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Dead of Night (Dead of Night #1)

by Jonathan Maberry (Goodreads Author)

3.93 of 5 stars 3.93 · rating details · 1,863 ratings · 262 reviews

A prison doctor injects a condemned serial killer with a formula designed to keep his consciousness awake while his body rots in the grave. But all drugs have unforeseen side-effects. Before he could be buried, the killer wakes up. Hungry. Infected. Contagious. This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang…but a bite....more

Paperback, 358 pages

Published October 25th 2011 by St. Martin's Griffin

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Feb 22, 2012 Lucy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult, horror, how-did-this-get-published, make-room-for-that-sequel, milking-a-money-cow, zombies, wasn-t-for-me

I haven't been reviewing books as much this year and while I want to change that this probably isn't the best book to start with. Dead of Night was written in the most effortless and trite way possible. The characters were two dimensional clichés, the dialogue was rife with overused movie lines (I seriously kept expecting someone to say 'come with me if you want to live'), and even the situations could have been Frankenstein-ed from a bunch of horror and action movies like a fan-made youtube tra...more I haven't been reviewing books as much this year and while I want to change that this probably isn't the best book to start with. Dead of Night was written in the most effortless and trite way possible. The characters were two dimensional clichés, the dialogue was rife with overused movie lines (I seriously kept expecting someone to say 'come with me if you want to live'), and even the situations could have been Frankenstein-ed from a bunch of horror and action movies like a fan-made youtube trailer. There were a few semi-original concepts buried beneath all the tired writing, but instead of polishing the good stuff the author buried it beneath junk. The lack of ambition was just astounding. I felt like the book was churned out on a deadline because any self-respecting author would've taken a hacksaw to some of the exclamations the idiotic characters make.

Dez Fox, a war veteran police officer, is the main character. She's 'damaged' and the damaged is reinforced every which way. It would've been interesting if she had post traumatic stress from the war or if she'd failed in some way as a cop that made her so gung ho about getting the job done... But no. Her parents both died when she was young, her father in a war and her mother of cancer. She has abandonment issues that you would think she would have worked out when she followed in her father's footsteps as a solider and saw how little choice one had about how they died during a war -- but alas no. She throws many hissyfits and sobs a lot about people leaving her. I could've felt bad for her if she wasn't arrogant, surly, and a real jackass to just about everyone from page one. (She's allowed to be a jackass and we're still supposed to cheer for her because she's sad and damaged, blah.)

Her ex-boyfriend, Billy Trout is a reporter. He's just there to fill necessary story elements rather than being a character of his own. He's there to report, he's there to give Dez's back story, he's there to be Dez's love interest etc etc. He really UNDERSTANDS her. Of course, I never had any solid feel for him. He's been in love with Dez since he was young yet has not one but two ex-wives and he's only in his 30s... yeah. Whatever. Don't even bother. If there's a sequel maybe the author will throw you a bone, but it's probably not worth it.

There were two-ish characters that I liked. One was JT, who was Dez's partner. He's an older black guy, not her love interest, (view spoiler)

The other character I liked was the second zombie in the outbreak! (view spoiler)

Anyway, Dead of Night was written with a lot of indifference. I never saw a spark of any passion that didn't feel borrowed from one action movie or another. I really hope the author doesn't look back at this as one of his finest works, but since I won't be revisiting him any time soon it doesn't matter much to me.(less)

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Mar 03, 2012 Lou rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: february-2012-list, horror, zombies

I interviewed Jonathan Maberry recently here. He talks about writing, favorite books, Bram Stoker Awards and Martial arts.

A military bio-weapon could be the most dangerous weapon to us all.
Maberry takes you back through the turning process to where it all started with the first host.
Homer Gibbon was the states most notorious serial killer others watched and saw him be killed via lethal injection or did they?
There is death and then life again well kind of, the undead shall walk upon the earth a...more

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Jan 18, 2012 Rachel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 5-star-zombie-reads

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. **********THERE BE SPOILERS IN THEM THAR HILLS, DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU*********************************************

I really, really enjoyed this book. I'm wrestling with giving it either 4 or 5 stars but I think it pushed itself over into a 5 star rating but not holding many punches.

I love zombies, movies and stories. Which kinda means I've oversaturated myself with them over the last couple years. I think I love zombies because the stories are usually more about the survivors fighting...more **********THERE BE SPOILERS IN THEM THAR HILLS, DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU*********************************************

I really, really enjoyed this book. I'm wrestling with giving it either 4 or 5 stars but I think it pushed itself over into a 5 star rating but not holding many punches.

I love zombies, movies and stories. Which kinda means I've oversaturated myself with them over the last couple years. I think I love zombies because the stories are usually more about the survivors fighting against a ruthless, inhuman fighting machine. This is one aspect where Dead of Night becomes more than just "good" to me. Maberry sets up an outbreak of a very believable virus (or maybe I just watched that History channel special one too many times and it feels real) that leaves victims conscious of their actions but unable to control the insatiable hunger that their bodies feel. Dr. Hartnup, a funeral director, in small-town Stebbins, PA gets bit when a deathrow inmate, Homer Gibbons, purposely infected with the virus, gets shipped to Hartnup's funeral home at the request of his last known relative. Police respond and havoc and infection spread from there. I appreciated the way Maberry goes back to Dr. Hartnup again and again so the reader gets the sense of the man he was and how turning into a monster is affecting him. It's a nice twist on the classic zombie and gives the story some melancholy. Frankly, Dr. Volker's original plan for the death row inmate makes me sad and outraged all in one. Volker's more evil than the zombies.
I find myself again appreciating the way Maberry writes flawed heroes. You want to root for everyone in spite of their imperfections. Dez Fox, who could've come out being the stereotypical, bitchy, too strong for her own good kind of female character has some softness to her. So do the male characters. It's not a total testosterone fest like it is in so many apocalyptic/zombie novels. The kind where the very detailed mentioned of every gun makes female readers of the genre want to scream "penis extension". Maberry adds just enough details about guns and technology to make the story seem current, pretty plausible and give the characters some authority.
I found myself hoping that the end of this story was not just your typical "government swoops in and saves everything and there's hope to be had". That kind of ending would have spoiled whatever else made this story original. I'm glad the end doesn't play out that way. It feels more realistic, even if its harder to tell who the bad and the good guys are. Not quite a shocking ending but a satisfying one that brought a tear to my eye yet again (This will be the 4th book I've read by Maberry where I cried at the end. I'm starting to like that his books make me feel something, I just have to read them in private to avoid looking all mushy). (less)

