Review: The First Days: As The World Dies by Rhiannon Frater

Genre: Adult, Horror
ParaElement: Zombies
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Review copy provided by publisher.

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PJ's QUICKIE POV:

I have something for Zombies. It's this little problem I have, kind of an obsession. There is something about the entire human race turning into mad, flesh eating monsters that just scares the pants off me. So, now that you know my zombie junkee status, the book that recently fueled my addiction is THE FIRST DAYS which starts out with a bang and soon degrades into zombie lunacy. I was scared, I was disgusted, I was biting my nails, turning page after page. It was a zombie movie in book form, with the same terror inducing action but at the same time it invoked the same thin plot sequences that are rampant in zombie movies and sometimes cheesy interaction of characters. Yet, we always look past that, right? Directly into the chomping jaws of the fast approaching zombie...

REVIEW:


This little poignant number opens with a woman in a pink bathrobe, standing on her lawn. She is staring at her front door as tiny fingers are shoving themselves under the crack trying to get at her. The fingers of her three year old son that she had found her husband chomping on not a few minutes ago. She has locked her husband, their twelve year old and their three year old in her house. She's had a terrible night. But, her savior pulls up on her lawn in a beat up white pick-up and so begins the journey of their first days in a new world. One where the dead reanimate and try to eat you. Where they don't slow down like the zombie movies, but will run until their knee caps explode. Where if given enough time - they begin to problem solve.


Chicks can kick zombie butt too...experience it first hand with THE FIRST DAYS. This is not for the feint of heart. There is ripping flesh and gun shots and cursing and just mayhem. If you like zombies, pick this one up!


There are a few drawbacks to the tale, a bit of plot slippage and parts that didn't add together. Some character slippage - minor flaws that you would expect of a zombie movie, gore goes up, plot and dialogue doesn't always add up. I mean, it was a zombie movie rewritten into a book form, instead of the usual book into movie. There were a lot of references to Romero and zombie movies, which I thought was hoaky, you could tell the author had seen a few zombie apocalypse movies herself. But, don't pay attention to those flaws and just experience the horror and the fun that was two chicks just tearing it up.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Recommended for zombie fans. If you've enjoyed similar apocalypse books where the dead reanimate and began eating people this is the book for you. Mature content of violent, sexual and explicit nature.

Like this Like That

1. Aftertime (Luna Books) by Sophie Littlefield
2. For a Young Adult take - Enclave by Ann Aguirre