Review: Merciless
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 13, 2014
Most zombie apocalypse stories seem to start with the day the world changed. Edge of Mercy begins a dozen or so years after the draghouls (a lovely name for the zombies) first appear. We have no idea whether the community where Charlie survives is the only enclave of humanity, or what really happened when modern civilisation fell – all we see is a claustrophobic and twisted ex-mental hospital. There are no women, for reasons which are not explained for half the book – apart, that is, from Charlie herself. She is disguised as a boy in best Shakespearean fashion, and is struggling to protect her baby sister.Edge of Mercy is not a typical zombie novel – our heroine never actually has a direct confrontation with a draghoul, and the biggest threat to her is the community she has found herself within. As the novel develops, we learn her backstory and get a better picture of the people around her. None of the characters are perfect, and all are flawed believably. Charlie herself does some pretty stupid things that had me wanting to slap her round the face and tell her to think what she was doing. It is quite refreshing to have a novel where the teenage heroine is not obviously good-looking or perfect.The novel is well written, but has a few flaws. In particular, I am not remotely convinced by the explanation for the fate of the women in the community – I won't say why I don't for fear of giving a massive spoiler. I also have to say that the book is very bleak and grim, and not comfortable reading. But it is compelling and holds the attention. It ends in a cliffhanger – fortunately, volume 2 is also available.