Review: The Undead Bill of Rights
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 9, 2012
Atticus for the Undead reminded me a lot of M. Night Shyamalan's Signs. No, I don't mean the dopier aspects of the movie. It's because this is a small, personal tale set amidst a much larger backdrop, most of which we're only given hints about.Abramowitz's story takes place in a world where supernatural beings (known as arcanes) have become known to the world. However, rather than waging war against humanity, they're just trying to fit in...not entirely unlike the beings from Alien Nation or District 9. Unfortunately, also like the creatures from these works, the arcanes in Atticus for the Undead must contend with racism and being treated like second class citizens.Who will help them? Why Hunter Gamble, that's who! Gamble, the main protagonist of the story, is an idealistic young lawyer who's fighting to do what's right despite the risks (both personal and professional) to him and those around him.I am normally not a fan of legal dramas, either written or on TV; however, Abramowitz's story never gets bogged down in tedious details. There's enough there to give you the sense that he knows what he's talking about, without making it feel like you're reading a legal brief. It's combined with an interesting take on the various denizens of the supernatural world, of which a few bad seeds ruin it heavily for the rest.There are a few downsides I need to point out. For starters, some of the dialogue doesn't feel natural (and no, I don't mean supernatural either). At times the flow of it feels a bit stilted. More problematic, it almost seems as if a chunk of story is missing in the middle. There's a romantic subplot that suddenly goes from A straight to Z with no feeling for how it got there. Because of this, when one character suddenly proclaims their love for another, it kind of ends up feeling creepy and desperate instead of romantic. Finally, there's the ending. I won't spoil it except to say that I thought it was a good ending. However, it also felt a bit too abrupt. I think it could have been fleshed out a bit more so as to leave a better impact.That being said, I enjoyed Atticus for the Undead. It has made me rethink my normal distaste for legal entertainment. Should Law & Order ever introduce zombies, I might have to give a look. Atticus for the Undead is a fun peek into one of the many microcosms of life that might occur just on the fringes of an epic story.