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Jan 24, 2013 Wendy F rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013, zombies, dystopian-apocalyptic

What an interesting way for the zombie apocalypse to start. It actually reminds me a bit of a documentary my husband and I watched explaining how the zombie apocalypse is possible. A strain of disease that's aggressive... do I think it's possible, nah... but what was fun about watching it/reading this, was maybe seeing how the science of it was completely possible.

I won't get too much into it. Let's just say that this zombie is created in a lab, by a man filled with vengeance.

Dead of Night actu...more

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Dec 23, 2011 Kat rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: zombie, updated

Dead of Night is pretty much exactly what I expected – instant action, great characters, government conspiracy and zombies by the truck-load.

I was instantly drawn in, for the reasons above, but also due to the inclusion of a serial killer which added a chilling twist, and the relationship between the characters of Dez, JT and Billy. The science behind the infection is well laid out and easy to understand whilst being an integral part of the story. There is a military/government influence in the...more

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Sep 09, 2012 Carl J. rated it 3 of 5 stars

I like Maberry's work. Let's just get that out of the way right off. And I loved the way Dead of Night started. It was very Stephen King-ish, with the darkness juxtaposed with the light (Magic Marti in the Morning). But then it stopped working for me.

Let's see, what were some of the problems? First, I don't know why, but I felt like Goat was a teenager. He just kept acting like one, especially in the interview with Volker. I just couldn't get into him. And Trout felt, at times, like an old geeze...more

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Aug 16, 2012 Nikki rated it 4 of 5 stars

Originally published in my author blog on November 7, 2011.

It’s no secret to anybody that I love me a good zombie story. And Dead of Night by Jonathan Maberry certainly fits the bill. Unlike, say, Feed by Mira Grant that should’ve been right up my alley but never managed to hook me, Dead of Night had me from the first bite (har har).

(view spoiler)...more

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Jun 06, 2012 Jessica Bronder rated it 5 of 5 stars

The story starts at Hartnup’s Transition Estate, the local funeral home. The body of recently executed murderer Homer Gibbons has just arrived. A last minute change of plans has Homer coming to his aunt instead of the usual prison grave. But Homer is not really dead, and he is very hungry.

Dez, Desdemona Fox, and her partner JT Hammond are called out to check out the funeral home. When they get there, they find the mortician and the housekeeper chewed on and dead and an empty body bag. When backu...more

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May 17, 2012 Megan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned

I received Dead of Night through the LT Early Reviewers program, and I have to say that this was probably the best one I've won so far!

I won't go into too much plot detail here, but as a brief introduction, the novel is about the outbreak of a "zombie" virus in a small Pennsylvania town, and what the locals and the government have to do to survive and contain the plague.

I think that the book was fast paced and easy to read. It definitely had me turning pages long into the night (and giving me a...more I received Dead of Night through the LT Early Reviewers program, and I have to say that this was probably the best one I've won so far!

I won't go into too much plot detail here, but as a brief introduction, the novel is about the outbreak of a "zombie" virus in a small Pennsylvania town, and what the locals and the government have to do to survive and contain the plague.

I think that the book was fast paced and easy to read. It definitely had me turning pages long into the night (and giving me a few frights while I was at it!). I believe that this is a book that most zombie/horror fans would enjoy, and I'd definitely recommend it to those looking for a solid zombie novel to "devour".

I feel like other reviewers hit on the things that make this novel good, so I'm not going to repeat them. Instead, I'm going to share what I thought were the cons of the book. First of all, and I'm very surprised that no one mentioned this in any of their reviews, this book is full, and I mean FULL, of errors. Huge, glaring errors. I don't know who was the copy editor on this one, but they did a really poor job. I'm truly hoping that this isn't the finished, heading-to-print version (I received a pre-release copy) because there are spelling errors, grammatical errors, non-deletion of extraneous words, and sentences that just don't make sense on almost every other page. The editor in me desperately wanted to take a red pen to my copy of the book. It was that distracting.

Also, I felt like the text was bogged down in pop culture references. I mean, there was no true reason to tell readers that Dez, the main character, looked like Scarlett Johannsen after she's already been described. We can decide what she looks like for ourselves. And I can't tell you how many current events he tried to squeeze into the narrative. It was filled to the brim with references to Hurricane Katrina, Haiti, WikiLeaks, Twitter, Facebook, etc. I'm guessing his point was to try and make the novel feel as current as possible so that the reader believes that something like this could happen RIGHT NOW. However, it felt like it was trying too hard to establish that, and I'm a large proponent of novels having a more timeless feel. Sure, you can write it so that it jives with the current time period, and that will probably be recognizable in the future, but couldn't he have shown us and not shoved it in our faces on every page?

