenon – where did it come from? What was it? How to reverse it? Well, that does not sound Steampunk ish at all. I would expect at least one mad scientist somewhere making a dash to understand it. Furthermore, can a wall really stop the spreading of a gas? For 16 years? Without any leaks? Without it rising above it? Leaking through pipes? Really? Sometimes, I wondered if the gas was not a mere excuse for the use of Goggles and masks – making it a choice for Steampunk Aesthetics than for Steampunk Science – especially when there is barely an appearance of the very Boneshaker of the title.

Another thing that made me wonder (and wonder and wonder): Briar discovers that there were people still living in the inside. Citizens of Seattle, basically living like scavengers , forever having to wear masks and living in fear of the zombies and I asked myself over and again: why? Why would anyone stay if they didn’t have to? Surely there were alternative – better ones, than to live in a place where you can’t go outside where you can’t breathe, where you can’t get any real food because of a mortal Gas that can turn you into a zombie? Surely.

Yes, Steampunk can be fun but Scott Westerfelf has proved with his Leviathan that you can have a Steampunk novel that is both fun and yet rich with Steampunk elements that actually matter.

Having said that: I sustain that I did have a great time reading the novel, despite these misgivings. I find this series has a great potential. Who knows, perhaps the sequels will be more Steampunk heavy?

Thea: What Ana said. When reading Boneshaker, two things immediately jumped out at me:

1. There’s a huge “buyability” problem with the story.

As Ana mentions, the solution to deal with Seattle was to wall it off – literally, with a big wall. And this would protect the rest of the world from zombies, and from the mysterious “Blight.” Which is a gas. I repeat – a gas. How exactly does a stone wall contain a gas? This seems a little silly. THen, given the fact that Seattle is the rainiest city in the continental United States, how in heck can the Blight gas be so prevalent as to completely ensheath the city, impervious to the months and months of rain that should clear the air? Furthermore, how is the Blight still leaking out after 16 years? This must be quite a reservoir indeed – and if the rain isn’t washing it away, and an accumulation of 16 years’ worth of a thick gas is spreading through Seattle, wouldn’t it have been enough to spread a little further (as opposed to being contained by the walls)? And Ana makes a good point – why wouldn’t the government, or some enterprising scientist or company for that matter, be interested in finding out what exactly the Blight is? After 16 years, no one is interested in discovering why the gas turns people into zombies? No one wants to know where the gas came from, what it is, and if it exists anywhere else in the country? Heck, even allowing that US government is so shattered and preoccupied by the legacy of the Civil War (which requires a huge effort to suspend disbelief in and of itself), wouldn’t anyone be interested in weaponizing this gas? I was kind of surprised and disappointed that Ms. Priest didn’t go there, it seems so obvious – the Blight as a biochemical weapon to be harnessed for the American Civil War and perhaps for the inevitable World War?! – but perhaps that’s fodder for a future book.

Beyond the haziness of the Blight (lame pun intended), there’s also a problem in terms of believability of era, and technology. Which brings me to my second point:

2. The technology and science aspects are so vague as to suggest that Boneshaker is much more of an aesthetic work.

And this is totally fine – just like with genres like Science Fiction, you can get the hard Stephen Baxter stuff, or the softer, Gene Roddenberry stuff. But my problem with Boneshakeris that the time period and the steampunk aesthetic are irrelevant to the storyline (yes, the bone-shaking drill unleashed the gas that caused the zombies and the premise of the novel, but this could have been any drill. You don’t even see the drill until the end of the book, and the cataclysmic effect is completely off-stage). This might have been the distant future or present day or even on another earth-like planet. For example, the characters speak in the modern vernacular, so it’s easy to forget the time period altogether. And if you can take away the technology, and if you can take away the time period and are essentially left with the same story, these elements are superfluous.

I should also note that Ms. Priest has an afterward to the book in which she claims that all of the historical inconsistencies (so far as the size, importance, development and specifics of Seattle) are intentional – which explains why certain buildings and landmarks are completed and/or in different areas than they are in real life. But my points still remain – I imagine that Cherie Priest is very connected to Seattle and thus chose to write Boneshaker in this locale, but it seems like too much of a stretch to truly work. If this had been in New York, or Philadelphia for example, I think it would have worked to the book’s credit. Or set it in a totally new city altogether, bypassing all of these other historical/structural/environmental critiques.

In any case, despite all of my reservations, I really did enjoy Boneshaker in its capacity as an SF horror novel and a page-turner. A mother set on finding her son in a zombie infested city? How could I not love this?! The pacing is excellent and although a little too contemporary to work in the time period, Ms. Priest has undeniably strong narrative technique and a gift for storytelling. This alone is more than enough to recommend the novel, even if it’s a little skimpy on the details.

On The Characters:

Ana: I think of the greatest strengths of the novel are its engaging and sympathetic characters. I absolutely loved Briar and Zere both as separate entities and their relationship. Especially because they were so freaking flawed and sometimes even annoying. Zeke behaved like a quintessential teenager – prone to do stupid things, but with the heart in the right place. Same thing goes for Briar – I really liked how she reflected upon her reasons for keeping secrets from her son and the moment she decided to change it all. She is fierce Plus, there is one revelation in the end, which even though I saw coming from a mile away, I still thought was awesome and made all the difference in the world adding an extra layer of complexity of the novel – and every single mention of a certain character from the start.

There are also a plethora of secondary characters that although not really that well-developed, were actually pretty entertaining in their own way. I was quite fond of the air pirates (especially Cly) and the underground refugees Lucy the one-armed barmaid and Jeremiah.

Thea: I have to agree with Ana in that the characters are a great asset to Boneshaker. I loved Briar, in particular, as the flawed mother that loves her son, no matter what. There’s a pivotal scene at the end of the book, a confession, that is so heart-wrenchingly honest and moving, it truly makes the book. Ezekiel, or Zeke, as Briar’s son felt a little less developed as a character to me, however. Yes, he was very much a teenager, and very believable in his quest to exonerate his grandfather’s legacy, and even his father (the creator of the titled Boneshaker) – but other than this desire, he lacks the well-rounded finish that his mother has in abundance.

Other secondary characters pop in and out and are enjoyable additions – in particular I loved Lucy, the one-armed barkeep and, a Native American Princess (who is nothing like the princess you have in mind, I guarantee it), and the gruff, lovable Jeremiah Swakhammer. Of course, there’s also the shadowy, nefarious Dr. Minnericht that runs Seattle’s underground ruins with an iron fist…

Altogether, an enjoyable and connecting cast.

BUT IS IT STEAMPUNK?

Ana: Weeeeell. There are undeniably, elements generally related to Steampunk in this novel. Alternate history. CHECK. Goggles, Dirigibles, some Steam technology, CHECK. A mad scientist. CHECK. However, I think those elements are only skin deep – remove them and they wouldn’t really make a difference to that world (although obviously they do to this story) . Those elements seem too confined to be really Steampunk-ish. But then again, the Steampunk seal has been signed, sealed and delivered by Steampunk luminaries from all over the place so what the hell do I know?

Thea: I’m sorta of the same mind as Ana here. Yes, there are steampunk elements up the wazoo (what with the bone-shaking drill, goggles, a couple of airships, and other strange inventions sprinkled throughout)…but is it really steampunk? I guess it really depends on your definition. For me, the aesthetic elements were strong but somewhat irrelevant, and it’s not the best example of a steampunk novel in my personal opinion. There’s no radical social critique, nor is there a dazzlingly central technological element. But, as Ana says, what the hell do I know? I can understand why this is labeled as steampunk, but I also understand why some folks might not see it as such.

Notable Quotes/Parts: From the prologue:

From Unlikely Episodes in Western History

Chapter 7, “Seattle’s Walled and Peculiar State.”
Work in progress, by Hale Quarter.
1880

Unpaved, uneven trails pretended to be roads; they tied the nation’s coasts together like laces holding a boot, binding it with crossed strings and crossed fingers. And over the great river, across the plains, between the mountain passes the settlers pushed from east to west. They trickled over the Rockies in dribs and drabs, in wagons and coaches.

Or this is how it began.

In California there were nuggets the size of walnuts lying on the ground—or so it was said, and truth travels slowly when rumors have wings of gold. The trickle of humanity became a magnificent flow. The glittering western shores swarmed with prospectors, pushing their luck and pushing their pans into the gravelly streams, praying for fortunes.

In time, the earth grew crowded, and claims became more tenuous. Gold came out of the ground in dust so fine that the men who mined it could’ve inhaled it.

In 1850 another rumor, winged and sparkling, came swiftly from the north.

The Klondike, it said. Come and cut your way through the ice you find there. A fortune in gold awaits a determined enough man.

The tide shifted, and looked to the northern latitudes. This meant very, very good things for the last frontier stop before the Canadian border—a backwater mill town on Puget Sound called Seattle after the native chief of the local tribes. The muddy village became a tiny empire nearly overnight as explorers and prospectors paused to trade and stock up on supplies.

While American legislators argued over whether or not to buy the Alaska territory, Russia hedged its bets and considered its asking price. If the land really was pocked with gold deposits, the game would absolutely change; but even if a steady supply of gold could be located, could it be retrieved? A potential vein, spotted intermittently but mostly buried beneath a hundred feet of permanent ice, would make for an ideal testing ground.

In 1860, the Russians announced a contest, offering a 100,000 ruble prize to the inventor who could produce or propose a machine that could mine through ice in search of gold. And in this way, a scientific arms race began despite a budding civil war.

