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
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
