Among The Living by Timothy W Long
Published by Library of the Living Dead Press
Good Reads Synopsis:
Mike works for a small news paper in Seattle. He has everyday problems just like everyone else: a delusional ex-wife who mourns the loss of their son with pills and a bottle of booze. An attractive co-worker he wishes he could pursue but fears her rejection. Kate has a dark secret. Outwardly she is a perfectly normal woman with perfectly unnatural needs. Kate is a budding young serial killer who lures men to hotel rooms for a night of kinky sex, and a date with her razor sharp knife. Grinder sings for Corpse for a Day, a heavy metal band on verge of making it big. He rejects the idea so the band can keep their occult lyrics and originality in tact. Lester is content to smoke and drink the day away while the outside world descends into chaos. When the National Guard cuts off his neighborhood he and his beautiful girlfriend hide out and wait for the madness to pass. Who will remain Among the Living?
* This book was purchased by me. All opinions are mine. No compensation was received for the review.*
My Turn:
I enjoyed this zombie book. As it opens with how the virus gets started and then concentrates on its first few days of progress I was a bit surprised. Happily. A lot of the ZBooks I read are already in the panic of the spread or take place once it has been in effect for weeks. Starting at the beginning and staying there made this book refreshing to me.
Among The Living is told through several different eyes. Mike, Kate, Grinder and Lester are a few. I really enjoyed the view of a recently turned Z in Alice and Ken. I appreciate that the author told the unfolding story with all the ranges of thoughts and emotions: the curiosity of the news of a "gas leak" that has evacuated a neighborhood, the skepticism of the news cast regarding it, the "not my problem" attitude, the disbelief of the reports of the virus bringing the dead back, that soon changes into confusion, fear and outright panic when the proof, and soldiers, are before their eyes. Reading the slowly dawning horror really made the book realistic sounding. The author also had humor sprinkled throughout the story. Such as when Lester and his girl Angela see a friend of hers in Zmode. Marlene the zombie is carrying her Coach purse with her. Angela decides she wants it since Marlene doesn't need it anymore. She promises Lester a good time and so off he goes to get the purse from Marlene. I thought it a pretty humorous chapter. Actually I thought Lester and Angela were pretty funny. Maybe it was the alcohol and weed. Theirs not mine. There are also interludes which tell short pieces of things going on in the city.
All of the characters actually had reactions that I could visualize as being real reactions. Not from very bright people but then not everyone is bright. Also do be prepared to dislike people in this book. You don't like everyone you meet in life so why will you like everyone you meet in a book ? This is not an actual account of real life so I read it as a fantasy escape. If you are looking for a book to be absolute fact, well I don't think you should be reading a Zbook. Yet.
I found this book to very entertaining. It is a fast read. Lots of action in it with some romance, sex, (some graphic), definitely violence. As stated there is alcohol and weed use. Adult language too. The author does not flinch away from including children in the drama. Which is realistic because children are not excluded from outbreaks, violence or general bad things in life. All in all this is a Zbook I give 5 stars to and would recommend to anyone who likes Z's. I am looking forward to reading more from this author.
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