Well slap my arse and call me Bertha, this book moved me.
I’ve had a great deal of difficulty finding books that I actually give enough of a shit about to finish in recent years. So for me to finish a trilogy… and then go back and re-read the fucking thing is amazeballs. And I fell in love with the plight of the characters in this story from the very moment that I met them.
The background of the world is the gloriously undead. The shambling and rotted masses of the infected. In a world where the common cold and cancer (ALL CANCER) are a thing of the past, the genetically engineered super viruses joined together and had an unexpected side effect… RESURRECTION!
But Brain eating aside, the rest of the world continued. The apocalypse happened, and life moved on. Isn’t that just awesome? there are still cities, utilities, presidential campaigns, TV shows… and the news media has changed in such a way that now the most trusted news outlet sites are blogs, because bloggers didn’t lie about the issue when traditional news did. It’s awesome.
In this tale we follow the crew from the After the End Times news site. They’re three 20 somethings on the presidential campaign as a candidates official press pool. The writing is fresh and easy to follow, and the tone is so absorbing that I honestly read the book in about 3 or 4 sittings around work. I couldn’t put it down, I didn’t just read it, I fucking devoured it.
Mira grant kept the pace flowing at just the right speed, and added conflict and conspiracy with just the right timing that the reader is propelled, page after page, into the heart of a story that is gritty and real, despite the zombies, and shows a tenderness that is not often found in many horror thrillers of it’s ilk.
I don’t want to spoil anything for you for this book because I’d hate for anyone to have done that for me but suffice it to say, if you like thrillers and zombies then this book is definitely worth your time. The characters are likable, the writing is clean and easy to follow, and most importantly (and terrifyingly in my opinion) it’s absolutely believable. The hubris of mankind releasing something unchecked and being unaware and unready for the consequences, but adapting and surviving any way? That happens at least once a generation. And this is an excellent example of what could be. I can’t recommend it enough.
Happy reading peeps!
Archer