Outside of these complaints, I still feel like Dead of Night is a solid novel and believe that zombie and horror fans of all stripes will enjoy reading it. I know I did.(less)

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Mar 12, 2012 Jason (FNORDinc) rated it 5 of 5 stars

If you put all cultural Zombie dogma together and made a box, we would all be mewling puppies inside said box with Maberry using a nail gun to give us breathing holes to avoid suffocation.

In the publication of ‘Dead of Night’, Jonathan Maberry succeeds again in providing a Zombie novel that is not crippled by generations of genre dogma. Others are also participating in the uncrippling of the genre, (D. Wellington, S.G. Browne, M. Brooks) helping drive a resurrection to a dying and over saturated...more

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Jan 16, 2012 Todd rated it 4 of 5 stars

How does the world end?

On the eve of the destruction of one of the most abysmal human monsters to ever live, Dr. Herman Volkner is finally able to put the skeletons in his closet to bed. He’s the physician in charge of administering the lethal injection to the despicable Homer Gibbon, who’s responsible for the deaths of so many men, women, and children it’s easy to lose count.

Instead of administering the triple phase cocktail of sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride, Vol...more How does the world end?

On the eve of the destruction of one of the most abysmal human monsters to ever live, Dr. Herman Volkner is finally able to put the skeletons in his closet to bed. He’s the physician in charge of administering the lethal injection to the despicable Homer Gibbon, who’s responsible for the deaths of so many men, women, and children it’s easy to lose count.

Instead of administering the triple phase cocktail of sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride, Volkner instead introduces Gibbon to a top secret CIA bioweapon; codename Lucifer. The drug is a mix of the Coupe poudre, Toxoplasma gondii, Dicrocoelium dendrictum, and Euhaplorchis californiensis all swirling through the eggs and larvae of a hypermetabolic version of our old friend, the Emerald Cocroach wasp.

The bad news is, a little too late we find out that the bad guy actually had someone who cared step forward and claim the body. Instead of being sealed into a cheap box and dropped in a hole out behind the prison, Gibbons is instead transferred to a mortuary in rural Pennsylvania where the alarm clock goes off and he is once again free to go about his business. His morning snack is quickly followed by the second course cleaning lady, and then it’s off for a little walk to meet-up with Aunt Selma.

Desdemona Fox and JT Hammond of Stebbins PD are called in to investigate a break-in and they instead find breakfast and lunch pointing them to a bloody trail of footprints which lead out the back door. JT goes to check out the trail while Dez takes up the gloves and fills in for round two with Gibbons’ lunch and we get front row tickets to the end of the world.

Remember when I told you that Maberry was good? Well, let me clarify that. After taking home the 2006 Bram Stoker award for Best First Novel (Ghost Road Blues, Pinnacle Books) and 2007 Bram Stoker for Nonfiction (The Cryptopedia, Citadel Press), He thought he’d add a New York Times Bestselling Author credit to his list (The Wolfman, TOR.) His Joe Ledger books have been optioned for production by various big players and he’s firing from both barrels for Marvel Comics.

Debuting at ZomBcon in Seattle, The first thing I have to say about this novel is that it’s probably the most uncompromising piece Mayberry has released to date. The sober realities of the end of all things are pretty clear in this book. I can’t really get into specifics without spoiling the un-characteristic twist at the end, but what I can say is that things are not pretty in Stebbins, folks. Dead of Night is no roller-coaster; it’s a pedal-to-the-metal journey through the genre like you’ve never experienced. Expect language, gritty violence, sexual themes, and horror. The book will drive your mind and heart through the gauntlet and then leave you shaken.

This is how the world ends. Not with a bang, but with a bite…

(less)

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Jan 08, 2012 cecilia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: orange-covers

If Jonathan Maberry has proven anything, it is that he is the master of all things zombies – and he never tells the same story twice! Dead Of Night will scare and delight you in all its zombie glory. I may have been a little paranoid before about walking into a garage full of zombies in the morning, I am now MORE than scared to open my garage door to a driveway of zombies!

THE GOOD BITS

{What a bang of beginning!} This “patient zero” story demonstrates how easily the zombie outbreak can spin out o...more If Jonathan Maberry has proven anything, it is that he is the master of all things zombies – and he never tells the same story twice! Dead Of Night will scare and delight you in all its zombie glory. I may have been a little paranoid before about walking into a garage full of zombies in the morning, I am now MORE than scared to open my garage door to a driveway of zombies!

THE GOOD BITS

{What a bang of beginning!} This “patient zero” story demonstrates how easily the zombie outbreak can spin out of control, even when the right sort of people discover it first. I cannot fault the law enforcement for not believing when the dead seem to be coming back to life or blinking twice when they find someone chowing down on some intestines, but holy brainz, if that is what makes or breaks the world from turning zombie, perhaps the civilians are so very, very screwed. Perhaps the CDC is onto something with their zombie preparedness action plan.

{Sentient zombies?} Now I am not sure if ALL zombies had sentience, but readers get to lurk inside the minds of certain zombies who seemed conscious enough to form coherent thoughts, but did not have control of their movements or hunger. Which makes turning zombie even more terrifying! Does that mean there is hope for a cure? Well, let’s put it this way: Is there any way for someone to recover post-zombie after feasting on another person’s brain? I seriously think not, but I will let you draw your own conclusions with Dead Of Night.

THE BAD BITS

{No attachment to the characters} Unlike ROT & RUIN, I did not form any strong sympathies for the characters this time. I liked how Jonathan Maberry gave us different viewpoints of how this new zombocalypse went down from the foolish and arrogant government to the unsuspecting mortician who became “patient one.” However, I wished there had been time to make the characters come more alive. Don’t get me wrong: I rooted for the heroes, but it was more out of reflex than a heartfelt desire to want them to survive.

