Post by Matthew on Aug 26, 2015 8:50:46 GMT
www.amazon.co.uk/Dead-South-Zombie-Apocalypse-London-ebook/dp/B00QO575N0
First things first. I liked this novel. Any book that features a gory Zombie set piece in the ASDA superstore on the Old Kent Road will always have a special place in my heart and any piece of fiction, PA or not, that has its denouement in the local B&Q has to be worth a gander at.
And a novelist who can include such seemingly mundane locations as Eltham, Sidcup and Bexley, along with honourable mentions to Lee and Lewisham and especially in the context of a Zombie novel, will always deserve a certain kudos. And the title of the novel fits perfectly.
This book is not the most sophisticated PA novel you will ever read and there are no clever allegorical assumptions be found in the Zombies, who seem to appear from nowhere, get accepted as thus with a swiftness that can be a little bewildering and no back story to the 'why'.
Also I can imagine any teacher of creative writing 'literally' tearing their hair out at some of the prose and the author can make family squabbling seem even more tedious on paper/screen than it is in real life.
But there is humour, albeit of a rather South London kind which works for me although it might not translate for others not born in this septic realm, and it moves at a good pace for most of the time along with having some delightful blood and guts thrown on for good measure.
Not the greatest fan of Zombie fiction but this novel never seems to take itself to seriously (in fact at times it almost seems light hearted) and, which is the clincher for me, I suspect that the author had a fine old time writing it. Which should lay at the heart of any PA fiction ! OK, the genre is all about death and destruction but there is no excuse for not enjoying creating that.
If there is to be a sequel then I would most definitely read it and am rather hoping that it can include some more south London locations. I would love to see, for example, a Zombie in the tea-hut at Blackheath along with perhaps one of the inner circles of hell, aka the Bluewater shopping centre, feature as well. In fact if this author does not include them, then I might even have a go myself!