I know some zombie purists
might argue that Craig DiLouie’s novel, Tooth And Nail,
is not a zombie book, but if you think 28 Days Later can be counted as a zombie
movie, then it’s all good. Obviously, I am talking about the living infected in
a story about an Army unit trying to navigate through New York City.
Hong Kong Lyssa is an airborne virus
that kills most of the people who contract it, although some do recover.
Unfortunately, it seems that some of the infected mutate into violent maniacs
called Mad Dogs. Where Lyssa had an incubation period, Mad Dogs spread the
infection through bites that change the victims almost immediately…that is, if
the victim can survive the savage attacks by the hordes of Mad Dogs. This is
happening all over the globe, but there might be a cure in a lab in New York
City.
Lieutenant Todd Bowman needs to lead
his men to the research facility to secure the only chance the human race has
against possible extinction. After the horrors in Iraq, his men just want to
return to their homes, and make sure their families are alive and well. They
are all torn between survival and the reality of having to gun down their
fellow Americans – infected or not.
Tooth and Nail tells an apocalypse
story from the soldiers’ perspectives; instead of just being the guys who make
things difficult for the survivors in other books, DiLouie’s soldiers are the
ones trying to fight their way out of a hell of epic proportions. We learn
about their personal struggles with following orders they do not think are
right, and maintaining their platoon long enough to complete the mission. The
story is not told from any one character’s POV (I imagined the story being
voiced to me by Rod Sterling from Twilight Zone), which adds to the suspense –
the readers doesn’t know anything more than the soldiers…who knows what lies
around the next city block?
Craig DiLouie answered some questions
that I had about this novel...
Q: I have to ask…did 28 Days Later
play any part in your decision to write this novel?
A: I had written a psychological
thriller about conspiracy theories (Paranoia, 2001) and a science fiction novel
(The Great Planet Robbery, 2008), but had always loved the post-apocalyptic
genre, particularly the zombie kind. As a reader, I was disappointed by the
meager offerings in the horror section in every bookstore I visited, which was
usually dominated by vampires. I felt like the big publishers were really
missing the boat on post-apocalyptic fiction in general and zombie fiction in
particular. Then I discovered David Moody, Permuted Press and the efforts of a
growing list of authors writing for small presses, and the genre opened up to
me both as a reader and a writer.
During this time, I was reading a
novel about the last Roman legion on the Rhine holding back the German tribes,
which in turn are being pushed by the Huns. The Roman soldiers fight to the
last against impossible odds to protect the Empire, and when the standard
falls, you get the Romantic sense that the Empire has already fallen with it.
The idea of a military unit fighting against the odds to save a dying nation is
stirring to the spirit as well as the intellect because there is a sense of
higher purpose than simply survival for a few. They could try to save
themselves (and are in the best position to do so), but they don’t, they
continue to obey orders and fight for their country.
So the idea of Tooth and
Nail was conceived … I wanted to write a novel about how the U.S. military
would actually respond during the zombie apocalypse. 28 Days Later did not
directly inspire the novel, but did establish “viral apocalypse” and “infected”
as a legitimate and exciting part of zombie lore (which is evolving whether
some like it or not). To me, the idea of a rabies-like virus was more realistic
and therefore frightening than shambling undead, so I went into that territory.
Q: I come from a military family,
married military, so I appreciated the accuracy and detail of Tooth and Nail.
How is it that you live in Canada, but you know so much about the inner workings
of the U.S. Army?
A: I was born in the United States
and I’m now a citizen of both countries. I learned the inner workings of the
U.S. Army through meticulous research. I read dozens of actual military manuals
and other publications to learn the basics of small unit tactics, hand signals,
radio protocols, equipment, slang, weapons, formations, chain of command, etc.
It was extremely vital that I present the military and every other aspect of
the story realistically for several reasons.
The most important is that the more realistic I could make the novel, the more
willing the reader’s suspension of disbelief, and the more they would enjoy it.
The more realistic I could make the setting, the more frightening the monsters
would be that inhabit it. Not only did I want to present the Army realistically
as a character unto itself, I wanted to present realistic things happening in
realistic ways: In real life, soldiers get PTSD, vomit at the site of extreme
gore, panic, refuse to shoot civilians, etc. Rifles jam, smoke obscures
visibility, people communicate by radio, operations are planned, choices in
decision-making create ethical dilemmas, etc. This realism flavors the novel
and makes it even more gritty, dark, disturbing.
Another reason is that I had made a
commitment to present the military perspective in a realistic way, and I knew
members of the military would be reading the novel, so I really wanted to get
it right out of basic respect. I researched everything and asked a friend who
had served in the 101 Airborne to vet it for accuracy. I have been told by
servicemen that the novel is accurate right down to the barracks banter, and
many assumed I was in the military myself, which was probably the most
gratifying feedback I’ve received on the novel out of all of its positive
reviews.
Q: I think what I loved best about
this novel is that the story is told from the perspective of the soldiers;
usually, the military are portrayed as “out of control” in most zombie novels.
Was there a particular reason you chose to give them their own voice?