Across the Pacific Northwest big machines and small machines were tinkered into existence. They were tricky affairs designed to withstand bitter cold and tear through turf that was frozen diamond-hard. They were powered by steam and coal, and lubricated with special solutions that protected their mechanisms from the elements. These machines were made for men to drive like stagecoaches, or designed to dig on their own, controlled by clockwork and ingenious guiding devices.

But none of them were rugged enough to tackle the buried vein, and the Russians were on the verge of selling the land to America for a relative pittance… when a Seattle inventor approached them with plans for an amazing machine. It would be the greatest mining vehicle ever constructed: fifty feet long and fully mechanized, powered by compressed steam. It would boast three primary drilling and cutting heads, positioned at the front of the craft; and a system of spiral shoveling devices mounted along the back and sides would scoop the bored-through ice, rocks, or earth back out of the drilling path. Carefully weighted and meticulously reinforced, this machine could drill in an almost perfect vertical or horizontal path, depending on the whims of the man in the driver’s seat. Its precision would be unprecedented, and its power would set the standard for all such devices to come.

But it had not yet been built.

You can read the full excerpt online HERE.

Additional Thoughts: It is also worth mentioning that Boneshaker comes in a beautiful package. Not only is the cover gorgeous (although irrelevant and misleading), but the book itself is printed on thick paper in this lovely rust brown print, lending even more to the steampunk aesthetic.

Rating:

Ana: 7 – Very Good

Thea: 7 – Very Good (Though it was a close call, bordering a 6)

Reading Next: A Local Habitation by Seanan McGuire

Title: Deadtown

Author: Nancy Holzner

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Publisher: Ace
Publication Date: December 2009
Paperback: 336 Pages

Stand alone or series: Book 1 in a planned series

How did I get this book: ARC from the publisher

Why did I read this book: I think I fell in lust with this book as soon as I heard its title and laid eyes on its delightfully over-the-top cover. I mean, look at that flaming sword AND machine gun! Then I read the synopsis, saw the word ZOMBIES, and was instantly smitten. AND when author Nancy Holzner contacted us shortly after we received an ARC from the publisher, we immediately got her to agree to an interview.

Summary: (from NancyHolzner.com)
They call it Deadtown: the city’s quarantined section for its inhuman and undead residents. Most humans stay far from its borders — but Victory Vaughn, Boston’s only professional demon slayer, isn’t exactly human…

But now Vicky’s got bigger things to worry about. The Hellion who murdered her father ten years ago has somehow broken through Boston’s magical protections. The Hellion is a ruthless force of destruction with a personal grudge against Vicky, and she’s the only one who can stop the demon before it destroys the city and everyone in it.

Review:

Victory “Vicky” Vaughn is Boston’s premiere (and only) demon slayer, and she also happens to be a demi-human – a special brand of shapeshifter known as a Cerridorion. Ever since a mysterious plague overtook the downtown part of the city, instantly killing any humans in the vicinity, downtown Boston has become known as “Deadtown” – a quarantined area where all paranormal creatures are required by law to live. Following the outbreak of the plague, the humans that died returned to life as zombies – definitely undead and with insatiable appetites (but for regular food, not necessarily human flesh). The very public existence of zombies also meant other preternatural creatures, like vampires, demons and werewolves, decided to step out of the closet and reveal themselves to the world. While paranormals lack the essential liberties and rights afforded to humans, for demi-humans like Vicky, it also means she can conduct business out in the open. When she’s not helping clients get rid of their demon infestations and keeping Deadtown safe, she juggles a romance with werewolf lawyer and champion for paranormal rights, Alexander Kane. Lately, though, something’s been wrong in Vicky’s line of work – and when the “Goon Squad” (the storm troopers that patrol and are quick to abduct and imprison “the monsters” of Deadtown) pays Vicky a visit and haul her in to Boston Police Headquarters, Vicky knows something sinister is brewing in not only Deadtown, but the entire Boston area. A very specific demon from Vicky’s past, a Hellion known as The Destroyer, is back and it’s killing people. Determined to stop the Hellion once and for all, Vicky agrees to help the police, but this task might prove even too big for Vicky’s ample skills as a deeper plot is revealed – politicians, paranormals, witches and sorcerers all seem to be involved. And Vicky only has a short amount of time to get to the bottom of the mystery, before Boston is torn apart by the Destroyer.

I read a lot of Urban Fantasy, and have a few go-to staples. Kim Harrison’s Rachel Morgan books, Patricia Briggs’s Mercy Thompson books, Rachel Caine’s Weather Warden series, and Ilona Andrews’s Kate Daniels books all top the list as THE best female protag-centered UF to beat (at least, in my opinion).

And wouldn’t you know it? Nancy Holzner and her awesome heroine Vicky Vaughn sure make a strong case to get added to the essentials list. From the second I saw the ridiculously awesome, over-the-top cover for the book, I had high hopes and Ms. Holzner truly delivers with this incredibly solid debut UF novel. Deadtown is told with an authoritative voice starring a great new heroine, and puts an imaginative spin on the usual paranormal suspects; the plotting and worldbuilding are compelling and undeniably fresh.

In short – I absolutely loved Deadtown.

From a writing standpoint, curling up with this book feels like settling down with an old, favorite novel friend – Ms. Holzner writing is snappy, sassy and fast-paced without a single dragging or dull moment. The mystery is a tad on the predictable side (the mysterious bad guy isn’t really much of a shocker), but the pacing and execution of the story are solid and more than enough to compensate for a lack of plotting complexity. In many ways, Deadtown is reminiscent of Kim Harrison’s The Hollows series – both are adrenaline-fueled reads, both share the idea of supernatural creatures living in a cordoned off area from the rest of the “normal” humans, both have a plague as the catalyst for supernatural creatures coming out of the woodwork. And, perhaps most importantly, Deadtown’s heroine, Vicky, is just as likable as Ms. Harrison’s Rachel Morgan – strong, competent, and sympathetic. That’s not to say Deadtown is some imitation Rachel Morgan novel though; Ms. Holzner’s UF debut is certainly strong enough to stand on its own, as an engaging new series in its own right. (But, if you, like me, are a fan of The Hollows, you’ll definitely love this book!)

As a heroine, Victory Vaughn rocks. First off, the name is fantastic – evocative of sultry bombshell broads from the 1930s and 1940s, in a cool, pulp noir Lauren Bacall kind of way. Vicky is dedicated to her job, she doesn’t take anyone’s crap, but she’s not so insistently tough that she’s abrasive (a failing of many an UF heroine). She also has a pretty cool supernatural ability as a Cerridorion – a shapeshifter that can change shape only three times per month, a descendent of witch-Goddess Ceridwen. As a Cerridorion, Vicky’s powers are inherited and she can only use them so long as she has no children, in a fascinating twist on supernatural ability (Vicky’s sister, Gwen, has given up her shapeshifting abilities for children and stability, and the contrast between these two characters is pretty cool stuff). In terms of secondary characters, Deadtown also shines – Vicky’s sister Gwen is a fascinating counter to Vicky’s more dangerous personality; I also enjoyed Vicky’s vampiric roommate Juliet, and especially loved her sort-of boyfriend, the werewolf and attorney Alexander Kane. And, of course, there’s Tina the teenage zombie – Ms. Holzner’s take on the unfortunately reanimated is both hilarious and a bit sad. Those who died in the mysterious Boston downtown plague have returned from the grave, but have been rejected by their family members (especially after their reanimated bodies start to decay and turn green). Tina, as Vicky’s over-exuberant sidekick, is a delightful comic presence.

Deadtown is a debut UF novel that I simply could not get enough of. I absolutely loved this smart, fast Urban Fantasy and highly recommend it to anyone – especially jaded UF readers looking for something fun and new.

Notable Quotes/Parts: From Chapter 1:

Two rules I live by: Never admit to being a shapeshifter on a first, second, or third date with a human. And never, ever bring along a zombie apprentice wannabe on a demon kill.

Lately, given my lack of a social life and my kinda-sorta relationship with a workaholic werewolf lawyer, Rule Number One hadn’t presented much of a problem. At the moment, it was Rule Number Two that was giving me trouble. Of course, I’d only formulated Rule Number Two about thirty seconds ago, but I intended to uphold it for the rest of my life—assuming that I’d make it out of here and have a rest of my life to live.

Rule Number Two was thanks to Tina, who—against my orders—had followed me into my client’s dream. I was here to exterminate a pod of dream-demons, and the last thing I needed was a teenage zombie in a pink miniskirt.

“Hi, Vicky. I thought you might need this.” Tina waved my flamethrower, then looked around. “Whoa. It’s weird in here.”

Weird didn’t half describe it. We stood in the middle of a huge circus tent, the top stretching up and up until it disappeared somewhere in the stratosphere. Eerie music from an out-of-tune calliope swirled through the air. All around us loomed dozens of crate-sized boxes, painted crayon-bright red, blue, and yellow. Suddenly, a box to my right flipped open. With an earsplitting screech an evil-faced clown sprang out, jack-in-the-box style. I raised my pistol, aimed, and squeezed the trigger. The bronze bullet nailed the demon-clown right between its eyes. It shrieked, bobbing around on its spring, then dissolved into a puff of sulfurous mist.

“Cool!” Tina brandished the flamethrower. “Let me do the next one.”

