AZ: ANNO ZOMBIE BY PETER MARK MAY

One of these days i will stick to my guns and never read another zombie book.  As a genre it's one that I am bored to death with.  However when an author as good Peter Mark May publishes a zombie book I have to sit up and pay attention.  Read on to think what i think of the book....

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It's the dawning of a new era, sorry hippies but you need to calm down, it's not Aquarius, it's the era of the zombie.  In AZ the zombie apocalypse comes not from some ancient curse, or genetically modified flu virus, but in the form of a fire from the sky.  There is just something satisfying about the end the of the world starting with a bang rather than a whimper.  

Rising from the ashes of this dead new world, Tom and his girlfriend have to find the strength and courage to first rescue his ex-wife and their son from a horde of zombies, and find some way to survive in this deadly, and dying world. 

So far so typical of a zombie novel, but in truth how original can you be with an apocalyptic zombie novel?  With this in mind the only way a zombie novel can rise above the competition, is through great writing, a believable plot, and well thought out characters.  

So how does Peter fair in these departments. Well as far as the writing goes Peter is a damn fine writer.  The story grabs your from the get go, and very quickly plunges the reader in to harsh and brutal world, where only the strong and determined will survive.  This is a world where ones morals are quickly tested, and destroyed.  Just how far would you go to protect your family?  Tom is forced to make some very tough choices, choices that see him do some really horrible stuff.  Which leads the characters of the book.  

It would have been easy for Peter, to make Tom an all american hero, a shining light in the darkness around him.  However, Tom is painted as a real man, you will feel for him as he is faced with these tough choices.  He is a character that a the reader will become invested in, despite the things he has to do. It's through Peter's excellent writing that the mental and emotional journey that Tom goes through is presented in such a believable manner. 

AZi is a brilliant zombie novel.  If, like me, you have become jaded with the genre, this may well be the book to restore your faith in it.  This is a violent, gut wrenching, blood soaked book that doesn't pull any punches.