Review: A Very Good Man
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 26, 2012
This review is going to be hard to write because, while I truly love the book and how the author writes, I am at a loss of how to communicate it fully.Jake is a man.  A man in a house with a lot of other people at the end of the world times.  Yes, we have a zombie apocalypse going on and you have to be silent.  Silent as in talking in low tones.  Silent at all times - as in, if you yell, or scream, you get shot in the head.  Harsh, but otherwise, the zombies are going to come get everyone else.  And someone has to be the one to the pull the trigger.  Lucky him - it's Jake.Jake is now probably one of my favorite characters that I have ever read - not because he is some big super hero, not because I relate to how he feels as in we are just alike (at least I hope not!), but in that he is like very single normal person who has been dealt a really crappy hand but keeps on going, even when he doesn't understand why things are happening to him.Now that there are more women than men, and EVERYONE in the house is hooking up, he is thinking, hey, might actually get to lose my virginity - after all, he is 24 and even the gay guy found a bi person to hook up with (no, this is not a book full of sex scenes or romance or even talking about sex besides the fact that if you have 70 plus people all stuck sleeping on the floor of a seven bedroom house, you can hear noises sometimes but even then, it is not graphic).But, for some reason, everyone seems to hate Jake.  I mean, he understands since he has to shoot them and everything but still - he works hard, he does more than everyone else does, he takes care of them - he BATHES and really, that has to be the most important aspect of all!  But no matter what, the women say he is creepy and are scared of him or disgusted by him.  He hasn't done anything to them and the rejection, day after day after day (especially when they lie and say they are lesbians before he can even say hello) wears on a man.  But it isn't just the hooking up - he disappears and no one seems to care, he gets hurt, and no one checks to see if he is ok - he also just wants some friends or, gasp, a hug.  Day after day after day...But the problem is, when he leaves the house, everything falls apart so it is a vicious cycle because he has to come back, shoot someone, and then deal with the rejection again.  His soul is literally so heavy that he doesn't want to go on.The secondary characters are also wonderful.  The problem is, I don't want to give any spoilers away so I can't go into details - urg - this is SO frustrating trying to explain!!!!Bottom line - zombies, A Very Good Man (Jake), a host of characters that are not what they seem, pregnant women everywhere, and more... and through it all, the author has Jake retaining such a sense of almost innocence along with the best humorous lines regardless of the situation.There are also some supernatural twists which are unique - no werewolves though because that would just be wrong - but after all, it is the End of the World and what is needed most at that time is a Very Good Man.BUY IT!!  Seriously - today!!  And, then go get the second one in the series - this one was so good I stayed up until 3 am to finish it and then started the second one and now, I want the third!!  I guess while I am waiting I will have to pick up more books by the author to see if they are all as good as this series... I will let you know what I find out :-)