You can read the full chapter online HERE.

Additional Thoughts: Make sure to stop by tomorrow as we have Nancy Holzner over for an interview – plus a chance to win Deadtown…

Verdict: Deadtown is one of the strongest starts to a new UF series I have had the pleasure of reading in a long while. Absolutely recommended for old genre fans and new fans like – and I cannot wait for the release of book 2. Ms. Holzner is a talent to watch out for.

Rating: 7 – Very Good

Reading Next: Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James

Welcome to Smugglivus – Day 29!

Throughout this month, we will have daily guests – authors and bloggers alike – looking back at their favorite reads of 2009, and looking forward to events and upcoming books in 2010.

Today’s Guest: Harry Markov of the awesome/fantastic/phenomenal speculative fiction review blog Temple Library Reviews! Harry and the two of us Smugglers form an unholy trinity – we love having him over for guest blogs, reviews, etc and of COURSE had to have him here for Smugglivus.

Please give it up for Harry, folks!

Ah, it’s December. The year rolls into a retirement home on a wheelchair and it’s time to turn back to all the neatly crossed calendar boxes and wonder: “Where the heck did another year go and was I in a comma locked in a bunker to have missed it?” Yes, always the profound questions with me.

I was busy. D’oh. That much I know, but not all has been reading books and landscaping imaginary scenery for my writing. Making through 2009 on a personal level has been my biggest feat and I certainly hope that I get a break from very bad years, because 2008 wasn’t that good a year either. I did lose some sanity along the way, but found some extra pounds I was quite sure I would never see again. This reflected on my reading bit and as homemade stats show I have managed to read just above forty novels.

But I have it all covered for next year. I have actually given my TBR list to imported Swizz architects and they are constructing my very own Babylon Tower. Construction is supposed to finish never and for labor force we plan to enslave Europe. Apart from performed badly in the reading department I also had way too many hiatus posts on my blog as well as not having written as much as I could have, but I am all optimistic about this year.

The tendency as you may have noticed is for my plans to deflate, collapse and deform like a spectacular disaster movie plot line, but there were some good moments through the whole bit you know. For starters I started this improvised feature called “Reviewer Time”, where I set out to interview review bloggers and showcase the hard work they have put into their sites and its content. The idea popped up during my Blog Anniversary, which I celebrated low key, and the central idea was to show people the people behind the reviews, network, make new friends and yes, get a few thousand hits from it as well. It worked, sort of. Now I have gained more people as friends, which have made blogging way more fun. I also proved to myself that I can pull off an eight-month long feature on a regular basis.

But sentimentality aside, the year without books would have been empty and desolate and I consider myself lucky for the opportunity to read and review the following novels in 2009:

“Slights” by Kaaron Warren: This book scared me witless, kept me intrigued and induced an infinite long string of nail-biting “Oh no, no, no” moments. Staring at the screen to read has never been so tense for me before. It’s good to see Kaaron nominated for an Aurealis in best horror category.

“Flesh and Fire” by Laura Anne Gilman: I am a huge wine lover. Not an expert, but hand me a bottle and I shall drink, even if it’s cheap and utter vinegar. I’m also a spell junkie, so when those two mix into an inviting world with compelling characters only good can emerge and to be frank, Gilman make me feel more like a newbie, impressionable and all, and not like the jaded reader I am.

“Scar Night” by Alan Campbell: Great cover art, spectacular premise, steampunk, assassins and murders and a city hanging on chains over an abyss. What is there not to like? I know I’m cheating since this is not a 2009 release, but stuck with me as a novel I didn’t want to finish, because I would be back to the real world again.

“The Light of Burning Shadows” by Chris Evans: It’s rare for a book to completely bewitch me, install a rare sense of wonder and make me chuckle. Chris Evans has done that for me, for which I am grateful. I loved the grander battles, more magic and atmospheric scenery.

“The Living Dead” anthology: I am a huge zombie fan, so there was no way I was going to miss adding this to my top reads of the year. I am guilty of stretching this read for more than half a year, but boy did it rock my world.

2010:

I am a dreamer, so I usually find myself with bright pick glasses of positivity, when the New Year is about to debut and this year is no exception guys. What you will hear is aiming at the moon with a bow and arrow set, but as a good friend always says, “Always aim for the moon and even if you miss, you will land among the stars”.

For starters I hope to get a job by then, start revisions on that urban fantasy novel, which now is promising, and with the money I earn feed my habit. There are no particular titles I’m giddy to see released for I am giddy for all wonderful books. I also would hope to land a freelance gig, for which I am preparing as we speak. Come January I will query the big publishers again to see whether they would consider me again after having stuck on the scenery for almost two years. Fresh start and everything. I’ve enough books as it is, but I am more or less aiming for contacts rather than the free books. If all goes according to vague plans, hopes and pure luck I will also move “Temple Library Reviews” on a separate website with a professional design and looks and all everything.

But let’s move onto more grounded goals, which depend on my own organizational skills and iron will. January is going to be a themed month over at “Temple Library Reviews” and the topic is Western comic books and graphic novels. Apart from reviews, which will pop every day and cover past, ongoing and limited series I envision guest posts from reviewers, comic book enthusiasts and interviews with comic book creators, printed and online. In reality I can see a train wreck in slow motion with the causes, which lead to it, but I think I can manage it along with my exam session.

Come February “Reviewer Time” will come with a new season. Brand new review bloggers, new design, new PR approach and new ways to entice people to pay attention to the feature, because after all I need to keep my media-addicted attention whore alter ego in check. I got me a vague idea who the reviewers will be and what I want the design to look like, so I am all good for now.

I would also be relieved to find a contributor that would have a post a week ready and keep the blog running, even when I lose control over my life and the activities within I can have a constant in the equation.

Thanks Harry!

Next on Smugglivus: Sarah of Alert Nerd

Today, we give you a supernatural double-shot of goodness, in the spirit of Smugglivus! First up, it’s the lyrical stylings of Ryan Mecum, followed by a zombified version of a holiday classic from Adam Roberts…

Vampire Haiku by Ryan Mecum

Publisher: How
Publication Date: August 2009
Paperback: 144 pages

Summary: (from amazon.com)
You hold in your hands a recently discovered poetry journal – the poetry journal of a vampire. William Butten was en route to a new land on the Mayflower when he was turned into a vampire by a fellow passenger, a beautiful woman named Katherine. These pages contain his heartbreaking story – the story of a vampire who has lived through (and perhaps caused) some of America’s defining events. As he travels the country and as centuries pass, he searches for his lost love and records his adventures and misadventures using the form of poetry known as haiku.

Read along, and you just may find a new appreciation for – and insight into – various events in American history. And blood.

Review:

Earlier this year, Ana and I read and reviewed Ryan Mecum’s delightful Zombie Haiku – and we liked it so much, we of course responded with alacrity when he invited us to review his new poetic book, Vampire Haiku.

Like Zombie Haiku, Vampire Haiku is written entirely in a series of haiku (that’s a three line poem, with 5-7-5 syllables per line), but tells an overall story. This novel is the poetic journal of a man named William Butten, a translatlantic passenger on the good ship Mayflower in 1620. En route, William meets a lovely married woman named Katherine – who isn’t exactly what she seems, as becomes clear to William when she drinks his blood and turns him into a vampire. Over the next few centuries, the vampire William documents his adventures, his conquests, and his love for Katherine in his journal (all in haiku form, of course).

And what can I say? Mr. Mecum does it again with his winsome Vampire Haiku, capturing a slightly different interpretation of American history through a vampire’s eyes. This slim, glossy book comes in a cool package – the interior of the book, the accompanying illustrations, photographs and blood spatters are gorgeously composed – and the haiku are as fun as ever. A few favorites:

The syllable count
for “vampire” is confusing.
Two? Three? I’ll guess two.

Blood tastes like cherries
mixed with a lot of copper
and way too much salt.

When a mosquito
pierces my neck and drinks blood,
is that irony?

I just saw Twilight.
It’s labeled a vampire film,
but I don’t know why.

These were not vampires.
If sunlight makes you sparkle,
you’re a unicorn.

Even better than the humor, though, is the unrequited love story between William and his Katherine over the ages – it adds a touch of bittersweet heartache to the book.

Though I think I still prefer Zombie Haiku (as a zombie fan first and foremost, this is a – pardon the lameness of the pun – “no brainer”), Vampire Haiku is a wonderful little book, and another solid entry from Ryan Mecum. Perfect for a stocking stuffer, or for someone looking for a quick, quirky pick-me-up. Definitely recommended.

Rating: 6 – Good

I Am Scrooge: A Zombie Story for Christmas by Adam Roberts

Publisher: Gollancz (UK)
Publication Date: October 2009
Hardcover: 160 pages

Summary: (amazon.com)

Marley was dead. Again. The legendary Ebenezeer Scrooge sits in his house counting money. The boards that he has nailed up over the doors and the windows shudder and shake under the blows from the endless zombie hordes that crowd the streets hungering for his flesh and his miserly braaaaiiiiiinns! Just how did the happiest day of the year slip into a welter of blood, innards and shambling, ravenous undead on the snowy streets of old London town? Will the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future be able to stop the world from drowning under a top-hatted and crinolined zombie horde? Was Tiny Tim’s illness something infinitely more sinister than mere rickets and consumption? Can Scrooge be persuaded to go back to his evil ways, travel back to Christmas past and destroy the brain stem of the tiny, irritatingly cheery Patient Zero? It’s the Dickensian Zombie Apocalypse – God Bless us, one and all!

