Joseph Picard

Let me first say that, overall, I enjoyed this book, though I do have some mixed feelings about it. More on that later. I shall first say what is good about it.

I could just say that the writing is good, and though true, I must also say that I loved the ambiguity of the setting (I get the impression that this isn't Earth), I loved the occasional Biblical symbolism, I loved the imagery, and I loved the technology present. Though nanites aren't the freshest of sci-fi tropes, Picard still makes them magical, and all the other technology is either scientifically plausible or awe-inspiring, and frequently both. Zombies are pretty done-to-death in this day and age, too, but Picard's zombies can be alternatively funny (they really seem to like lawn flamingoes, for some reason) or disturbing. They never really pull off "intimidating," but that role falls instead to the villain.

With that, I must discuss the characters. The villain is great. He's exactly how I'd expect a HUGE NERD to act upon discovering super powers, while simultaneously coming across as evil and insane from casually causing wanton death and destruction, mostly just because he can. The main characters, however, are the source of my mixed feelings. The main protagonist, Regan, is a lesbian with a huge crush on the other main protagonist, Alisia. Regan survived the first zombie-outbreak, and Alisia is a soldier, the first normal human Regan saw after two years living in the zombie-infested ruins. The problem is, Alisia is straight, and Regan is extremely forward with her advances. So forward, in fact, her advances would probably count as sexual assault.

There were times in this book that I thought the overt sexuality was about as tasteless as one of those Japanese harem animes, but then we'd get a look at some of the motivations behind this, and we see that Regan's not quite right. After losing her brother and living alone amongst zombies for two years, she bears some significant emotional issues. There were scenes involving her emotional frailty that were heartbreaking in their poignance. Over all, I suppose the two extremes kind of balance each other out, but it still gave me a nagging feeling at the back of my head.

One last nitpick: while the pacing is generally good, there were a few slow spots. Particularly, the middle part seemed a bit lacking. That's usually where I'd expect a major disaster, but what we got instead was sort of a minor victory and a really quiet disaster. Oh well. Things would always pick up sufficiently later, making for an over all satisfying read.… (meer)

A rather charming and lightly amusing oddity. Picard had a major accident on 2001 leaving him with severe and lasting physical consequences. This collection logs two significant hospital stays. In a quest to find small distractions and insert some much needed levity into his situation the author began doodling responses to the menu choices he was given. Each day saw a new meal list with his selection, often listed in grammatically novel ways, or phrased sparsely or oddly. Picard used these somewhat dry templates to point out the potential absurdities of the basic and formal language used in list making. A further dimension is added as a nebulous bond is formed with the hospital staff as the occasional sign gets back to him that his drawings have been seen and appreciated.

A unique record of a man dealing with a rough situation and the restrictions of the hospital experience by using his talent for drawing to make silly pictures.… (meer)

Book Info: Genre: Science Fantasy/Lesbian Zombie story
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: fans of zombie stories, looking for something a little different
Trigger Warnings: killing

My Thoughts: This book is really a mixed bag. On the one hand, this book is a man's fantasy about lesbians: hypersexualized, aggressive, and in one case actually bisexual so the man has some action, too. Despite mentioning in the acknowledgments that the book had been re-edited, it was still quite a mess, with (especially) a lot of punctuation errors. On the other hand, there is a lot of funny in here, not to mention a unique take on zombies that a lot of people will probably enjoy. The section where Alicia and Regan take over a couple of zombies had me laughing like a maniac, especially the slap fight.

I really wish I could provide a wholehearted endorsement of this book, because the author is a super nice guy and quite funny to boot, but there were just too many problems to rate the book any higher. However, if you like zombie stories and are looking for something a little different, then check this book out. The sequel is out, and I think there might be a short story available from this universe as well.

Disclosure: I picked this book up during an Amazon KDP promotion. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: She lost her brother.
She learnt to fight a legion of the dead.
She spent two years alone, scavenging to survive.
Then to make things difficult, she fell in love with a straight girl.

Regan Grier, assumed dead, faces a city of walking corpses in which she struggles to find her brother. Her hopeless efforts meet some unsolicited help after two years.

Enter Captain Alisia Terone. Intent on rescuing Regan from the city, stumbles on an unforeseen hazard: Regan's love.

Regan's problems intertwine with Alisia's as they hunt the source of the technologically driven zombies, and cope with Regan's love for the inconveniently straight Captain.… (meer)