Review: Full steam ahead!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 21, 2011
OK, bear with me while I explain the title of my review.  Yesterday I wrote a negative review for a different Zombie/post-apoc book - but mistakenly posted it to this site b/c I was trolling hopefully for another z/pa book.  The author of Living With the Dead, Joshua Guess, sent me an email saying, hey, your review is not about my book!  Please delete it.Uh-oh, my bad.  SORRY!  So I quickly deleted the erroneous review and thought, the least I can do is buy the guy's book after I inadvertently trashed it.About the other book I said "Frankly, the zombie genre is losing steam". Boy was I wrong, and hence my title.Living with the Dead: With Spring comes the Fall is an excellent read.  Doesn't have the scope of World War Z (one of my faves) but it doesn't need it.  The corner of Kentucky where Josh is holed up is a microcosm of learning to live through the worst.  These zombies are interesting - won't spoil how - but Guess doesn't spend lots of time describing bloody gore, he focuses on how human survivors deal with the undead.For me, the z/pa concept is most fascinating for what happens next, what and who survive, and how?  Josh Guess, as narrator, is a fully realized character who is noble, then petty, smart, kind, arrogant, brave, funny and very, very self aware - a human we can all relate to.  The story is told through Josh's blog and the other characters are seen through Josh's lens, which is just fine, we come to know them as he does.How Josh and his wife create a safe and welcoming haven, how they are brutal when necessary, kind when they can be, is a terrific story.  The creation of this safe haven while dealing with zombies and human predators makes for a great read:  food, protection, car repairs, medical supplies, learning how to farm or gaining blacksmithing skills are covered, but the human relations are what keep you riveted - can they stay united while they battle zombies?  Josh and friends venture out looking for other survivors - some scary trips with mixed results - they are heroic; they make mistakes. Perhaps what I like best about this is that it is not unrelentingly grim, nor is it too cheerful.I can't wait for more from this author.  And -even though we know it can't possibly happen- if the undead start walking, I'm heading for Kentucky.