Review: Giddyup!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 15, 2013
I'm not usually a fan of anything western, but The Lost Party wasn't indicative of a gunslinger cowboy. More so, it focused on the setting. The desolate landscape was the real star of this piece of work.Party members are lost to the elements as they traverse the winter landscape. Stalked by an unknown evil, the long journey leaves them starving and forced to commit the unthinkable (think Ethan Hawke in Alive). The story doesn't just ram zombies down the readers throat, but builds up tension and suspense as their presence in the shadows is hinted at.Despite being apprehensive of the era, I enjoyed reading The lost Party. It was a nice change of pace from traditional zombie fiction. The writing style has an elegant, classic feel and quality editing made it an easy read.The Lost Party is a chilling read unlike anything I've read in a usually predictable genre.Feud fueled my fire with it's literary excellence. I really need to emphasize the fact that Campbell and Dixon make a great duo. Their writing is like a good song. It has a harmonic balance with crescendos and moments of innuendo.I found this story riddled with successful one-liners that made stop and say 'ooh, that's a great line.'"Seems to me, God doesn't want you to have this land and has unleashed hell to take it back."Fast forward seven years, well into the undead plague, where pockets of civilization fight for their survival and to keep what's theirs. Enter Griffin, a man faced to come to a difficult decision and take sides in an ongoing battle for power between two men who both think their path is a righteous one.Feud has much more zombie scenes, and while it does provide us with some great blood and guts fiction, it does a great job humanizes the monsters.I enjoyed how they chose to introduce the name of the collection, Red Dust."He had left nothing behind in his wake, except for dust, red dust."The last of the three story's, The Last Rider, takes place eight years after the second story. Isaac, a horse messenger embarks on an important government mission to deliver a satchel to the military. Along the way, Isaac comes across some new characters, and even some we've previously met.I like how the of story's progression escalated up to the final battle. All three very different, yet connect to the previous in some way. These short stories were complete tales of their own, but all three managed to cohesively tell a full undead tale.It's rare that a work of fiction will make me turn to a dictionary, but the use of 'Blunderbuss' stumped me. Don't know what it is? It's a short-barreled large-bored gun with a flared muzzle, used at short range.Visit bookie-monster.com to read my full review!