A droll and charming zombie tale that’s a bit hampered by predictability.
In this comic horror novel, two human survivors of a zombie apocalypse fall in love.
While Hanson Belfour is at his weekend job updating computer systems, a sudden zombie outbreak occurs. He locks himself in the empty building and survives. Before too long, the zombies stop being violent and return to the routines that they had as humans—including going to work every day. Hanson is able to walk among them, albeit slowly. A decade later, Hanson is living with his zombified brother, Rick, and assumes that he’s the last living human on Earth. That’s why he’s surprised when he happens upon “the most beautiful zombie he’d ever seen.” It’s Alicia Hooker, whom readers know is also human and feigning zombification. Alicia regularly socializes with other human survivors, many of whom who hang out at a secret, zombie-free social space called the Blue Oyster. When she and Hanson finally connect, they’re almost immediately smitten with each other. Alas, being in love can be dangerous, as excessive emotion draws unwanted zombie attention. Soon there’s a human threat to their maturing romance, as well: an ex-boyfriend from Alicia’s pre-apocalypse past. As Hanson worries about the future of their relationship, Alicia becomes determined to locate the reputed “Promised Land,” a safe haven for humans. Perkins (Hot Chocolate for the Mind, 2012) and Sakai (co-author: 442, 2019, etc.) deliver a zombie tale that’s more funny than scary. There’s still plenty of tension, however, as the zombies remain a perpetual menace; whenever characters let their guard down, they often receive violent reminders of the zombies’ presence. The comedy, meanwhile, is generally subtle, as when Alicia muses that eating cow brains, as part of her zombie act, isn’t “the healthiest diet in the world.” Most of the zombie attacks are implied, rather than described, which strengthens the lighthearted tone. However, the story tends to lean on clichés, particularly when it comes to the central couple’s relationship; as a result, a few plot turns, while entertaining, are also unsurprising.
A droll and charming zombie tale that’s a bit hampered by predictability.Pub Date: May 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-62526-889-1
Page Count: 251
Publisher: Solstice Publishing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 9, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
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