The Living Dead by George A Romero and Daniel Kraus

I often start these reviews with something trite like “this is the first book I have read by this author” and while this is true in this case, I wouldn’t imagine there are a lot of people (at least in “Western” society) who can lay claim to being unfamiliar with George A Romero, who is often accredited with taking the zombie concept from folklore (and the animal kingdom) to almost every form of modern medium. I loved his movies, more because they lent more towards social commentary than just horror and/or zombie killing. After reading the first chapter and being showered with said social commentary, I knew even though the man didn’t write it himself (it was Daniel Kraus), I could see his handprints all over it (not literally). Here’s the science bit:

Format: Mobi
Obtained from: Netgalley
Print length: 656 pages (Hardcover)
Publisher: Tor Books
ISBN: 9781250306121 (Hardcover)

Disclaimer – I read this in June, so forgive me if I’m a little hazy on some of the details.

So, what’s it all about?
A medical examiner and his assistant are somewhat surprised when their freshly eviscerated corpse gets up off the examining table and attacks them. A Japanese-American naval officer and a female pilot who fluffs her first landing go through their individual problems, all of which are kicked to touch when the dead begin to rise. An African-American girl is rescued by a Muslim man when their trailer park comes under attack. The list goes on, but as you can see, you are definitely in Romero territory. There is much more though and in a nice touch, the author shows us some perspective from the Zs too.

Is it any good?
The story takes each of the protagonists through their individual journeys, finally placing them in a town where the final battle will be fought. That final battle will not be the one you might expect based on the setup, and not all will escape unscathed. The post-apocalyptic world is quite bonkers, and while it might seem a little too extreme for the short timeframe of the book (maybe 20 years), it echoes other similar tales such as The Walking Dead. The commentary is very much on point, and a lot of the problems that one could imagine happening in an apocalypse nowadays are brought to the fore. For example, people struggle without their technology, hunting for food is a non-starter and so forth. The story is long, but it is also complex, the characters are interesting and we root for them throughout. There are no moral saints on display here either, they make tough choices, weird-ass people rise to the fore and good people die. However, I didn’t like all the plot strands, feeling that some of them didn’t tie neatly together at the end and there was also some allusions to other potentially exciting plot threads that faded quickly. I wasn’t sold on the ending, different as it may have been and a lot of this has been done before, courtesy of TWD and Z Nation. But don’t let that turn you off. The story has plenty to it, and it’s a fitting sendoff to Romero, albeit it’s kind of odd that it wasn’t a movie that put a final spin on his story.

Verdict
A good story with deep characterisation and social commentary, despite some occasionally spotty plotting and an ending that will not satisfy all.

Al Updates
What I’m reading – The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home by Joseph Fink
What I’m listening to – Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
What I’m watching – October Faction on Netflix
What I’m writing – reviews and homework. 😕