Review: Superb story that is one editor away from perfection
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 26, 2011
I've read all of Mr. DeCoteau's work, and "The New Days" is by far the best he has written.  Not only in length (it's a novella and not a short story), but in the narrative development and character interaction.All of the action is gripping, the personalities are vivid, and the zombies are nasty.  While there is a lot of character play, the undead are always there and always the focus of the characters' struggle to survive.  This element gets lost in a lot of zombie fiction, as the story takes precedent over the walking dead.  Granted, zombies are a plot device, but they need to come out and steal the show.  "The New Days" does a great job of showing you plenty of human dynamic and then snatching it away in a gibbering horrorfest of flesh eaters.This is easily a 5-star book, but it is hampered by a slew of errors.  The problems range from spelling and basic grammar through punctuation and lapses in tense.  It's easy to read through without getting hung up on mistakes, but the technical/mechanical polish is missing from the work--that's the fifth star!  If this were a .99 ebook, I'd give it the 5-stars, but at 2.99 for a novella... I need the polish, baby.  Show the shiny love.If you enjoy zombie survival horror, you'll enjoy this work.  It's worth your time and it's a story that you have to keep reading until you reach the end, so put aside the requisite time.