Review: Totally Unique
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 20, 2012
This novel grabbed me by the originality of its premise.  There are now zombies living among us, they are the victims of discrimination and hate crimes, and there are lawyers who specialize in defending them when they happen to be accused of a crime.  Wow!  That's original.Sam is accused of murder, and the zombie-specialist lawyer Hunter Gamble, together with his crack team including assistant Kirsten and assisstant-to-the-assistant Sabrina have to launch a Perry Mason-stayle courtroom defense.  Or better yet, an Atticus Finch style defense, since To Kill a Mockingbird is Hunter's favorite book.I like the homey atmosphere of  Hunter's law office.  Everybody's sort of got a crush on everybody else, but they're too shy to say it.  Hunter's Dad is a famous lawyer of the more traditional variety.  There's a lot of father-and-son stuff going on here, too.I found myself wishing the dialogue were sharper.  It's very neurotic and full of verbal tics, but too often fails to reveal what's really going on in the characters' heads.  This leaves me wondering how they have really developed by the end of the book.  The ending is jarring, not necessarily in a negative way, and certainly not in a predictable way, but also in a way that left me unsatisfied.I know others have raved about Atticus for the Undead, and I am really glad I read it.  The author has taken a hackneyed motif and made something totally unique which is meant to be part of a series.  It will be very interesting to see where he takes us next!