These Monsters Can Fight

Abandoned by his family, Enoch Bryant now lives in a rundown orphanage with other teenagers just like him. He loves his friends, even if the teachers are terrified of them. They're members of the rising plague generation. Each bearing their own extreme genetic mutation.

The people in the nearby town hate Enoch, but he doesn't know why. He's never harmed anyone. Works hard and doesn't make trouble. He believes one day he'll be a respected man.

But hatred dies hard. The tension between Enoch's world and those of the "normal" townspeople is ready to burst. And when a body is found, it may be the spark that ignites a horrifying revolution.

ONE OF US by Craig DiLouie is a very emotional drama set in 1984. The horror element is the way the characters treat each other: deplorable. I've often commented in my reviews about the definition of a monster...DiLouie wrote an entire novel about the debate over what defines a monster. As someone with a sociology degree, I can appreciate the academic and theological conflicts between the various groups. As a mother, I found myself often crying throughout the novel. 

I cannot fathom shunning children based on a genetic mutation, even though people do much worse over much less in real life. (I'm crying as I type this.) Brain's POV, particularly his birth experience, just about broke me. Parents refusing their own babies, putting them into Homes, where they are mistreated and sometimes tortured, is heart-wrenching. While reading, I felt so awful for the plague children who only wanted to be loved, but the concept is not a work of fiction, and that is the soul-crushing aspect.


I felt something for all the characters. Whether it's the plague kids who just want friends and the freedom to make happy memories, the human kids who are trying to wrap their minds around the decisions of their parents' generation, or the people who continue to make everything worse on a daily basis, every single character has a depth to them.


The sheriff is a great choice to use as the center of the story. Between his professional and personal experiences with the plague kids, he ties all the levels of the conflict together, helping both characters and readers make connections they might otherwise overlook.


I'm sure this is a stand-alone novel, but I would not object to a sequel with the plague kids as adults. Not only do I recommend this book to fiction fans, but I would love to see One of Us become a part of recommended reading for libraries and schools as well.


As always,
AstraDaemon

Hoppers, Juggernauts, and a Demon Walk Into an Apocalypse…

The Killing Floor by Craig DiLouie has me comparing his work to HP Lovecraft’s stories, and Lovecraft is looking really tame compared to The Infection series. I had stated in a previous review that I wouldn’t want to find myself in DiLouie’s world; the second installment went one step further and gave me nightmares – specifically, the hoppers…and that’s just one of many mutated creatures resulting from the viral outbreak. DiLouie’s abominations have a bigger presence this time around, allowing more creativity with the plot.

While the original novel focused on six specific survivors trying to find a safe refuge, with a theme of people turning into monsters figuratively & literally, The Killing Floor dives further into the psyches of several returning characters, as well as a few new ones. This helped prevent any stereotypes from forming, and dug into the heart of the destruction. The devastated landscapes pale in comparison to the traumatized survivors, and only a couple of months have passed since the day of The Screaming, which has many characters doubting their ability to keep going for much longer.

DiLouie introduces a new twist, with Ray suffering a hopper sting, giving more insight into the actual mutation process; I’m not going into details about Ray’s part in the sequel, but he is THE key character, tying everyone’s fate together. The aspect of Ray’s struggle had me wondering if Todd (the kid who survived a zombie bite in book one) might play a more important role, if a third book is ever written. I enjoyed the new angles that DiLouie explored with the infected, the mutations and the theories on the source of the original virus. Travis is the scientist with a unique theory, backed up by tiny details that I almost missed, and I hope he is given more scenes in the future. Travis seemed more realistic any of the others, even throwing up in a garbage can at the suggestion of nuclear strike.

If the author continues along this avenue, I have no doubt that a third novel will be the most exciting of the three. If you haven’t already, I recommend reading Tooth and Nail as well.

As always,
AstraDaemon

The Story Stephen King Didn't Write

The Infection (Book 1 of 2) by Craig DiLouie tells the story of six survivors traveling in an armored vehicle, while trying to find a safe refuge, after a mysterious virus infects millions of humans. The infected people collapse into comas; when they wake up, three days later, they attack all the non-infected. After just a couple of weeks, some of the survivors discover that the Infected are mutating into something much worse than zombies. The main theme that is woven throughout the storyline is the violent transformation of humans into monsters.

“There were things in the garage, Sarge. Fucking monsters. Dark shapes that flitted around the cars, always just out of sight. Then we saw one…”

This novel made me think, “This is what happened to the rest of the world, while everyone was reading about what happened in the grocery store in “The Mist” by Stephen King.” I know I’m not the only one who has made this comparison; some other reviewers have even mentioned The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I understand why, but I think DiLouie goes into far more detail with his characters’ suffering than King or McCarthy. The story is told with third-person narration in the present tense; flashbacks provide the personal backgrounds of each of the six survivors. Their reasoning and motivation for their current behavior becomes quite understandable, after only a few chapters.

“They have all done the things one had to do to survive. They have all killed people or they would not be here.”

I usually try to imagine myself in the world that I am reading about, but I wanted no part of this setting. Living infected hordes are one thing, but DiLouie describes abominations that would rival HP Lovecraft’s leviathans. He goes to nightmarish extremes when pairing the brutal twists of the viral outbreak with the amorality of various people that the survivors encounter. Of course, even though I felt mentality assaulted by the end, I loved reading very moment of this traumatic horror novel.

As always,
AstraDaemon