“Times Square, New York City: The first ever mass séance is broadcasting live on the Sunrise morning show. If it works, the spirits of the departed on the other side will have a brief window — just a few minutes — to send a final message to their grieving loved ones.
Clasping hands in an impenetrable grip, three mediums call to their spirit guides as the audience looks on in breathless anticipation. The mediums slump over, slackjawed — catatonic. And in cemeteries surrounding Manhattan, fragments of old corpses dig themselves out of the ground....
The spirits have returned. The dead are walking. They will seek out those who loved them in life, those they left behind...but they are savage and they are hungry. They are no longer your mother or father, your brother or sister, your best friend or lover.
The horror spreads quickly, droves of the ravenous dead seeking out the living — shredding flesh from bone, feeding. But a disparate group of unlikely heroes — two headstrong college rivals, a troubled gang member, a teenage pop star and her bodyguard — is making its way to the centre of the nightmare, fighting to protect their loved ones, fighting for their lives, and fighting to end the madness.”
I was wary when I started to read this book. I had high expectations and didn’t want to be disappointed, but this book delivered exactly what it promised in the summary. I loved it!
It wasn’t the perfect book, nor was it insanely brilliant, but it had just want I wanted in a zombie novel: chaos, destruction, walking dead, bullets to the brain and people scared off their wits trying to survive . . . Doing whatever it took to survive.
The book’s pace was perfect, fast, and while reading I could imagine the scenes vividly, as if I was watching an epic-action movie. Throughout the book I kept wondering how well this book could transcend into the big screen, some readers may find that a fault, but I don’t.
The characters were also very real and reacted to the situation - people scratching to get out of their deep graves to open you up and eat you -, with realism. They were incredulous, sceptic, but at the same they couldn’t deny what they saw, and, when they finally realised that, YES, it was happening, they panicked. They cried, they gave up, they fought, they killed, they were selfish, and they wanted to survive. Some did . . . Others weren’t so lucky.
There is quite some blood shedding in this book, the author isn’t afraid to kill, maim, or dismember the characters – which would make sense since it’s a horror thriller with mean, soulless, zombies.
I quite enjoyed the group of "heroes" the author put together. They all had issues, and they were all different, but they came together to help each other survive a little longer. Some annoyed the hell out of me, not because they were one-dimensional, but because they did what I, the reader, thought was stupid.
At times, I felt like I was watching a movie, screaming mentally for the poor blonde cheerleader (oh, the stereotype!), not to go forward. Not that there was any blonde cheerleader in this book. BUT, the point is, while at times I was annoyed at some of the character’s actions, I couldn’t help but think that I may have done the same thing. (I am so not ready for a zombie apocalypse).
Of course other characters were quite smart and sensible. Everyone at some point did something intelligent or helpful, so any frustrating moments provoked by them were kindly forgiven by my part.
Nonetheless, the central character – who I assume is the girl on the cover –, Phoenix, was who annoyed me the most. However, in the end of the book, when I contemplated her actions, I knew I would’ve been just as hysterically unreasonable as she was. I did make my peace with her at the end and stopped wishing her dad magically turned into a zombie and ate her head.
Overall the book was a delicious read. If you’re in the mood for a nice, fulfilling read, for a couple of hours, with the story of what would happen if the undead ruled the world (for a day, at least), filled with gore, panic and evil children (Oh, yes, there were evil children!) this is a great read. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.
. . .
(And, now, a small ramble).
. . .
One of the issues I had with this book, as I have with (some) apocalyptic American fiction, was “What the hell is the rest of the world doing?!”.
In the book we are told that the problem was only taking place in a part of America (it hasn’t even spread throughout the entire country), and major networking services (e.g. CNN) were covering the happenings. . . So, why didn't anybody DO something?!
I mean if the entire world was in chaos I could let it slip. Though, seriously, someone could’ve still done something. But it was only a part of America. What was the other part (not to mention, I don’t know, Europe, Asia, etc.) doing? Watching Manhattan being devoured by sluggish creatures while munching on popcorn in front of the TV?
Someone, some place else, could’ve done something, reached up to the conclusions the young adult protagonist got to, and resolved the problem easily while dropping a bomb in a certain place (Oh, poor Phoenix, is she there? I guess she’s going to blow up. Whoopsie! *giggles*) and solving the problem. Hurray!
Of course such thing would be ludicrous, I mean, obviously the president and the rest of the White House had it under control . . . While running off to Hawaii to catch some sun. Okay, to an uncharted, secret place. Whatever. *rolls-eyes*
But, anyway, I did love the book as it was. AND, well, I guess a simple bomb would have taken away from the drama and human conflict in the book.
Besides, the fact evil, creepy children were out eating brains, being deviously cunning, and causing terror made me forget any faults this book may have. Everyone knows evil children are IT, in horror. I was quite happy to read them causing havoc. ^__~
My Rating: 4/5
Have you read Soulless by Christopher Golden? What did you think? Comments are welcome.
More later,
Karla
P.S. How adorable is our new rating system? Princess Peach, FTW!
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