THE OVERALL

If Dead Of Night has a message to deliver, it is that there is no hope for the uninfected. You may survive the first wave of zombies like the first few levels of Tetris, but you better hope you are prepared as the speed starts to pick up! Jonathan Maberry delivers another food-for-thought zombie book that will be a welcome addition to zombie die-hards.(less)

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Oct 02, 2011 Jessi Adams rated it 4 of 5 stars

Dead of Night is a zombie story that takes place in rural Pennsylvania. The background to the story is a little different than your standard. A government scientist working at a prison hospital decides that the lethal injection is too good for a particularly bad serial killer, so he decides to inject him with genetically engineered parasites, which will keep his mind aware while his body rots in the coffin. Things start to go awry when instead of being buried in a government cemetery, an elderly...more Dead of Night is a zombie story that takes place in rural Pennsylvania. The background to the story is a little different than your standard. A government scientist working at a prison hospital decides that the lethal injection is too good for a particularly bad serial killer, so he decides to inject him with genetically engineered parasites, which will keep his mind aware while his body rots in the coffin. Things start to go awry when instead of being buried in a government cemetery, an elderly aunt comes forward to claim the body. The body, newly infected with zombie parasites gets transported to a funeral home in Pennsylvania, and your standard zombie infection scenario ensues.
I liked a few things about this story. I felt like the back story was a twist on the plain old tired zombie virus story, which was nice. I think that adding the twist that the zombies are still inhabited by the consciousness of the person they used to be adds a level of creepiness, although it adds nothing to the overall plot. There was a lot of action, and most of it wasn't completely implausible, so that's a good thing. I even liked most of the characters, although I felt like the only thing Mayberry did to keep the character of Dez interesting was to make her female. If it was an obnoxious male cop who shoots everything and sleeps around, I'm not sure anyone would care.
The one thing that kept this book from a 5 star review was the cliches. (Oh...My...God, Maberry, lets use the phrase “damaged goods,” just one more time, it wasn't quite tired enough.) It also annoyed me a little bit that the characters didn't catch on to the zombie infestation sooner. The word “zombie” wasn't even used until the 80-90 pages range. Seriously? One character even suggested they might be vampires before anyone said the word zombie. The dead people are getting up and biting other people. Mayberry paints a disaster story in the times of YouTube, FB and Twitter, but the characters don't have the cultural reference to think that these dead things are zombies? It made me roll my eyes a few times.

Overall, a solid zombie book that's a lot of fun to read for those who enjoy the horror genre. (less)

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Sep 13, 2011 Shedrick Pittman-Hassett rated it 5 of 5 stars

From my blog: http://serialdistractions.com

The apocalypse has arrived in sleepy Stebbins County, PA. Death comes riding the pale horse of serial killer Homer Gibbon, executed for his crimes in service to the Black Eye and the Red Mouth. Dr. Herman Volker has other plans for Homer, plans involving an experimental bio-warfare agent that can keep the dead killer’s consciousness aware of his rotting flesh as he suffers from beyond the grave. But instead of being buried in a potter’s field, Homer’s c...more From my blog: http://serialdistractions.com

The apocalypse has arrived in sleepy Stebbins County, PA. Death comes riding the pale horse of serial killer Homer Gibbon, executed for his crimes in service to the Black Eye and the Red Mouth. Dr. Herman Volker has other plans for Homer, plans involving an experimental bio-warfare agent that can keep the dead killer’s consciousness aware of his rotting flesh as he suffers from beyond the grave. But instead of being buried in a potter’s field, Homer’s corpse is sent to Stebbins County where the killer will rise again: grotesquely infected, highly contagious, and most of all…insatiably hungry.

Writers are often warned to stay away from clichés; but with genre fiction, cliché defines the genre. In Dead of Night, familiar tropes form the story’s foundation. There is the sleepy hick town where it all begins. A mad scientist with a German accent. A grizzled, not-as-cynical-as-advertised, reporter. Two local cops, one old and one young, in over their heads but doing the best they can. Government officials covering their butts. Shambling undead masses converging on the site of the final battle. But, in this case, the Stoker Award-winning Maberry (The King of Plagues, The Cryptopedia) takes all of the tropes that define a good zombie story and then does them one better, crafting a tale far better than the sum of its parts.

Dead of Night has it all. The action is fast-paced and exciting. The zombies are not only horrific but scientifically plausible. And, most importantly, there is actual horror. Not just squicky gross-outs or jump-out thrills (though the novel does not lack for either), but actual gut-wrenching horror. Maberry achieves this by creating characters that we care about and ensuring that they react in very human ways to the terrible situation that they have found themselves thrust into.

The emotions that Maberry evokes are rooted in true fear for the townspeople of Stebbins. While children are among those in danger, he doesn’t settle for cheap pathos but instead draws on raw, visceral terror. Further, as our heroes are forced to destroy their infected former friends and neighbors, the horror experienced by the main characters rolls off the page and into the reader’s guts. By focusing on character, Maberry pulls off masterfully what all good horror writers strive for: he takes a novel about monsters and makes it about human beings.

Dead of Night is an excellent novel on every level. Highly recommended.(less)

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Sep 11, 2011 Cathe Olson rated it 5 of 5 stars

The story begins when the police arrive to investigate a report of a suspected break in at the local funeral home. They find two bodies who have seem to have been bitten to death. But when one comes to life and attacks an officer and the other goes missing, things quickly spiral out of control and the people in charge will do anything they need to to make the problem disappear. There was so much more to this book than just zombies and horror--it makes political and societal statements as well.

I...more

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Apr 13, 2012 Schnaucl rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: april, fiction, horror, library, read_2012, zombies

I don't have the words for how much I love the opening.

Chapter One

This is how the world ends.

Chapter Two...

A simple but powerful opening sentence and it's made even more powerful because it's the entire chapter. Very well done.