A: I wanted to present a different
side of the zombie apocalypse to differentiate it from the rest of zombie lore
and tell a story I had always wanted to read—the military point of view. Many
zombie novels deal with a ragtag band of survivors shooting their way through a
post-apocalyptic landscape filled with zombies. My question is always: How can
these people survive after the apocalypse when the world’s most effective
military failed during it? What happened to the Army? The classic story usually
presents renegade soldiers who go AWOL at the first opportunity and start
raping and pillaging.
I wanted to show what the military would really be
doing—they would be doing their jobs. Sure, some soldiers would go AWOL out of
fear or opportunity, some units would dissolve if they were not supplied or
lost their chain of command, and some units might refuse orders if they felt
that following them was suicide. But most would do their jobs as they had been
trained and sworn an oath to do. The result is a unique take on the zombie
apocalypse that provides constant tension and plenty of action.
Q: Were you trying to include
commentary about our politics and government, or was that just the result of
writing about soldiers trying to survive what they think might be the end of
the world?
A: I always resent it when authors
such as John Ringo inject their politics into their novels; I have very strong
personal political views but I’m not interested in propagandizing. Any
commentary on politics and government that is included in Tooth and Nail are
the opinions of the characters, not me, even if I may agree with some of the
opinions.
They belong to the people in my fictional world. Which is
what you would expect: Talk to five Americans, and you’ll get six opinions on
anything. The apocalypse would bring out extreme views of all stripes, some we
might agree with, others we would find offensive.
Q: What do think is more
frightening, the Mad Dogs themselves or how quickly everything falls apart as
the result of illness?
A: I often wonder what is more
appealing to me as a reader and writer: the zombies/infected themselves, or the
apocalypse? For example, suppose a zombie outbreak occurs on a cruise ship and
does not affect the rest of the world. I don’t think I would get as involved as
a reader. Plus I don’t think cannibalism and gore are necessary, while they are
staples in what is normally considered good zombie fiction. So I think that
makes me more of an apocalyptic fiction fan than a zombie fiction fan.
For me,
zombies are simply The Threat, forcing ordinary people into extraordinary
circumstances, with enormous stakes (the end of the wrold). That Threat could
be infected, zombies, vampires (yes, even vampires, think Daybreakers, Stake
Land, The Passage), werewolves, aliens, an asteroid, anything. Infected/zombies
are a unique type of threat that to me are simply the most interesting and
frightening. The genre crosses so many others—horror, apocalyptic fiction,
survival horror, science fiction and, in the case of Tooth and Nail, military
fiction as well.
So again, I believe the apocalyptic
aspect of the novel is more frightening to me than the infected themselves. My
wife is a survivor of the World Trade Center attack in 2001. We lived in New
York City when it was attacked and she was in the North Tower when the South
Tower collapsed. Coming out of the building, which was a harrowing experience
unto itself, she saw the devastation and said the scariest thing she saw at
first glance was the crushed police cars and first responders walking around in
a daze. We look to people like soldiers and first responders to provide us with
security in an emergency and when they break it’s terrifying. It means there is
no more law and order. It means collapse, zero security, isolation, you’re on
your own, there’s no help.
Emotionally, that’s a big step off a very high
diving board without knowing what’s underneath you. So I think one of the most
terrifying aspects of Tooth and Nail is the increasing isolation of the
soldiers and their growing impotence to protect civilians and even themselves.
Q: One of the things that disturbed
me is how many of the soldiers were concerned with being damned for what they
had to do in order to complete their mission, but none of them really struck me
as religious or spiritual. Is this just the result of the horror of their
reality, or were you trying to avoid preachy characters?
A: Some of the soldiers are like
most people in that they are generally concerned about an afterlife, but none
are overtly religious. They are more concerned about being “damned” in that
what you do makes you what you are and will follow you the rest of your life.
These are people with a conscience. They are soldiers and understand that
actions in war have consequences, and are sensitive to those consequences,
particularly those consequences that affect themselves. They are basically
afraid of destroying what makes them who they are, what makes them human. This
is alluded to in the quote from Nietzsche at the start of the novel,
paraphrasing: Beware of battling with monsters because fighting monsters might
turn you into one, too.
Q: I’m always hoping the great
zombie stories I read will make it to the big screen, and your novel is no
exception…mainly because I don’t think Hollywood has a clue about zombies. Do
you think Tooth and Nail would adapt well to a movie? If so, who would you like
to see playing Bowman?
A: I’d love to see Tooth and Nail
adapted to film. It has constant tension, tons of action, dramatic themes and a
virtually unique take on the apocalypse. As for actors, assuming they’re good
at what they do, I’d like to see all unknowns or relatively little known
actors. The book has a cinema verite, almost documentary feel to it, and I
would love to see that transplanted into film; having big name actors would
ruin that effect. Think Generation Kill with zombies. That’s what I’d love to
see.
Thank you for the opportunity to
talk to your readers about Tooth and Nail. I hope they will enjoy reading it as
much as I did writing it.
Thank you for stopping by!
Craig DiLouie is a regular here at the Lair. If you enjoyed this interview and you're interested in the author's various novels, search
here.
As always,
AstraDaemon