Review:

Since the wild success of Seth Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies earlier this year (reviewed HERE), the taking of an established classic work of literature and zombifying it has become something of a trend. Adam Roberts’ I Am Scrooge: A Zombie Story for Christmas takes Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and twists it into something a little more…silly (and by “silly” I mean bloody, gorey, and brains-y).

The basic story is thus: Ebeneezer Scrooge, the miserliest of misers, he of the “bah humbugs,” turns out to be the only person in the world immune to the encroaching zombie plague (which he discovers after a re-animated Marley bites him on his backside). On Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by three spirits (Present, Future and Past) for a specific purpose – to see the extent of the zombie plague, and to give him the motivation to stop it (by putting the maniacal mastermind behind the zombie outbreak to a preemptive death).

If you buy I Am Scrooge, you already know what you are getting into. This is a silly book that isn’t really about zombies as metaphor for human failings. It’s not George A. Romero. It’s not Kim Paffenroth or Robert Kirkpatrick. But, for what it is – a good, healthy dose of the ridiculous followed by a serving of Christmas Puddi-er-Brains – I Am Scrooge is wonderful. Mr. Roberts does not make the awkward mistake of trying to ape Charles Dickens’ prose (as Mr. Grahame-Smith attempted with Jane Austen), nor does he rely on A Christmas Carol too much. Instead, he takes the basic premise of the novel and writes a wry, brisk, slip of a book (it’s only 150 pages), that involves time travel, some famous author cameos, and the strategic location of Australia.

Seriously.

Add to that a sometimes-narrator that has fun with the english language, i.e:

‘Brains!’ moaned the beast, its arms flung wide as if in greeting. It writhed, slowly, jerkily, upon its wooden-knob of impalement. Of its impaling. Its impaleness. Of its Impellor.

Of its being impaled. Yes, I think that’s the right one.

…and you’ve got a party. I Am Scrooge is absurdism at its best – the final showdown will have you rolling your eyes, and yet strangely delighted. At least, I know I was delighted. I appreciated how off-the-wall silly this book was, and devoured it in a single sitting. It’s not War and Peace (or even A Christmas Carol) – but then again, it’s not meant to be. And for what it is, it rocks. Recommended, if you’re looking for silly, fast, and escapist. With brains.

Rating: 6 – Good

Reading Next: Raiders’ Ransom by Emily Diamand

Title: Dying to Live: Life Sentence

Author: Kim Paffenroth

Genre: Horror, Zombies, Post-Apocalyptic Ficiton

Publisher: Permuted Press
Publication Date: October 2008
Paperback: 232 pages

Stand alone or series: Sequel to Dying to Live, but can be read as a stand alone novel.

How did I get this book: Review Copy from the author

Why did I read this book: I loved Dying to Live, and was eager to give the sequel a try. A few months back, the annual Horror Writer’s Association Bram Stoker Awards were held here in Los Angeles, and I drove out to meet and congratulate nominee Joel A. Sutherland. While I was there, I also got to briefly meet author Kim Paffenroth! (And, of course, made a bumbling buffoon of myself in the process) A few weeks later, the author contacted us with a review request – and I of course was most happy to oblige.

Summary: (from Amazon.com)
At the end of the world a handful of survivors banded together in a museum-turned-compound surrounded by the living dead. The community established rituals and rites of passage, customs to keep themselves sane, to help them integrate into their new existence. In a battle against a kingdom of savage prisoners, the survivors lost loved ones, they lost innocence, but still they coped and grew. They even found a strange peace with the undead.
Twelve years later the community has reclaimed more of the city and has settled into a fairly secure life in their compound. Zoey is a girl coming of age in this undead world, learning new roles–new sacrifices. But even bigger surprises lay in wait, for some of the walking dead are beginning to remember who they are, who they’ve lost, and, even worse, what they’ve done.

As the dead struggle to reclaim their lives, as the survivors combat an intruding force, the two groups accelerate toward a collision that could drastically alter both of their worlds.

Review:

Taking place twelve years after the events of Dying to Live, Life Sentence tells the tale of a young girl named Zoey, growing up in a world where the living and dead must coexist. It also is the tale of a man named Wade Truman – a gentle zombie, capable of cognition. Each chapter alternates between Zoey and Wade’s narration, as their two paths eventually collide.

The Dying to Live books have been called the “thinking man’s zombie novel[s]” (Dave Wellington), and I cannot think of a more apt description. Mr. Paffenroth’s writing dares to explore more deeply and explicitly the philosophical implications of the zombie plague and its aftermath, continuing here what he began in the first book. This isn’t so much a “zombie” novel as it is a novel about humans, both living and dead, trying to coexist in a world that has been transformed. This second novel is an extension of the apocalypse, growing past the struggle for immediate survival as a community of humans have cleared out a city and have lived peaceably for years. In Zoey’s narrative, we learn that her city is built on an understanding and reverence for all life – which includes the dead. Instead of killing and eliminating the zombie threat, Zoey’s people revere those who have passed on by keeping the undead locked in a storage facility. They never kill zombies except in self defense and in the situations when there is no way to restrain them safely – a novelty in a genre known for its violent, sensationalist approach to blood, guts and gore. Mr. Paffenroth’s novel has its share of action and danger, but is a much more subdued, reflective book, built more on the strength of its characters than bloody descriptions. And these characterizations are what take the book to the next level, setting it apart as a truly wonderful, memorable novel.

Zoey, the “normal” human narrator is a young girl entering adolescence and preparing to take her vows and become a full-fledged member of the community. Zoey has always felt like an outsider to her fellow community members – different from her adopted mother and father who knew of the “real” world before the zombie apocalypse, different from the children her own age who do not question and view things as Zoey does. Zoey’s written narrative, told in the first person, is a truly searing perspective of someone who has no ties to our world of office jobs, prom dresses and ethnic specialty foods – all she knows is the community she’s grown up in, the way that the dead always reanimate, and the way of life of guns and farming she has lived since her birth. Zoey’s story is that of a new generation, born of the survivors of the apocalypse and with no roots in the world as we currently know it. All this strangeness and detachment from our technology, customs and mores comes across beautifully in Mr. Paffenroth’s writing through Zoey’s perspective. Her voice is immensely moving and believable – she has a thoughtful, introspective tone as a character, questioning not only the tangible differences between our world and her own (as she questions why she must study history of dead kings and plays that no longer seem to hold relevance in humanity’s current situation), but her unique vantage point applies to concepts as abstract as the idea of “memory” and as tangible as the pain of loss.

The other narrator of the novel is Wade Truman – a zombie who is able to think rationally, understand and communicate with others. “Smart” zombies are not exactly novelties – George Romero has examined the idea that zombies can remember certain actions and reason in his films Day of the Dead with Bub, and in Land of the Dead with Big Daddy’s zombie revolution – but I have never read nor seen a film that captures the zombie perspective so completely and hauntingly as does Mr. Paffenroth in Life Sentence. Wade’s narrative answers the questions we hardly ever think to ask of the walking dead – do they feel their mortal wounds? Why do they hunger so, and how do they quench that hunger? Do they remember their pasts? Do they dream, hope, or fear? Just as Zoey’s voice is beautifully distinct and compelling, so too is Truman’s first person narrative. His voice is full of sadness and loss, as he cannot remember his past and struggles to make sense of his present. His story, told through a typewritten journal, is an elegiac lament, a heartbreaking ode for the living dead. Unable to sleep, unable to rest, Truman refrains from eating human flesh and befriends humans and zombies alike. Though he cannot remember who he was, his ability to reason and understand, to think but not speak or communicate initially beyond the most basic signals is a very powerful, saddening story.

Life Sentence is an elegant, eloquent novel about how humanity endures after an unthinkable disaster, honoring the living and dead alike. At times philosophical, Mr. Paffenroth blends action and intellect beautifully in this powerful book, with only occasional missteps. Absolutely recommended for fans and for new readers alike.

Notable Quotes/Parts: You can read an excerpt of the first chapter of Life Sentence online HERE using Amazon’s “Look Inside” feature (click the book cover image).

Additional Thoughts: Kim Paffenroth has a new, extremely limited edition novel out called Valley of the Dead. Though the novel is no longer currently available for order, but hopefully will see a wider release at a later date. Here’s the gorgeous cover and synopsis:

For seventeen years of his life, the whereabouts of the medieval Italian poet Dante Alighieri is unknown to modern scholars. All we know is that during this time, he traveled as an exile across Europe, while working on his epic poem, The Divine Comedy. In his masterpiece he describes a journey through the three realms of the afterlife. The volume describing hell, Inferno, is the most famous of the the three.

Valley of the Dead is the real story behind Inferno. In his wanderings, Dante stumbles on a zombie infestation, and the things he sees there – people being devoured, burned alive, boiled in pitch, torn apart by dogs, eviscerated, impaled, crucified, etc. – become the basis of all the horrors he describes in Inferno. Afraid to be labeled a madman, Dante made the terrors he witnessed into a more “believable” account of an otherworldly adventure with demons and mythological monsters, but now the real story can finally be told.