I often found myself thinking of Maberry's Zombie CSUand comparing his ideas from that book with what took place in this book. I'd say it's pretty consistent.

(view spoiler)...more

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Feb 25, 2012 Malbon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: good-horror

I'm very pleased to say this. After lots of searching and failed attempts I have finally managed to find a good zombie novel. Dead of Night has a great premise, fast pace, enough gore to be suitably terrifying but not enough to be despicable - it's a fine line that other authors need to know. It's just fine to show us a dead body with its face chewed off (at least in a zombie novel - I wouldn't recommend it in a romantic comedy) but a sentence or two is enough. I don't need two pages describing...more I'm very pleased to say this. After lots of searching and failed attempts I have finally managed to find a good zombie novel. Dead of Night has a great premise, fast pace, enough gore to be suitably terrifying but not enough to be despicable - it's a fine line that other authors need to know. It's just fine to show us a dead body with its face chewed off (at least in a zombie novel - I wouldn't recommend it in a romantic comedy) but a sentence or two is enough. I don't need two pages describing every tendon and blood vessel. Less is more, people!

This book gets an extra star for being the first novel I've found that doesn't outright suck, but there were still a few things about it that really bugged me, and because the internet allows us all to be judgemental pricks who are never satisfied, I will list them here.

First off, something I've begun to see in books lately that really really annoys me: authors describing a character by telling you what actor would play them in the movie instead of actually describing their traits and features. The thing is, Maberry mostly hits the nail when describing his characters, giving them uniques personalities and traits we can believe in, but then he goes and ruins it, twice, by saying "she looked like Taylor Swift" or "when he got mad he turned into Samuel L Jackson from Pulp Fiction." Why, Jon? Why does she look like Taylor Swift? Is she blond? Is her nose weirdly pointy? Are her eyes set too far apart, making me think of a hammerhead shark every time I see her? Don't tell me, show me.

Next up, why is it the only people who will ever survive a zombie apocalypse have weird names? This is another one that's across the board these days. The heroine can't be Lucy or Janine. She must be Dezdemona. She suffers from crippling emotional problems, and I wonder just how many of these aren't caused by her abandonment issues but by having to grow up in a small town with the name Dezdemona. Expectant parents, if you're listening, you'd better get right on naming your kid Raquetball Smackface or they will never make it out alive.

Actually, scratch that. I call dibs on Raquetball Smackface. It's cute, it works for a boy or girl, and can be shortened to RaqSmak in an informal setting. My wife is going to be thrilled.

Last but not least, and I know it's been said before, but these characters actually do live in a world that knows what zombies are. The word "zombie" is used over and over by the intrepid reporter who learns the truth, and yet it takes the massacre of an entire police department, one by one by one, and still these guys don't clue in. Every single person who goes off alone in the first hundred pages is violently killed, discovered by his comrades, comes back from the dead, kills his comrades, etc. etc. and still Dezdemona and her fellow cops stand around for an entire chapter surrounded by dead bodies going "what the hell is going on here?" "I don't know. What the hell is going on here?" " I don't know. Its some fucked up shit, though."

These are nitpicks. I'm aware. In point of fact, I really loved this book. All the elements in the story have been done before: the small town under siege, the rogue cop nobody believes, the shady involvement of the government. But Maberry breathes new life into it and makes it fresh. The ending, which is where even the best ideas tend to die an undignified death, is intense and satisfying right to the last "what happens next, goddammit!" page. It even manages to be a little heartbreaking, which is a rare thing in a horror novel. (less)

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Jan 20, 2012 Liz rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: braaaaains, decent-writing, horror

Not bad. It's very readable; good characters, good narrative. Problem is that it's all been done before and any zombie fan won't find much of anything new here. Bar one thing, and that's what makes me give this three (and a half - I really, really wish we could give half stars because this book deserves this half one) stars instead of a lower rating. We actually get to see inside the minds of the dead, learn about the people trapped inside there, and that ratchets up the horror of the whole thin...more

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Dec 03, 2011 Vanessa theJeepDiva rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, zombies, apocalypse

Officer Dez Fox has probably moved close to the top of my favorite book heroines. She is severely damaged, needs fifty plus years of therapy to make her semi sane, and the regularity at which she uses the f-bomb is awesome. She is my favorite character in this book. That statement says a lot. Dead of Night is overflowing with great characters. It’s probably a combination of fantastic characters that any reader will enjoy following and the superb way that Maberry wrote them.

The thing I enjoyed mo...more

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Jan 28, 2012 Gretchen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

This is a zombie book - one where the zombies are created by a mad scientist type. It is set over the course of a day and night in the county of Stebbins - a remote farming county in Pennsylvania. The main character, Desdemona Fox, is a police officer who has some issues. As many different characters say in the novel, she is damaged goods. But she knows how to kick butt and quickly learns how to kick some zombie butt too. She is strong but vulnerable character, and I liked her. Her partner, JT,...more

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Sep 29, 2011 Cheryl rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: post-apocalyptic, zombies

Dead of Night by Jonathan Maberry is an intense, action-packed, creepy, hang on to the seats of your pants zombie story. It all takes place in a tiny town in sleepy Stebbins County, PA, and all takes place in more or less a day (though there are some flashback episodes). The story revolves around four strong, well-drawn, and interesting characters: Police Officer Desdemona Fox (Dez), smart, sexy, but with loads of abandonment issues stemming from her parents death when she was young; her partner...more Dead of Night by Jonathan Maberry is an intense, action-packed, creepy, hang on to the seats of your pants zombie story. It all takes place in a tiny town in sleepy Stebbins County, PA, and all takes place in more or less a day (though there are some flashback episodes). The story revolves around four strong, well-drawn, and interesting characters: Police Officer Desdemona Fox (Dez), smart, sexy, but with loads of abandonment issues stemming from her parents death when she was young; her partner TJ, strong, tough, and father-like; Billy Trout, Dez's ex, a newspaper reporter; and psychotic serial killer Homer Gibbon, who has just been killed on death row. The reason a dead killer can be the star of a novel is that the killer becomes a zombie. He wakes up inside a body bag in a mortuary in Dez and TJ's territory, and all hell breaks loose.

