Review: Quite Good. 3.5 Stars
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 24, 2014
King of Clayfield revolves around an unlikely set of survivors who attempt to survive a major biological outbreak with some scary consequences.Gregory does an excellent job on several fronts. The writing is good, and things are described in a crisp, entertaining way. First, describes the missteps of trying to gather supplies in an apocalypse in a fresh manner. The characters find, lose, and regather supplies and not everything goes their way. He also looks at the unusual cost and problems that result from a disaster - abandoned pets, the uncertainty of other survivors intentions, and overcoming the ingrained edict against killing in society. The  zombies are also a bit different, and the particulars of how they operate are fairly novel. The character interactions, a tricky area, and dialogue is well-constructed and generally believable. Unfortunately, some of the subtleties in the group are short-circuited near the end of the story, but that can be forgiven as Gregory shows he can make characters interact believably. He delves into Walking Dead soap-opera territory on occasion, but not enough to really hurt the story.What is less convincing is the method of containing the infection, and it sucks some of the tension out of the story. That is not to say that characters are indestructible, but they are not as imperiled as the tenor of the rest of the story would suggest. at times, description got a little muddy, particularly when describing characters moving through environment and their relation to the space around them, which resulted in me not having the best idea of what a particular place looked like.The major complaint I had about the story was the "big picture" plotline, which when all is said and done, does not really go anywhere. The book is somewhat really about the characters interactions, and to that degree, it's a success as I enjoyed it as someone who does not usually like that kind of book. All the same, it's a very "low" horror (much like low fantasy or hard SF) book. It makes things more believable insofar as being a zombie book, but there's not a lot of high adventure or truly nail-biting tension, and in that sense, the book is not quite as accomplished.For the average reader this is going to be a 4-5 star book. for someone who reads a lot of fiction like thus, it is a good story and well-crafted, but may be missing a touch of action or long-term plot hook that will justify picking up the next two books.