Rating: 8 – Excellent

Reading Next: Malpractice Anthology

Disclaimer: Halloween is totally a Thea thing when she hijacks the blog and makes me watch and read all sorts of stuff that are way outside my comfort zone (I am SO NOT a horror/Halloween fan). Last year, it was The Evil Dead movies, which, wouldn’t you know, I ended up loving. This year, I was given another list of movies that I had to watch, one for ach day of the week. Ana’s Halloween Marathon is now an official part of our annual Halloween celebration. Let the torture fun begins! Also: there will be spoilers!

Ana’s Halloween TV/Movie Marathon: Day 2 – Land of the Dead / Dawn of the Dead 2004

Why These movies: Thea is a major zombie fan and has managed to infect me with a certain enthusiasm for the critters. During our Zombie Appreciation Week earlier this year, I watched zombie movies: Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Night of the Living Dead – the Remake and I loved them. Especially the first one. Now, for our Halloween Week II, we decided I should watch 2 more zombie movies…

The viewing Party: This time I am psychologically prepared for the Zombie marathon. I also have zero comestibles (I learnt the hard way not to eat whilst watching zombie movies. Don’t ask) but I do have some beer. I start in chronological order, with Romero’s Land of the Dead.

It has been a while since the zombie-apocalypse , the world is infested with them and humans seem to have settled in the new world order. At least they seem better equipped to fight back. There are teams that use fireworks to distract the zombies whilst they go around scavenging for supplies. One leader is Riley (It’s Simon Baker, The Mentalist! Oh hello baby!) and he seems to have a beef with another team leader, Cholo (John Leguizamo). Devastation is everywhere – towns are empty of humans, taken over by zombies. Oh.

Oh. OOOOOOOOOOOOH. These zombies. They are different. They seem to TRY, purposely TRY to be human? Are they trying to communicate? Wait a minute. There is this big black zombie person….he finds a gun and he picks it up! Oh this does not bode well.

Meanwhile, the American Dream lives on in Fiddler’s Green where the rich and powerful have found heaven on earth whilst the rest of the populace lives on quite poorly. I am not quite sure where this is (I googled. It is Pittsburgh) but the city is well protected – bordered by a river on three of its side and by a fence that keeps away the zombies. The camera goes around and we see that humans are using the zombies for fun: there is some sort of amusement park where they can shoot the zombies, or they have zombie cage fights. In one of these cage fights, Simon Baker’s Love Interest is trapped with two zombies and he saves her. But Oh, the humanity. The poor , poor zombies. THEY ARE PEOPLE TOO.

Oh-oh. Big Daddy zombie , he is intelligent. He is like a leader and he is taking the zombies towards the city! I swear it is like watching The Evolution of the Zombie, live. They use tools now , you know?
Meanwhile Simon Baker is out to get John Leguizamo who has gone rogue. By the way, just how old is John Leguizamo?

I have been watching movies with the dude for aaaaaaaaaaaaaages and he looks exactly the same! *googles* He was like 40 when he did this movie. Doesn’t look like it. Anyways, I digress.
There is a horrible sense of desolation in this movie when Simon Baker and his Love Interest go outside the city to find Cholo who decides to run and DOOM! He is bitten! I am not sure what to think as he is not the bestest of people ever but he is also not That Bad.

And then, what an amazing scene: the zombies are crossing the river!

And they invade the city and it is Fiesta de Human Beings. Later Zombie!Cholo! has a face –off with Corporate dude who created Fiddler’s Green and who was trying to flee as the city is overtaken by zombies.
It ends with the zombies leaving……and Simon Baker not killing them and saying: “they are looking for a place to go…same as us. ”

Awesome.

Verdict: Well this movie is quite interesting. Once more I am faced with the fact that I actually don’t fear the zombies as much as I fear the freaking, stupid human beings who are capable of despicable acts. I liked the evolution of the zombie – maybe something between human and something else new? I wonder where else could this be leading to. I didn’t think this one was a gruesome as it could have been which I think I am grateful for. Kudos, Mr Romero.

Next!

Dawn of the Dead is a remake. Of .. Dawn of the Dead. The one where a group of humans barricade themselves inside a shipping mall after the zombie apocalypse starts.It was my least favorite of the previous marathon, but one I still liked. It was the lightest of them all, I think, with a lot of humorous parts. The remake is by Zach Snyder, the guy behind 300 and Watchmen. And I can tell straight away. The opening credits are awesome and remind me a lot of that of Watchmen.

But I am ahead of myself because the opening credits are like ten minutes into the movie, ten minutes that were positively brilliant yet….WRONG, in so many levels.

It begins with a nurse Ana, going back home at the end of her shift, going to bed with her husband, only to wake up to find a zombie girl inside her room. The zombie kills the husband , who immediately becomes a zombie and pursues her. Like….he runs. Really , really fast.

I pause. Wait a minute. These zombies are different! Even more different than the ones from Land of the Dead. They are stronger and faster! Noooooooooooooooo nonononononono. NO. This is wrong. I email Thea to rant. Because wouldn’t you know…it turns out, I am not only a new zombie lover, I also seem to a zombie purist. Zombies are slow, Zach Snyder, SLOW. I am quite incensed by these wanna-be zombies. I am also, quite terrified because, there is no way, NO WAY, we (as in human beings, we) can survive a zombie apocalypse with THESE zombies. NO WAY.

Zombies. RUNNING. The Nerve.

Anyways, I resume watching. Ana, who by the way, doesn’t seem t be grieving her recently deceased husband, runs away and joins a group of people who decide to hide in the mall. Inside there are three security guards who run the show and give them refuge.

There are QUITE a few people here. Including a petty criminal and his VERY pregnant wife and a guy who lives in another building across the parking lot. Then, MORE people arrive in a truck and all of a sudden, there are more characters than I can count or care about. Just to prove my point this one guy is infected and they have to kill him and do I care? NO. There was not enough time for me to care. Instead of the small group of characters like in the previous movies, where we get to learn about them as they live through months inside the mall. Me no likey. Plus hello Ana and this other dude, whom I really like by the way, start to develop a romance….but didn’t her husband just die????

There is this one scene where they are in the roof and there are loads, shit loads of zombies coming to the mall and they are all like, why? Why are they coming here? One of the characters say: “Memory , instinct, coming for us”. Nothing else. He doesn’t say the most important thing! Memory and instinct of WHAT. And with this just like that, they completely fuck this up because this scene should have had social criticism! NO. I don’t like the mindless, zombie for entertainment movie. I don’t like gore and blood for gore and blood. I want something else.

Then, the pregnant lady goes into labour and she has been bitten but her husband has gone mucho loco and keeps her alive and the baby is born and it is a Zombie!Baby! ewww gross! Scary! Wrong! The guy is a total psycho yo! He and the baby are killed, praise the lord. And the others decide to leave the mall and go to a marina and take a boat and honestly? Blah. I lost interest! I mean, the ending has some thrilling sequences with the Super!Fast!Zombies! Then some sacrifices are made and the remaining dudes including Ana (I like Ana, she is kick ass, maybe it’s the name?) …

….sail away only to find themselves in a zombie-infested island with no chance of survival. How could they really? The End. Really.

Verdict: No, I am not a fan of this one. I mean, I am sure there is fun to be had somewhere, the opening was cool, the ending too but it lacked something else. Maybe the humor of the original, definitely the Something More that Romero infused his zombie movies with. Not once did I want to kill the humans because they were stupid, mostly because they were boring. I also admit that these zombies scared the shit out of me. *shudders*

What about you? What do you think of Zombies? Do you like The Traditional Zombie or the New!Fast!Improved ones?

Title: Never Slow Dance With A Zombie

Author: E. Van Lowe

Genre: YA (Horror)

Publisher: Tor Teen
Publishing Date: August 2009
Paperback: 256 pages

Stand alone or series: Stand Alone

Why did I read the Book: It is a YA Zombie book. Given my love for YA books, and my new-found appreciation for the Zombie , I thought “why not”

How did I get the book: It was a gift from Graeme

Summary: Principal Taft’s 3 Simple Rules for Surviving a Zombie Uprising:

Then Margot and Sybil arrive at school one day to find that most of the student body has been turned into flesh-eating zombies. When kooky Principal Taft asks the girls to coexist with the zombies until the end of the semester, they realize that this is the perfect opportunity to live out their high school dreams. All they have to do is stay alive….

Review: Margot Jean Johnson is a nobody. She does not belong in any of her high school’s cliques. She is neither a cheerleader, a Goth nor a geek. She goes through life, with her best friend Sybil wishing for things she does not have, dreaming about having a boyfriend and becoming as popular as her nemesis, Amanda Culpepper as per the manifesto she wrote before starting high school. None of it has come to fruition so far and Margot feels like a failure.

Then, at the night of the school’s Carnival something happens. All the students that were in attendance – that would be everybody except for Margot and Sybil, which just goes to show how much of a nobody they both are – became zombies. Slow moving, dim-witted, flesh-eating zombies who… still attend school and go about their daily lives as before, mimicking what once was. Margot and Sybil are at first completely terrified and want to do something, to report the case to the authorities but then Principal Taff makes them an offer they can’t refuse: to hang on at least till the end of the semester (when he is set to become district supervisor) and by doing that, they basically have free reign of the school as long as they pretend they are zombies too.

All of a sudden, all of Margot’s dreams become a reality: she becomes Chairman of the Homecoming Committee, Chairman of the Prom Committee, of the Yearbook Committee, Head Cheerleader , etc, etc. All is fine, for the first time in Margot Jean Johnson’s life and by god, she will enjoy it. She embraces the new school order and so what that other kids have become zombies and don’t really know that she is miss popular now? So what if her best friend hasn’t got as many titles as she did. Hey, she can EVEN have a boyfriend and a date for the prom, if she manages to train zombie Dirk Conrad not to eat her when they are slow dancing.