This novel works on a number of levels. Firstly, it is a darn good, creepy, zombie story with a plausible explanation. The zombies retain rational thought (though no control over their impulses), which makes for a fascinating and (dare I say?) sympathetic zombie. Understanding the zombie's grasp on humanity also helps the reader relate to the main characters, who are appalled to have to kill their neighbors, colleagues, and friends -- even if they are a danger. This makes a great human interest story, which is enhanced by the likeability of the characters. Dez is deeply flawed but personable, TJ is over-the-hill but still tough, and Billy is a reporter with a heart. Even Homer Gibbon, the serial killer, is given some depth and sympathy via conversations with his spinster Aunt. And I haven't even mentioned a number of vivid and interesting secondary characters. Dead of Night is also an action story - the cops hit the ground running and they never really stop. So the end result is that Mr Maberry has written a creepy thriller serial killer zombie action story full of character and a touch of romance.

Finally, I want to mention that the story is thought provoking. Faced with a virus that is 99% fatal, the politicians are forced to decide how to handle the outbreak. They are aware that quarantining the town may not be enough, because if even one person gets out then the rest of the world would be in danger. They have to make the awful decision between saving individuals in the town and safeguarding the world. This has got to be a first -- a novel that has caused me to feel sympathy for both zombies AND politicians! That alone is an indicator of what an excellent book it is. Well recommended. (less)

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Jul 25, 2012 T.L. Barrett rated it 4 of 5 stars

In a market glutted by zombie fiction, I have to say Jonathan Maberry keeps well ahead of the pack, creating a somewhat believable and frightening situation of biological catastrophe. Perhaps more daunting than the necessary piles of dead folk eating pitiable townsfolk, is the point of view of a zombie and the soul trapped inside as well as the pitiless national guardsmen who are responsible for keeping the contagion contained. The characters are well played if not totally likeable. This one has...more

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Jul 04, 2012 John rated it 3 of 5 stars

Pretty Good. I think Jonathan Maberry is a good writer. He has a fantastic imagination and writes with a kind of fearlessness that seems rare. So, my problem is that I never seem to enjoy his books as much as I should. But then again, I'm not sure about that. I guess I just felt that this book is very entertaining but just not that memorable. I agree with other reviewers that the characters are a bit one dimensional. I think Maberry excels at writing action sequences that seem real. One thing he...more

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Mar 24, 2012 Sue Smith rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-in-2012

As a zombie book - this one wasn't too bad.
There's no gentle build up to start .... you're on your guard from the first chapter on - and there's no mercy for the reader. Deal with the gore now or stop reading. But you'll find that you can't. Gory it may be but there's something more to this than meets the eye and you want to find out why.

I like Jonathan Maberry's writing - his YA books are great, and this one follows suit. It's definitely for a more mature audience - sex, vomit and faces being r...more As a zombie book - this one wasn't too bad.
There's no gentle build up to start .... you're on your guard from the first chapter on - and there's no mercy for the reader. Deal with the gore now or stop reading. But you'll find that you can't. Gory it may be but there's something more to this than meets the eye and you want to find out why.

I like Jonathan Maberry's writing - his YA books are great, and this one follows suit. It's definitely for a more mature audience - sex, vomit and faces being ripped off - all touching on harsh realities. (Well .... maybe not the faces being ripped off. That's not the usual harsh reality we have to put up with on a regular basis). But you know what i mean. It's not a book for those young-ins out there. (!!) This zombie novel really has a 'bite' to it.

*snort* Tried to say that with a straight face.

Anyways, for the most part, this book is good. Does it have weak points? Yes. Pet peeves for me? Yes. I like that he's tried to create a physical/scientific-based reason for the actuality of the condition of 'zombie-ism to occur. It makes the idea of it just a little more horrific that way. Just a little too close to home that it could -albeit unlikely - but could become a reality. We all know how destructive those viruses can be.

What drove me crazy ...... and I know this is just to make the plot tenser and make everything more awful .... was the fact that it all occurs when the eye of the storm falls over the town. Hmmf. Howwwww original. That's pet peeve number one. So obvious that it all occurs in a storm and it hampers everything. It's like horror movies - they're always in the dead of night. (I'm generalizing here, but you know what I mean). Fine. You go with it.

Pet peeve number two. The virus. Of course the virus is introduced by a crazy mad 'Russian' scientist, hired by the United States government to continue his R & D into bio-warfare weapons. Bitter and angry from the cold war days of course. Just a little too cliche for my tastes. I appreciate the gov't bought R & D line - it's the Russian scientist thing that made me shake my head. Fine. I'll go with it.

Pet peeve number three. The ending. I won't disclose it. Suffice it to say that I was disappointed and I bet you will be too. It was weak. It had no teeth (*snort*!!) And I think it weakened the physical/scientific aspect he worked hard to develop too. I get the reason, but I think is was just too un-plausible. (I know that's not a word ..... I'm having problems coming up with the right way to say it that sufficiently expresses how I feel). Especially after I've enjoyed his YA series so much, I had high expectations for this one. *sigh*

But that could have been me. I just felt it could have ended with a different question. Or a better exclamation mark.

Well, regardless, it was a relatively quick read with an interesting take on the zombie cult. I'll continue reading more by Jonathan Maberry. It will be interesting to see how else he determines you can become a zombie. Hopefully it won't involve mad Russian scientists.

