Review: Relatively Entertaining
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 3, 2014
This is the first book that I've read, involving zombie genre. I usually watch movies or shows that have that theme like Resident Evil or The Walking Dead. Now that I've read this, I can't really say that I've regretted it. The book's well-written and has tons of action, likeable characters, and has bits of quirky humor. Since the get-go, the story brought to mind scenes from Dawn of the Dead as the main character, a museum director, found himself in the midst of a zombie apocalypse during a normal work day in Clayfield, Kentucky, and discovered that he was woefully unprepared for it. With some help and tips from a woman that he saved outside his museum from a persistent zombie, he was able to get a good idea of how to deal with the situation and go from there. Along the way, he picked up other survivors of the outbreak- Jen, a person he went to high school with; Brian, one of Jen's closest friends; and Sara, a young woman who survived by hiding out in a local Community Christian church. There were other survivors as well that they met along the way, but they quickly succumbed to zombies and/or other forms of violence throughout the book.What I really liked about the story is that it's very realistic and believable, filled with ways in which other characters coped with the Canton B airborne virus, which caused the outbreak situation.  It's also filled with the likely scenarios if such an event were to really occur like rampant violence such as outright murder for other people's property, looting of houses, stores, warehouses, in addition to the risk of rape. The Dawn of the Dead movie scenario, at this point in the book, seemed to be merging with that of The Children of Men.What's also likeable is the idea that the author kept toting throughout the book to help combat the virus- drink tons of liquor to counteract the effects which sometimes work, but not always. Also, the idea of toting guns for protection has another appeal to me as I'm a gun lover. Apparently, guns were the most effective way to kill zombies in the book. Unfortunately, sometimes, the dead didn't stay dead.The book, also, at times, seemed slightly depressing because there were characters that didn't last long. One character in the book - Mr. Nick Somerville - survived the outbreak and was actively looking for other survivors in Clayfield. Unfortunately, when the main character went to look for him at his house one day, along with his wife, it appeared that something unfortunate happened there, whether from zombies or other survivors, looking out for their own self-preservation, no one could really say.Overall, the book was relatively entertaining, filled with action-packed scenes. If it weren't for the slightly depressing scenarios that the book seemed to be emitting which is admittedly part of the genre, and the museum director's tendency in the beginning to hesitate before killing zombies,  I would've given the book 5 stars. Also, another disappointing turnout- two main characters died in the end, so everyone around the main character, it would seem, seemed to be dropping like flies. Overall, though, I found it to be mostly entertaining and likeable. I may even get the second book in the series to see what happens next with the ever-shrinking group and escalating violence within Clayfield.