But then they find out that a couple of geeks have not turned into zombies either – and that includes Baron, the guy who has a crush on Margot – and are looking for an antidote. Will Margot help or hinder their efforts?

There are two ways to look at this book and I am not sure in which camp I fall. Never Slow Dance with a Zombie is either a crap fiesta or a work of genius. It is so completely over the top that I found myself alternating between being thoroughly amused or totally detached.

The premise is quite quirky and if you accept it, I think there is fun to be had. Margot’s arc is interesting in which she goes to a very dark place throughout the story, somewhere between Denial and Crazy. It sort of reminded me of Heathers, with its brand of black comedy.

I do think that in order to fully appreciate the book, and really get into it, the reader has to accept far too much. We have to accept that not a single parent has realised that their kids has turned into a zombie. That none of the teacher’s wives or husbands have either. I understand that this can be seen as social commentary and criticism but I think it takes the idea that zombies replicate what they did when alive and extrapolates way too much. I am supposed to accept for example that Dirk’s mother has not noticed that her husband has turned into a zombie only because he is sitting in front of the TV as he always did. I GET the criticism but come on: he is green. He eats only raw meat. He does not speak. At some points, I felt like the author expected too much of me and I found out that I didn’t have it in me to give it back. Like for example, how the two geeks assumed the whole thing was a virus and tried to use DNA to create an antidote. Hummmm okay. How. Exactly?

I nearly put the book down several times but I kept going because I wanted to see the how and the why. The book picks up towards the end when the villainous villain explain The Plan and Margot has to flee the zombies around the school as song from the 80’s play in the speakers and do you see what I mean? Over the top and camp and yet, somewhat amusing. I can’t help but to digress about ideas and how they would work if they had been exercised in a different medium: I rather think that if Never Slow Dance With a Zombie were a movie with say, Amanda Bynes, or an episode of Buffy, it would actually be pretty damn cool.

Having said that, the book is framed by two letters, one that opens the book and another that closes it that may or may not point towards an unreliable narrator. I guess it rather depends on the reader, which is actually what I want to say in this review: your level of enjoyment reading this book is completely up to you and what you are willing to put up with. How is that for helpful?

Notable Quotes/ Parts:

“I sat alone in my room contemplating the future. The darkness lounging in my soul was happy my classmates were all zombies. It told me there was nothing anyone could do about it. We have to get on with our lives. It promised me a new life where I was no longer the girl on the sidelines passing the time, observing the good life from the outside instead of living it. I was about to become the queen bee of Salesian High.
It told me to enjoy it.”

Verdict: Totally Silly and camp but with some social commentary as any good Zombie tale ought to be. I don’t think this is a book for everybody though, as a lot of suspencion of disbelief is required. Even though I was ok with the premise (otherwise I wouldn’t have picked it up) ,there was a lot more to it that I did not like.

Rating: 4 – bad but not without some merit (I guess I do know which camp I fall into.)

Reading Next: Taste of Tenderloin by Gene O’Neil.

Today, we bring you all things zombie and zombie inspired. It’s the Zombie Day stop on our Book Smuggler tour of Hallowee–wait, what’s that? OH GOD! NO! NOOooooooo —

*slurp gurgle slurp* *nom* *nom* *nom* BRAAAAAAAAAAAAINS!

Title: Hater

Author: David Moody

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books (US) / Gollancz (UK)
Publication Date: February 2009 (US & UK)
Hardcover: 288 pages (US)

Stand alone or series: Can be read as a stand alone novel, but is the first novel in a planned trilogy.

How did I get this book: Review Copy (from the UK Publisher)

Why did I read this book: Ever since I saw promos and reviews for Hater start to pop up online in February, I’ve been yearning for this book. When we were able to get a review copy months later, we decided to save it for Halloween Week – and here we are!

Summary: (from DavidMoody.com)
‘Kill or be killed. Hate or be hated.’

HATER is the story of a world tearing itself apart from the inside, told through the eyes of Danny McCoyne; a lazy, unambitious father of three who does as much as he has to to survive – nothing more, nothing less. Without reason or warning, people begin to turn on each other… a business man attacks and kills an old woman in the street, a teenage girl bludgeons her best friend to death, the lead singer of a band stops mid-concert and attacks his drummer… Suddenly, in the space of just a few short and desperately terrifying days, everything changes. You can no longer trust anyone, no matter how well you think you know them. And when you lock your door and board up your windows to protect your family, are you shutting the nightmare out or locking it inside with you?

Review:

Danny McCoyne is an everyday man, working an average job, barely making ends meet with his tired wife and three loud, disobedient children. On a day just like any other as he makes his commute to work, he witnesses what appears to be a random act of violence – a man with an umbrella, a bloke just like Danny, probably on the way to a going-nowhere job, suddenly attacks an elderly woman, bludgeoning her to death. Soon, attacks like these become the norm – people everywhere begin attacking others at random. The media dubs the attackers as “haters” and warns people to stay indoors, and to separate themselves from family members that begin to show any violent traits. As the attacks escalate and the hater numbers grow, Danny and his family huddle in their locked flat and hope that they will be spared from the reaches of the violent madness that has overcome the country.

Hater is David Moody’s debut novel, and has quite an interesting story concerning its publication. Originally, Mr. Moody published the novel himself, online, only later to be scooped up by major US & UK publishers – and now, apparently, Hater is being adapted by Guillermo del Toro into a film. How ’bout them apples? That said, there was a lot of hype leading up to my reading of this book. And though Hater doesn’t quite live up to the hype, it’s certainly a solid, engaging, fast-paced read that touches on some great concepts.

The novel begins slowly, easing the reader into Danny McCoyne’s trapped, monotonous life. As a protagonist, Danny is a far cry from the traditional zombie/horror novel hero – he isn’t noble or driven by lofty ideals. Rather, Danny is your everyday, normal man – with many failings, lack of ambition, and trapped in a job he hates, with a family that he loves but whose constant demands he cannot stand. And when the hater apocalypse strikes, Danny doesn’t suddenly discover his inner-Rambo; no, he remains normal, plain Danny throughout. This characterization is incredibly effective, as is the initial slowness of the book. The power of Hater is in its simplicity, and in how familiar the characters are. Danny McCoyne’s tired, empty life and its endless repetition is something many readers can sympathize with, and sets a believable, familiar stage for the later action.

With these strengths, however, came other weaknesses. There’s an unfortunate degree of repetitiveness in the novel as each chapter begins with a brief encounter with different people becoming “haters” and attacking those around them. While this device is effective at the beginning of the book, as the novel goes on, these disparate stories lose their charm – the result is disinterest, and I found myself wanting to skim through these repetitive passages to get back to the “real” story. The other problem I had with the book was with the label of “hater” itself. Understandably, Mr. Moody is a British author, and the term “hater” may not have the same connotation it does in the American vernacular – but in my mind, I couldn’t help but titter a bit at the weird use of slang. The title of “hater” also seems like an awkward misnomer in the context of the book. The people who turn to sudden violence aren’t really “hating” anything, are they? Even from an outside/non-hater perspective, these acts of murder or violence are completely unrelated to anything resembling hate. It seems as though “berserker” or “maniac” or some other term would be a better title (then again, the media is notorious for crappy, catchy names so perhaps this isn’t so far off base).

Though Hater takes a bit long to get on with the action, the prolonged inaction and repetition also works to the book’s credit, as it allows the tension and paranoia to build in Danny’s home and in the readers’ minds to near intolerable ways. When the action finally strikes, the last third of the book is compelling stuff, and easily worth the wait. Though Mr. Moody stumbles while trying to explain the origins of the “hater” emergence, it’s not really so important how or why the pandemic spread – just that it has, and the ensuing events are terrifying. As with the best in the zombie genre, Mr. Moody examines not only the carnage that occurs with the apocalypse, but he also scrutinizes human nature in all its cruelty, clearly alluding to current social issues in our sensationalistic, media-driven world of fear. As the novel comes to a dramatic crescendo, the question arises – who are the true monsters? Those “haters” attacking on some uncontrollable imperative? Or the “normal people” who kill out of fear, paranoia and spite?

Notable Quotes/Parts: From Chapter 1:

THURSDAY

i

Simmons, regional manager for a chain of high street discount stores, slipped his change into his pocket then neatly folded his newspaper in half and tucked it under his arm. He quickly glanced at his watch before leaving the shop and rejoining the faceless mass of shoppers and office workers crowding the city centre pavements outside. He checked through his diary in his head as he walked. Weekly sales meeting at ten, business review with Jack Staynes at eleven, lunch with a supplier at one-thirty…

He stopped walking when he saw her. At first she was just another face on the street, nondescript and unimposing and as irrelevant to him as the rest of them were. But there was something different about this particular woman, something which made him feel uneasy. In a split-second she was gone again, swallowed up by the crowds. He looked round for her anxiously, desperate to find her amongst the constantly weaving mass of figures which scurried busily around him. There she was. Through a momentary gap in the bodies he could see her coming towards him. No more than five feet tall, hunched forward and wearing a faded red raincoat. Her wiry grey-white hair was held in place under a clear plastic rain-hood and she stared ahead through the thick lenses of her wide rimmed glasses. She had to be eighty if she was a day he thought as he looked into her wrinkled, liver-spotted face, so why was she such a threat? He had to act quickly before she disappeared again. He couldn’t risk losing her. For the first time he made direct eye contact with her and he knew immediately that he had to do it. He had no choice. He had to do it and he had to do it right now.

