Seriously, I’m surprised that this doesn’t turn up in more zombie novels.Īs for the actual zombies, the novel mostly uses modern-style fast moving zombies, who sometimes display limited forms of intelligence. Yes, some characters do lead the survivors at times, but this leadership is based on competence and consensus rather than official authority. Whilst it doesn’t gloss over the occasional arguments and problems between the survivors, it is a novel about a group of people organising themselves without outside authority. In a similar way to the computer game “ Shadowrun: Dragonfall“, this is an anarchist story in the best sense of the word. However, this novel takes a slightly more realistic approach to the topic – with most of the other survivors Jenni and Katie encounter being friendly and eager to work together to protect themselves against a common threat. Traditionally, zombie novels/films tend to make the other survivors more of a threat to the main characters than the actual zombies are. One of the really innovative things about this novel is how the other survivors are presented. Although there are lots of horrific zombie encounters, this is more of a novel about the emotional toll that the zombie apocalypse takes on those who survive it. In terms of the novel’s horror elements, it is filled with the kind of fast-paced gruesome horror that you’d expect from a zombie novel, but there is also quite a bit of emphasis on bleak post-apocalyptic horror, suspenseful horror, tragic horror and some moments of character-based horror too. One of the first things that I will say about this novel is that it is a really gripping, atmospheric and innovative zombie novel with excellent characterisation 🙂 It’s a little bit like a cross between Jonathan Maberry’s “ Dead Of Night“, Dana Fredsti’s “ Plague Town” and Melissa Marr’s “ The Arrivals“, whilst also being somewhat different in tone and style to pretty much every other zombie and/or post-apocalyptic novel I’ve read. Still shaken by everything that has happened, Jenni remembers that her stepson Jason is at summer camp in the nearby woods. When they reach a petrol station, the attendant hasn’t heard about the zombies and mistakes them for thieves.īut, soon after they fill up the truck, the zombies begin to arrive at the station. The two survivors, Jenni and Katie, decide to leave the city and head to the safety of the surrounding countryside.
After seeing her husband and sons turn into zombies, Jenni barely manages to escape her house before being rescued by a mysterious woman in a pick-up truck. The novel begins in an unnamed Texan city during a zombie apocalypse. This is the 2011 Tor (US) paperback edition of “The First Days” that I read.
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