Books: As The World Dies: The First Days

So I saw the synopsis for this book about two women and some zombies.  I am pretty easy, so after scoring a copy I set it on the shelf to be the next book read. The book I was already reading became taxing and the end seemed farther and farther away, so I put it down and grabbed As The World Dies. I figured it would break up the monotony no matter what the quality was.

It was a fantastic idea.

Loved this book. Read it all in one sitting.

A slightly longer version of story is that the two protagonists, Katie and Jenni, find out that zombies have sudden begun to gnaw on Texans one morning and they have to find a way to survive. Though pretty shaken up by the development, they stick around long enough to meet some other folks that didn’t quite make it onto the undead’s dinner menu. There is even a token horror summer camp in the mix.

This is not your token zombie gorefest and it isn’t full of superheroes who do stunts and trick shots that can only be done with CGI. The characters are decent shots because more than a few of them had gone to shooting ranges growing up. You would figure that would be pretty common among survivors since they would have to be fairly good shots to survive. The rest of the realism is mostly on point, none of the scenes presented seem too action-y and the characters are very grounded.

Not only was the cast not over-the-top, there was also a good bit of character development. I was very happy that the leads and some of the supporting folks were fleshed out well in what felt like a tiny tome. I was a bit worried about the handling of Katie’s non-hetero sexuality, but was pleasantly surprised that she didn’t land on stereotype island. All-in-all, it was a good beginning to the saga of Katie and Jenni.

More zombies and Texans please.

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