Split Into Something Else

A dual novella featuring ORPHEUS AND THE PEARL by Kim Paffenroth and NEVERMORE by David Dunwoody. Double the terror, double the fun!


ORPHEUS AND THE PEARL
In 1920 Massachusetts, Dr. Catherine MacGuire is mysteriously called to the home of the famous Dr. Wallston, to assist with some medical emergency that defies even his skill. The life-threatening problems she finds there have less to do with broken bodies than with warped souls, and it will take all of her skill as a healer to fix them.

NEVERMORE Malcolm Witt died in his sleep at 11:07 PM. Four minutes later his body rose and walked from the room. Malcolm watched it happen.

And so begins 24 hours of a life-after-death struggle to save his friends, forgive his love, and put himself to rest - body and soul.

ORPHEUS AND THE PEARL by Kim Paffenroth is a pleasant reminder of the psychological element the author brings to his horror stories. If I didn't know any better, I would think Paffenroth channeled both Freud (1919 essay, The Uncanny) and Jung (archetypes) while constructing his characters and their dilemma. Even Dr. MacGuire's reference to Greek tragedies struck a chord (Aristotle's Catharsis). You don't have to be familiar with any of these literary references to appreciate the anticipation of something tragic happening before the end of the story. However, Paffenroth delivers the most terrifying blow in the form a light whisper. Pay attention to the tiny details.

NEVERMORE by David Dunwoody is one of the best damn zombie stories I've ever read, and, yet, Dunwoody has created something much more than an undead tale. The author takes common motivators such as love, betrayal and revenge, mixes them with the supernatural and the result is a thriller worthy of the big screen.

Both stories are examples of the familiar becoming unfamiliar -- the heart of true horror, but the two are nothing alike. Paffenroth and Dunwoody use a similar element to show how human behavior can be predictable and unpredictable at the same time, while remaining original in their storytelling.

An excellent pairing!

As always,
AstraDaemon

Zombie Kids With Brains

In a world overrun by the living dead, one band of survivors built a community with a strange sort of peace with the undead. The dead were contained, but not exterminated.

Now they’ve exiled four people—two undead, two alive—into the wilderness outside the city walls. Lucy, a beautiful zombie overwhelmed by her desire to kill and feed, keeps herself just barely under control around her living companions. Truman, a gentler and more reasonable zombie, looks at the living with something close to disinterest. Rachel and Will have trouble understanding and trusting one another—let alone their undead companions.

Dying to Live: Last Rites by Kim Paffenroth introduces a new dilemma into the zombie survival mindset. Instead of the typical “kill me before I turn” decision, the characters realize it’s possible that they could turn into one of the thinking undead…so, getting infected doesn’t necessarily mean the end of life after all.

Unlike the traditional zombie novels, this is a story about the undead trying to escape the living…the living who are no longer the only “survivors” of the zombie apocalypse. Many authors/directors have tried to humanize zombies, but no one has come close to what Paffenroth has accomplished with Last Rites.

Not only do we see the development of Rachel and Will’s relationship, but we are given intimate details of the relationship between the zombies, Truman and Lucy. We watch as the group is pulled apart when faced with survivors who are rebuilding a society that exploits the thinking undead.

Paffenroth also brings in zombie children. Not the ankle-biting kind; these zombie kids can think too, and they aren’t as innocent as their human counterparts. Everyone suffers in this novel.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Dying To Live, Twelve Years Later

Twelve years later the community has reclaimed more of the city and has settled into a fairly secure life in their compound. Zoey is a girl coming of age in this undead world, learning new roles--new sacrifices. But even bigger surprises lay in wait, for some of the walking dead are beginning to remember who they are, who they've lost, and, even worse, what they've done.

As the dead struggle to reclaim their lives, as the survivors combat an intruding force, the two groups accelerate toward a collision that could drastically alter both of their worlds.

Dying to Live: Life Sentence by Kim Paffenroth begins years after the first books ends, with Zoey (the infant rescued in Dying to Live) writing about something that happened when she was twelve years old. One of her first comments reflected on the adults laughing at the irony of finding other survivors in a mall. Her character doesn't understand why, but I appreciated the nod to Dawn of the Dead (Divimax Edition). Also, "Popcorn" has become "Will," which I found interesting; if not for his strong will to live, he wouldn't have survived the movie theater or prison traumas. Of course, Milton continues to round up zombies, and Jack, Sarah, Tanya, Jonah, and even Fran are still active members of the community as well.

Zoey tells us what has happened to the central characters from the first book (but neither book is dependent on the other - both could function as stand-alones). Then the story shifts to Truman's point-of-view...Truman being a zombie who is starting to remember things, and uses a type-writer to write his own journal. Truman attempts to explain the changes with some of the zombies. All of it leads up to the discovery of the River Nation.

The complexity of the characters, and their relationships to one another, make this novel quite dramatic, but I would not call this book a horror or thriller novel just because it has zombies. The only thing that may be a problem for some readers is the switch in POV. It goes chapter by chapter, but there is no difference in the type-setting. Some people might not like it, but I found it easy to follow.

The trilogy continues with Dying to Live: Last Rites.

As always,
AstraDaemon

The Novel That Never Gets Old

A lone survivor in a zombie-infested world, Jonah Caine wandered for months, struggling to understand the apocalypse in which he lives.

Every time I read Dying To Live by Kim Paffenroth, I find myself caught up in the perspective of a different character each time. This book was first released over a decade ago, but it's a zombie story I still recommend to horror readers to this day.

The first time, I naturally thought about the main character's perspective. The book starts with Jonah, long-after the initial outbreak. He had originally been searching for his family, then rescued from a zombie horde by a group of survivors. He tries to make a life for himself at their museum-turned-fortress, but he doesn't find peace. Instead he finds himself on a mission where he discovers a father and infant struggling to survive near a gruesome site, as well as a helicopter. When the group flies back to the museum, they see a trail of smoke, and decide to seek out the other survivors. They realize too late that there are some things more traumatic than the walking dead. Jonah is forced to face the worst of human behavior, and after his ordeal, it's not exactly what you can call a happy ending.

The second time, I took Popcorn's perspective into consideration: a child, who loses his mother after zombies overwhelm their rescue station, and has to fight zombies by himself. When you discover Popcorn's story, before he joined the museum group, you convince yourself nothing bad could happen to this character. Unfortunately, when his team finds the other survivors, even Jonah is sickened by Popcorn's horrendous fate. It's not often you find an author willing to make a child one of the main characters, but I was glad that Paffenroth didn't sugar-coat the outcome, even though I was severely shaken.

The third time, I related more to Frank than any of the others. Many of us zombie fanatics ponder what we would do in the event of an actual outbreak, but since I'm someone's mother, I have to rethink all my previous post-apocalyptic plans. Frank does a superb job of keeping his head together to take care of his infant daughter. However, Paffenroth show us how even a great father isn't safe from the sadistic side of humans. I had to ask myself if I would be willing to sacrifice myself for the greater good, if I couldn't see my child again.

I could go down the line with each character, but this review is long enough. The main storyline is the museum survivors who discover another group of survivors - at a prison. As I said earlier, it's not exactly a happy-ending, but Dying to Live is an excellent zombie novel.

As always,
AstraDaemon