Dropping his newspaper, briefcase and umbrella Simmons pushed his way through the crowd then reached out and grabbed hold of her by the wide lapels of her raincoat. Before she could react to what was happening he spun her round through almost a complete turn and threw her back towards the building he’d just left. Her frail body was light and she virtually flew across the footpath, her feet barely touching the ground before she smashed up against the thick safety-glass shop window and bounced back into the street. Stunned with pain and surprise she lay face down on the cold, rain-soaked pavement, too shocked to move. Simmons pushed his way back towards her, barging through a small crowd of concerned shoppers who had stopped to help. Ignoring their angry protests he dragged her to her feet and shoved her towards the shop window again, her head whipping back on her shoulders as she clattered against the glass for the second time.

‘What the hell are you doing, you idiot?!’ an appalled bystander yelled, grabbing hold of Simmons’ coat sleeve and pulling him back. Simmons twisted and squirmed free from the man’s grip. He tripped and landed on his hands and knees in the gutter. She was still on her feet just ahead of him. He could see her through the legs of the other people crowding around her.

Oblivious to the howls and screams of protest ringing in his ears, Simmons quickly stood up, pausing only to pick up his umbrella from the edge of the footpath and to push his wire-framed glasses back up the bridge of his nose. Holding the umbrella out in front of him like a bayonet rifle he ran at the woman again.

‘Please…’ she begged as he sunk the sharp metal tip of the umbrella deep into her gut and then yanked it out again. She slumped back against the window, clutching the wound as the stunned and disbelieving crowd quickly engulfed Simmons. Through the confusion he watched as her legs gave way and she collapsed heavily to the ground, blood oozing out of the deep hole in her side.

‘Maniac,’ someone spat in his ear. Simmons span around and stared at the owner of the voice. Jesus Christ, another one! This one was just like the old woman. And there’s another, and another… and they were all around him now. He stared helplessly into the sea of angry faces which surrounded him. They were all the same. Every last one of them had suddenly become a threat to him. He knew there were too many of them but he had to fight. In desperation he screwed his hand into a fist and swung it into the nearest face. As a teenage boy recoiled from the sudden impact and dropped to the ground a horde of uniformed figures weaved through the crowd and wrestled Simmons to the ground.

You can read the full excerpt online HERE.

Additional Thoughts:

As I mentioned above, Hater is soon to become a movie, from Producer (and new author himself) Guillermo del Toro – you may have heard of him (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, The Hobbit). Also on the film are Mark Johnson (The Chronicles of Narnia films), and will be directed by J A Bayona (El Orfanato/The Orphanage). That’s a helluva lineup!

While we wait for the film, check out the book trailer below. And get ready for book 2, Dog Blood out in June 2010.

Rating: 7 – Very Good

Reading Next: Dying to Live: Life Sentence by Kim Paffenroth

Title: Zombie Blondes

Author: Brian James

Genre: Horror, Young Adult, Zombies

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Publication Date: June 2008
Paperback: 240 pages

Stand alone or series: From what I can tell, this appears to be a stand alone novel (though there is arguably room for a sequel).

Why did I read this book: I picked up Zombie Blondes on a whim in the bookstore recently. The cover caught my eye – freaky barbie doll – as did the wonderfully cheesetastic tagline (“They’re beautiful. They’re blonde. They’re dead.”), and then I read the blurb. Cheerleaders. Blondes. ZOMBIES. How could I possibly refuse? It was – if you’ll pardon the pun – a no brainer. *Nom nom nom* BRAAAAAAAAAAINS!

Summary: (from amazon.com)
From the moment Hannah Sanders arrived in town, she felt there was something wrong.

But Hannah wants desperately to fit in—regardless of what her friend Lukas is telling her: if she doesn’t watch her back, she’s going to be blonde and popular and dead—just like all the other zombies in this town…

Review:

Hannah Sanders hates her life. She hates moving around, yanked from town to town and school to school every couple of months. Her father used to be a police officer in Brooklyn, but when he snitched on a couple of crooked cops in the system, life became hell for him and his daughter. After suffering harassment from angry policemen who take it out on her father for being a rat, the Sanders’ move away, attempting to start anew. Unfortunately, the fresh starts never seem to last very long, as their past continues to follow them – and unable to hold a steady job, creditors join the hunt. Hannah has learned to expect that her new homes are always going to be temporary, and she is resentful of her father’s flittiness – though she does love him as they are all each other has, and she understands that he is doing his best. When Hannah and her father pull into Maplecrest, Hannah notices that this small town is a little different from any other she’s lived in over the past six years. For one thing, even for a small town Maplecrest feels strangely empty. While they drive around looking for their newly rented house, Hannah notices a suspicious amount of “For Sale” signs and abandoned homes – and with such a small town, Hannah starts to think that she might have a chance to fit in with the popular crowd at school.

But when she starts high school the next day, Hannah discovers Maplecrest is just like any other school she has ever attended – she’s a social pariah as the new girl (even though she’s pretty enough), for some reason she attracts weirdo guys to her (a strange one named Lukas, spouting conspiracy theories that the town is full of zombies, won’t leave her alone), and the popular crowd doesn’t even notice she’s alive. Hannah is desperate to fit in with the group beautiful blonde cheerleaders, for once shedding her role as perpetual outsider and transcending the social hierarchy into “cool” territory…and when she finally gets a chance to tryout for the cheer squad and fit in with the ethereally beautiful people, Hannah seizes the opportunity.

Though Hannah does get a nagging feeling that Lukas might be right. Something stinks in the town of Maplecrest. But no sane person could believe that these beautiful, delicate blonde cheerleaders are zombies…could they?

I think I fell in love with Zombie Blondes from first sight. There’s something delightfully campy, in the best B-movie sense, with the title, cover and premise of this novel – and Mr. James manages to live up to this promise. In essence, all of the teen horror genre staples are here: Cruelly superior Jocks and cheerleaders – check. Obligatory horror geek sidekick to reluctant hero character – check. Everytown, USA overrun by unspeakable evil – check. Zombie Blondes is like returning to a cult horror favorite, like, say Night of the Creeps – it’s kitschy and familiar, but it’s also brilliant in using horror tropes to create something new in the genre.

In Mapleville, people are disappearing quietly and zombies have already instituted themselves in positions of power and dominance. As most are afraid (or are unfortunate flesh-hungry zombies themselves) only the wise and geeky Lukas stands up to the ravenous undead posing as townspeople and psychopathic cheerleaders, desperate to befriend and warn the fresh meat — Hannah. It’s Hannah’s sharp first person narration and her odd, quick friendship with Lukas that truly drives Zombie Blondes, and sets it apart as a memorable novel in that stands on its own, just as it pays homage to the horror genre classics. Hannah is a surprisingly sympathetic character in her unfulfilled desire for acceptance and normalcy. One thing Mr. James really nails is the awkwardness of constant moving from school to school, and how complicated high school social life can be – and though he chooses cheerleaders as his popular genre of choice, he has a good handle on the realities of high school “cool” and how it changes from school to school (and as a teen that went to 3 different high schools, I can attest to the truth of the sentiment):

I can usually pick out the popular kids soon after setting foot into a new school. The girls, anyway. They wear popularity like a uniform for everyone to see…The boys are a little trickier.

Their looks have only a small part to play in deciding their place in the social order of things. What they’re into is just as important as how they look. Depends on what kind of school it is, too. There are as many different kinds of high schools as there are different kinds of cliques in each one. There’s the artsy sort of schools where the skinny, mysterious boys are the ones who get all the attention. Then there’s the college-prep kind of schools where class rank and GPA go hand in hand with a boy’s cute looks to determine where he stands with the girls. At thug schools and drug schools, the more damaged or dangerous a boy is makes all the difference. Last, but not least, there’re the jock schools like Maplecrest where all that really counts is how good a guy is at sports. Even if he’s zit faced and moronic, a boy can be popular here, so it could take some time to figure it all out.

But with girls it doesn’t matter so much what kind of school it is.

Hannah’s overwhelming desire to fit in, for stability, for popularity sounds shallow – but her honest, forthright narration is a moving thing and makes her seem less like a typical Mean Girls airhead, and more of a young girl struggling for normalcy. I loved the insights to Hannah’s memories and childhood at the beginning of chapters, making her more solid and real as a character. Also Lukas, in his schoolboy crush on Hannah and his unyielding belief in the evil that lurks beneath the surface of Maplecrest also is incredibly compelling in his earnestness.

Of course, deep characters are all fine and good, but what’s a book like Zombie Blondes without action, gristle and gore? I’m happy to report that on that front, Zombie Blondes also excels. There’s murder, action, an obligatory explosion scene, and a classic horror movie ending. What is not to love?

Zombie Blondes rocks.

Notable Quotes/Parts: I love Lukas and Hannah’s first conversation:

He’s about to walk away but stops. Turns to me and opens his mouth and starts to stutter like he’s not sure if he should say what he wants to. Then finally deciding to go ahead and say it, but refusing to take his eyes off the floor when he does. “It’s just . . . you’re kind of pretty . . . and she might try to turn you into one of them . . . one of her clones,” he says. “I don’t want to see that happen to you, that’s all.”