(less)

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Jan 10, 2012 Jenevieve rated it 3 of 5 stars

Yet another zombie novel, better than many others I'll grant. It starts with the outbreak rather than survivors trying to deal with the aftermath. We follow 2 cops who were first-responders on a call that turns out to be the site of infection so we go through them trying to figure out what is going on. Another interesting touch is that the people who have been infected still feel and think but have zero control over there body and we occasionally get to hear the thoughts of the first person bitt...more

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Dec 12, 2011 John rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Nov 06, 2011 Indigo rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: zombies, nookbook, military, police, political

Not too bad.

Dez Fox and her partner JT Hammond are police officers in the town of Stebbins in the county of the same name.

Dez is damaged goods, as the saying goes -- so messed up by the one after the other deaths of her parents in close succession during her childhood -- that she has grown up to be an Angry Young Woman, numbing her pain with alcohol and unwilling to risk being abandoned again. So much so that she cultivated being an unlikable hardcase who pushed away everyone. Including Billy Tr...more

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Nov 21, 2011 Theresa rated it 4 of 5 stars

I thought I had an idea of what Jonathan Maberry's new book Dead of Nightwould be like after reading his other zombie-themed novel,Patient Zero, but Maberry surprised me by going beyond your standard action fare by offering a powerhouse of a horror novel.

When two small town cops, Desdemona (Dez) Fox and her partner JT Hammond, respond to a disturbance at the local funeral home they never imagine the world will be changed forever. As horrifying as the blood-spattered scene is, the true nightmar...more I thought I had an idea of what Jonathan Maberry's new book Dead of Night would be like after reading his other zombie-themed novel, Patient Zero, but Maberry surprised me by going beyond your standard action fare by offering a powerhouse of a horror novel.

When two small town cops, Desdemona (Dez) Fox and her partner JT Hammond, respond to a disturbance at the local funeral home they never imagine the world will be changed forever. As horrifying as the blood-spattered scene is, the true nightmare doesn't begin until they realize the dead aren't staying dead.
Dez's ex-boyfriend Billy Trout, a reporter for the local newspaper, is on the trail of a juicy story about Homer Gibbon, a serial killer who just received the lethal injection. While trying to find Gibbon's next of kin Trout begins to piece together a story going all the way back to the Cold War and something known as Project Lucifer.
Herman Volker, a defector from communist Russia, is a scientist with a mad obsession and the creator of Project Lucifer. While continuing his research in secret at a small town prison Volker unwittingly unleashes an unbelievable horror and, as the government tries to stop the plague from spreading, the entire town may have to be sacrificed to keep the whole disaster secret.

There has been a lot of buzz going around about "Dead of Night" and it is definitely well deserved. I am a big fan of zombie themed fiction and willingly read it in all of its incarnations whether it's comedic or something soulful, but the main attraction is always the underlying horror of the story-- something Maberry conveys very well. The narrative builds quickly as the story jumps right into the action and deftly weaves together the varying story lines into a cohesive whole and before you're halfway through you're hooked.
Most of the story follows the two main characters and each represent a part of the discovery process. Dez is on the front line of zombie attacks and she and her partner J.T. witness the early carnage as they try to sort out what is happening. Billy Trout represents the investigative process as his digs into the origins of Project Lucifer and draws out the truth of why it was created in the first place and how it was unleashed. When the story does deviate into other p.o.v.'s it's usually to flesh out the story-- so to speak-- as Maberry takes great care to create a back story that explains the origins of the zombie plague and give it a credible scientific spin.
The characters are interesting and, while I wouldn't call them stereotypes, they are people we've seen before. Dez reminds me a lot of Kara Thrace from BSG: a seriously damaged badass with abandonment issues who chases away anyone who tries to get close. Maberry doesn't shy away from making Dez a character that is hard to like, but she's compelling and definitely someone to root for. Billy Trout is too much of a bad boy to be the Lee Adama to Dez's Kara Thrace, though their relationship has a lot of baggage, and he has a strong understanding of what makes Dez tick-- and loves her anyway. J.T. fills the role of mentor and friend to Dez who gently tries to nurture Dez's relationship with Billy. Herman Volker is a good villain because he isn't one-dimensional. What he does is wrong, evil even, but he is driven by a tragic past and never intended for Project Lucifer to escape beyond the strictest boundaries.

There are a lot of things that make "Dead of Night" a better-than-average zombie story. It is genuinely suspenseful and the small-town setting really drives home the horror as the characters are routinely confronted with situations in which their friends and neighbors are overtaken by the plague. These zombies aren't the slow, shambling kind either and thanks to the genetic tweaking of Project Lucifer they aren't entirely unaware of their circumstances-- as we learn through the eyes of one of the infected characters. The added uncertainty of the military being sent to keep the situation secret, rather than save the town, also adds another layer of dread as it is a situation that is too easy to imagine; and one that feeds into the basic fear of not being able to trust those who promise to come to our rescue.
There might be a glut of zombie fiction out there but Maberry offers something that stands out in a crowded field. "Dead of Night" isn't some lightweight offering nor is he trying to turn the zombies into some kind of tragic hero (as some authors are now inexplicably trying to do). This is a horror novel-- like zombie fiction should be.

4 1/5 out of 5 stars.(less)

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Aug 03, 2012 Craig rated it 4 of 5 stars

Another end-of-the-world, zombie novel. There gets to be a sameness to these books as they trod the same ground, over and over. Yet this one is at least fast-moving, with interesting characters and an interesting attempt at creating a scientific explanation for the zombie virus. In this case, it was a bio-weapon that was developed and honed by a doctor who defected from the Soviet Union and was placed as a prison doctor, where he continued to develop his weapon, electing to run a trial on a rece...more

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Oct 22, 2011 Asheley rated it 5 of 5 stars

(a similar version of this review can be found here at Into the Hall of Books: http://intothehallofbooks.blogspot.co...)

