Zombies

Recently when I went to the beach I took Patient Zero with me to read.  While I sat in stopped traffic, motorcyclists weaved in and out, roaring past us laughing.  My first thought was, “That is SO illegal! I hate you!” But my next thought was, “They are going to get to the beach long before we do, and they are having more fun doing it this way.”  If Jonathan Maberry's Patient Zero were a vehicle it would be one of those motorcycles roaring past the stopped cars.  The action is fast and furious from the beginning to the very last page of the book.

Chapter One introduces Joe Ledge--a modern day Rambo. 

When you have to kill the same terrorist twice in one week, then there’s either something wrong with your skills or something wrong with your world.

And there’s nothing wrong with my skills.

In the book Rot & Ruin, Jonathan Maberry has created a post apocalyptic zombie infested world.  Benny Imura and his brother Tom live in a safe zone that is separated from the zombies by a fence.  They are constantly under threat of attack by the zombies.  Benny is fifteen and it is time for him to find an occupation.  After several failed attempts at employment he decides to learn his brother's trade which is bounty hunter.  Benny eventually learns that his brother is not a typical bounty hunter.  He does search for zombies but he is hired by family members with a special request.  Benny and Tom head out together beyond the safety of the fence.

Benny never knew his parents.  The night of the zombie apocalypse, Benny's father is infected and becomes a zombie.  His mother who has been injured, hands the baby Benny off to his older brother Tom and tells him to run. That is the last that they see of their parents.  Benny has believed for years that his brother is a coward.  That happened fourteen years ago.  Tom has been raising Benny ever since but their relationship is very strained.  As they work and travel together Benny learns more about his brother and the reality of that night. 

Sam LaCroix has got some serious issues. He’s a college dropout working a dead-end job in fast food and an elderly next-door neighbor who has more of a night life than he does. But at least none of Sam’s problems verge on the darker side of paranormal…until now.

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer, by Lish McBride, is the story of one man’s journey from slacker to soul reaver. The only things Sam has going for himself are playing hockey with potatoes in the parking lot and betting when the rookie employee is finally going to crack under the pressure. This all changes when a renegade tater obliterates a car’s tail light.