I tuck my lip under my top teeth.

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” I ask.

“Nope,” he says. “Just a warning.”

I stare at him in silence and he stares back. Stares into my eyes for the first time since coming over to me. Something blank in his expression that doesn’t make sense to me. He’s either the most socially challenged boy I’ve ever met, or one of the cleverest. Whichever it is, he’s by far the most interesting thing about this town so far.

He takes a step away before stopping. Makes a gesture like he forgot something and comes back. “My name’s Lukas, by the way,” he says.

“You know, you’re really supposed to do that before you start pestering strange girls,” I say.

“Yeah? Well, this is Maplecrest,” he says.

“What does that have to do with anything?” I ask.

“You’ll see,” he says. “A lot of things in Maplecrest are done differently.”

He starts to drift away again and this time I stop him. “Don’t you want to know my name?” I ask him.

“It’s Hannah,” he says. Then he smiles for the first time. And I’m a little surprised, but he actually has kind of a sweet smile. “I was paying attention in class when the teacher called your name,” he explains.

“Oh. Right,” I say, remembering third period for the second time. “Well, thanks for the warning,” I say with just enough attitude for him to know I’m not being completely serious.

“Do yourself a favor and stay away from them,” he says with just enough attitude to let me know he’s being deadly serious. Then he disappears into the crowd of faces, leaving me alone to listen to the million fragments of conversations happening all around me until the bell rings.

Additional Thoughts:

Zombie Blondes puts me in the mood for some good ol’ teen horror flicks. Such as the aforementioned Night of the Creeps (ok, technically college kids as opposed to high school, but close enough!), there’s also the more recent excellent zombie horror comedy Dance of the Dead, or the sightly older but still ridiculously good fun The Faculty. Bliss.

Verdict: Absolutely wonderful novel that pays homage to genre tropes, and yet manages to challenge readers with its deep characters and surprising original voice. Zombie Blondes is a truly delicious treat. Highly recommended!

Rating: 8 Excellent

Reading Next: Exodus by Julie Bertagna

Title: Kiss of Life

Author: Daniel Waters

Genre: Young Adult, Horror, Speculative Fiction, Zombies

Publisher: Hyperion
Publication Date: May 2009
Hardcover: 416 pages

Stand alone or series: Book 2 in the ongoing Generation Dead series.

Why did I read this book: I loved Daniel Waters’s first book in the series, Generation Dead and upon the cliffhanger-type of ending, I knew I needed to read Kiss of Life immediately.

**As this is a review of book 2 in a series, it necessarily contains SPOILERS for book 1, Generation Dead. If you have not read the first book and do not wish to be spoiled, refrain from reading this review (and in fact, refrain from reading ANY synopses for this book as even the summary below has spoilers). YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**

Summary: (from amazon.com)
The phenomenon that’s been sweeping the country seems to be here to stay. Not only are the teenagers who have come back from their graves still here, but newlydeads are being unearthed all the time. While scientists look for answers and politicians take their stands, the undead population of Oakville have banded together in a group they’re calling the Sons of Romero, hoping to find solidarity in segregation.

Phoebe Kendall may be alive, but she feels just as lost and alone as her dead friends. Just when she reconciled herself to having feelings for a zombie — her Homecoming date Tommy Williams — her friend Adam is murdered taking a bullet that was meant for her. Things get even more confusing when Adam comes back from the grave. Now she has romantic interest in two dead boys; one who saved her life, and one she can’t seem to live without.

Review:

At the end of Generation Dead, Adam has taken a bullet meant for Phoebe, and he has died….and come back again. Wracked with guilt, Phoebe makes it her top priority to take care of Adam, and to show him how loved he is in order for him to come back more fully, in accordance to Tommy’s theory – he believes that the difference between highly functioning zombies and those who are less recovered is because of the acceptance and even love they are shown by their families and friends. Adam struggles with his inability to speak and move, as well as with his own feelings of guilt for “trapping” Phoebe into being his constant babysitter. Adam has always loved Phoebe, though she has only ever seen him as a friend and was oblivious to his feelings for her, and now as one of the differently biotic, Adam does not want his Pheeble’s pity.

Things have changed in this small town – Pete, Adam’s killer, faces trial but finds support from a mysterious group, and at the same time someone has been framing the local zombies with malicious and dangerous crimes. The Hunter Foundation’s enrollment drops, and the high school participants begin to question its methods and motivations. The lines between the living and the undead are being drawn, and a bitter conflict awaits – and Phoebe, Adam and their friends are caught in the middle.

I was taken completely by surprise with Generation Dead. The kitschy cover put me in the mind of a silly, lighthearted ZomCom, but that impression could not be farther from the truth – Generation Dead dealt with some hefty issues, and ends in tragedy. As such, I was prepared this time for Kiss of Life; stupid cover (sorry, this cover has absolutely NOTHING to do with the story and in fact has the situation backwards – if anyone is in the coffin, it should be football player Adam) aside, I knew that these pages would tackle issues of tolerance and discrimination, the struggle for self-discovery and awareness, and of course, relationships. Even knowing this and having mentally prepared myself ahead of time, I still could not believe how well-written and thought-provoking Kiss of Life was. The issues of discrimination and acceptance that are explored on a small scale in Generation Dead are brought to even larger proportions in this second novel, with zombies as a metaphor for the very human fear of that which is different. As with the very best works in the zombie genre, as the master George Romero’s films have always done, Daniel Waters uses his “differently biotic” teens to explore social issues – hate crimes & the oppressed response; racial/sexual/sexual-orientation prejudice & discrimination; the role of the legal system and legal precedents in these situations; the questionable nature of non-profit organizations; the role of the media – especially online media – in dispersing information.

That’s not to say Kiss of Life is some dry moral parable; on the contrary, Mr. Waters manages to weave these larger social (and even political) issues seamlessly into an immensely readable, entertaining, and thought-provoking story.

While the plotting and underlying themes of Kiss of Life are impressive in their scope, the depth of Mr. Waters’s characters is what truly captivates readers – in particular, Phoebe and Adam. The novel alternates from Phoebe’s thoughts to Adam’s, and the result is incredibly moving, especially for Adam’s segments. For example, the opening chapter is from Adam’s point of view:

Phoebe.

Beautiful Phoebe.

Through the glass watch Phoebe leave bus walk to house Phoebe green skirt green eyes skirt trailing hair flowing black and shiny in the sun. Brown leather boots beige scarf wearing colors no black Phoebe beautiful Phoebe. Halloween Phoebe in costume no costume.

Adam’s stunted inner dialogue powerfully conveys his own frustrations with his inability to move, to feel, and to be with Phoebe. Similarly, Phoebe’s feelings are confused and torn. While she does still care for Tommy, it was Adam who unquestioningly put himself in danger to save her life. But is what she feels for Adam pity or friendship or guilt, or is it love? Both of these characters grow a lot in this book as they sort out their own individual issues, and their feelings for each other. The other characters from Generation Dead play major roles here too, evolving and growing in this second novel with subsequent plot developments. Margi and Collette become inseparable, shocking after Margi’s guilt and denial in book 1. Karen, the beautiful dead girl and her role as an emerging leader of the zombies as Tommy leaves town to raise zombie awareness is also a well written character – though not without her own tragedy,. And, of course, there’s Pete – the spiteful football captain who deals with the consequences of killing Adam. I love that Pete’s motivations are hardly monotonously eeeeeevil; rather, his own backstory, conveyed in Generation Dead, explains his strong feelings very well, and are explored more fully here in Kiss of Life.

With this strong cast of characters, compelling and open ended plotlines, deeper emotional and socially conscientious themes, Kiss of Life is another winner from Daniel Waters. Let the countdown begin for the next novel in the Generation Dead series!

Notable Quotes/Parts: Is this spoilery? I don’t think so.

There was a lot they could say there, she thought, in the quiet kitchen, a lot that had gone unsaid and a lot about what had been said, but for the first time she felt that nothing needed saying. The link, the bond — call it friendship, call it telepathic — that had been broken was there again, radiating in the air between them as palpably as the aromatic steam rising from her cup.

“It is…almost…tme,” Adam said. “Can…I take…your…bag for you?”

Her negative reply was reflexive, but the bond enabled her to catch it before it was out of her mouth. Adam, who in a hundred small ways, through opening doors and driving her work and carrying bags and holding coats and letting her pick songs on the stereo, had not be able to do a single thing for her inthe past two months.

“That would be great,” she said, nudging her heavy ba from its place beside her char with the toe of her boot, “because it is pretty heavy.”

“Good…thing,” he said, “that I am…pretty..damn…powerful.”

“Good thing,” she said, and excused herself to get her coat, hat and gloves.

“Phoebe.” He touched her arm.

She turned, and when she did, he leaned forward and he kissed her.

Additional Thoughts: On the covers. The US covers are cutesy, but really have absolutely nothing to do with the story in these books. I’m assuming this is a marketing ploy (YA covers with pictures of people on the cover sell better?), but I can’t help but feel disappointed by them. In contrast, the UK covers are far more neutral but less eye-catching…

US Covers:

UK Covers:

Thoughts?

Verdict: An immensely engaging and thought-provoking book, I loved Kiss of Life and eagerly await the next book in the series.

Rating: 8 Excellent

Reading Next: Wildwood Dancing and Cybele’s Secret by Juliet Marillier