Dead of Night was my first Jonathan Maberry experience and all I can say is WOW! I read this book with no idea what to expect and a love for all things zombie. Really, that was all I needed because Mr. Maberry took care of the rest.

There are five main characters sharing narration:

1. Desdemona Fox (Dez), a sexy-with-an-attitude police officer with a drinking problem and a tons...more

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About Jonathan Maberry

JONATHAN MABERRY is a New York Times best-selling and multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning horror and thriller author, magazine feature writer, playwright, content creator and writing teacher/lecturer. His books have been sold to more than a dozen countries.

His novels include the Pine Deep Trilogy: GHOST ROAD BLUES (Pinnacle books; winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel in 2006), DEAD...more JONATHAN MABERRY is a New York Times best-selling and multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning horror and thriller author, magazine feature writer, playwright, content creator and writing teacher/lecturer. His books have been sold to more than a dozen countries.

His novels include the Pine Deep Trilogy: GHOST ROAD BLUES (Pinnacle books; winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel in 2006), DEAD MAN’S SONG (2007) and BAD MOON RISING (2008); the Joe Ledger series of action thrillers from St. Martin’s Griffin: PATIENT ZERO (2009, winner of the Black Quill and a Bram Stoker Award finalist for Best Novel), THE DRAGON FACTORY (2010; now available), THE KING OF PLAGUES (March 2011), ASSASSIN’S CODE (March 2012), EXTINCTION MACHINE (2013); THE WOLFMAN (NY Times bestseller from Tor, based on the Universal Pictures film starring Benecio Del Toro, Emily Blunt and Sir Anthony Hopkins; winner of the Scribe Award for Best Adaptation); the forthcoming standalone zombie thriller DEAD OF NIGHT (Oct 25 2011); and the Benny Imura series of Young Adult dystopian zombie thrillers from Simon & Schuster: ROT & RUIN (2011; named in Booklist’s Ten Best Horror Novels for Young Adults, a Bram Stoker and Pennsylvania Young Readers’ Choice Award finalist; winner of the Cybils Award, the Eva Perry Mock Printz medal, Dead Letter Best Novel Award, and four Melinda Awards), DUST & DECAY (Aug 30 2011), FLESH & BONE (2012) and FIRE & ASH (21013).

Jonathan was an expert on the History Channel documentary on zombies scheduled to air October 26.

His nonfiction works include: VAMPIRE UNIVERSE (Citadel Press, 2006), THE CRYPTOPEDIA (Citadel, 2007 –winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction; co-authored by David F. Kramer), ZOMBIE CSU: The Forensics of the Living Dead (Winner of the Hinzman and Black Quill Awards and nominated for a Stoker Award; 2008), THEY BITE! (2009 co-authored by David F. Kramer), WANTED UNDEAD OR ALIVE (2010; Bram Stoker nominee; co-authored by Janice Gable Bashman), and THE VAMPIRE SLAYERS FIELD GUIDE TO THE UNDEAD (2001, written under the pen name of Shane MacDougall).

He writes a variety of projects for Marvel Comics involving CAPTAIN AMERICA, BLACK PANTHER, DOOMWAR, WOLVERINE, DEADPOOL, THE X-MEN, FANTASTIC FOUR, the NY Times bestselling MARVEL ZOMBIES RETURN, MARVEL UNIVERSE vs THE PUNISHER and MARVEL UNIVERSE vs WOLVERINE. All of Jonathan’s comic book collections are released as Graphic Novel collections within a month or two of individual comic publication.

Recent short stories include “Pegleg and Paddy Save the World” (HISTORY IS DEAD, Permuted Press 2007), “Doctor Nine” (KILLERS, Swimming Kangaroo Press, 2008; and reprinted in THE STORIES (in) BETWEEN Edited by Greg Schauer, Jeanne B. Benzel, and W.H. Horner. Fantasist Enterprises, 2009), “Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Greenbrier Ghost” (LEGENDS OF THE MOUNTAIN STATE 2, Bloodletting Books, 2008), “Clean Sweeps” (AND SO IT BEGINS, Dark Quest Books, 2008), “Family Business” (THE NEW DEAD, St. Martin’s Press, 2010), “Like Part of the Family” (NEW BLOOD edited by Patrick Thomas and Diane Raetz, Padwolf Press, 2010), “Zero Tolerance” (THE LIVING DEAD 2, Night Shade Books), “Flint and Steel” (GI JOE: COBRA WARS, 2011), “Saint John”(THE MONSTER’S CORNER, 2011, St. Martin’s), “The Death Song of Dwar Guntha” (Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Barsoom, 2012, Simon & Schuster), and “The Wind Through the Fence” (an original e-story available for all e-readers). His essay, “Take Me To Your Leader” will be included in the nonfiction book, TRIUMPH OF THE LIVING DEAD: Robert Kirkman's Zombie Epic on Page and Screen edited by James Lowder (BenBella Books/Smart Pop, 2011).

All of Jonathan’s novels are available on audio, including the audio-only collection, JOE LEDGER: THE MISSING FILES (Blackstone), which includes the short stories “Countdown”, “Ze(less)

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Quotes from Dead of Night

“She looked like a character from a video game. One of those improbably busty, impossibly well-armed superchicks who could do acrobatics and hit the kill zone even while firing guns from both hands during a cartwheel.

"You look fucking ridiculous," she told herself.” — 3 people liked it

“Reporters trade in pain. It sells papers. Everyone knows that.” — 3 people liked it

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