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7th out of 23 books
—
50 voters
Apocalypse Cow
by
Michael Logan (Goodreads Author)
When scientists with warped imaginations accidentally unleash an experimental bioweapon that transforms Britain's animals into sneezing, bloodthirsty zombies with a penchant for pre-dinner sex with their victims, three misfits become the unlikely hope for salvation.
Abattoir worker Terry Borders' love life is crippled by the stench of death that clings to his skin from his...more
Abattoir worker Terry Borders' love life is crippled by the stench of death that clings to his skin from his...more
Hardcover, 352 pages
Published
May 10th 2012
by Doubleday
(first published May 1st 2012)
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Firstly, for full disclosure I'm married to this man. Whether this means I'm a harsher critic or biased in his favour, I'll let you decide.
This is essentially my husband in book form: hilarious, a bit gross and a bit cheeky. It's a novel about zombie cows after all.
Apocalypse Cow is very visual, well-paced, the dialogue is great and the characters are funny. I read this during its many edits and enjoyed it every time. Although the topic is pretty unique, the writing style is similar to authors s...more
This is essentially my husband in book form: hilarious, a bit gross and a bit cheeky. It's a novel about zombie cows after all.
Apocalypse Cow is very visual, well-paced, the dialogue is great and the characters are funny. I read this during its many edits and enjoyed it every time. Although the topic is pretty unique, the writing style is similar to authors s...more
***Won in a GoodReads giveaway***
If you like your zombie fiction tongue-in-cheek and laugh out loud funny and tense and thrilling and scary and gory and no-holds-barred and fearless, read this book!
It's impressive that Mr Logan has written a humorous story that actually draws the reader in, and makes the reader care about these fairly absurd, yet such well-developed, characters, and the situations they find themselves in. I added the word "fearless" in the list above because he pulls things out...more
If you like your zombie fiction tongue-in-cheek and laugh out loud funny and tense and thrilling and scary and gory and no-holds-barred and fearless, read this book!
It's impressive that Mr Logan has written a humorous story that actually draws the reader in, and makes the reader care about these fairly absurd, yet such well-developed, characters, and the situations they find themselves in. I added the word "fearless" in the list above because he pulls things out...more
First of all: If you are a fan of the zombie horror genre, immediately add one star to this review! I think you'll really enjoy this book. It's a smart and amusing take on zombie outbreak tropes.
Personally, I'm not a big fan of zombie movies/books, and I went into this one expecting it to be more of a comedy/parody than it actually is. In my opinion, Apocalypse Cow is more a horror/thriller with black humour rather than a comedic novel. There are a lot of (well-written) gruesome scenes of death...more
Personally, I'm not a big fan of zombie movies/books, and I went into this one expecting it to be more of a comedy/parody than it actually is. In my opinion, Apocalypse Cow is more a horror/thriller with black humour rather than a comedic novel. There are a lot of (well-written) gruesome scenes of death...more
1 like · like · see review
If you like Mars Attacks you'll love this. A hilarious and completely sick thriller in which a deadly virus is unleashed on Britain, via a lab in Milgavie. An infected cow turns up at a nearby slaughterhouse and chaos ensues. The virus gives the cows a taste for blood, for raping anything they catch and enhanced strength and resiliance, they are harder to kill than a normal animal. And the virus can be passed on to any land based animal except humans. Cue killer squirrels, bunnies and sheep, out...more
Time Taken To Read - 2.5 days
Blurb From Goodreads
'Apocalypse Cow made me snort with laughter' - Terry Pratchett.
Forget the cud. They want blood. An outrageous an anarchic comic take on the zombie apocalypse - and joint winner of the first Terry Pratchett ‘Anywhere But Here, Anywhen But Now’ prize.
It began with a cow that just wouldn’t die. It would become an epidemic that transformed Britain’s livestock into sneezing, slavering, flesh-craving four-legged zombies.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, t...more
Blurb From Goodreads
'Apocalypse Cow made me snort with laughter' - Terry Pratchett.
Forget the cud. They want blood. An outrageous an anarchic comic take on the zombie apocalypse - and joint winner of the first Terry Pratchett ‘Anywhere But Here, Anywhen But Now’ prize.
It began with a cow that just wouldn’t die. It would become an epidemic that transformed Britain’s livestock into sneezing, slavering, flesh-craving four-legged zombies.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, t...more
When scientists with warped imaginations accidentally unleash an experimental bioweapon that transforms Britain’s animals into sneezing, bloodthirsty zombies with a penchant for pre-dinner sex with their victims, three misfits become the unlikely hope for salvation.
Abattoir worker Terry Borders’ love life is crippled by the stench of death that clings to his skin from his days spent slaughtering cows; teenage vegan Geldof ‘Scabby’ Peters alternates between scratching furiously at his rash and ba...more
Abattoir worker Terry Borders’ love life is crippled by the stench of death that clings to his skin from his days spent slaughtering cows; teenage vegan Geldof ‘Scabby’ Peters alternates between scratching furiously at his rash and ba...more
I was sent this book by the publishers, Transworld in exchange for a review. Now although this book isnt my usual genre, when i read the synopsis i really had to read it.
This book is about several unlikely heroes who need to try and get out of Britain as the animals are turning into bloodythirsty zombies. There is Geldof, who is born to hippy parents and is a vegetarian. However, as a teenage boy he is none to happy about this and craves meat. Their is Lesley, a journalist, although not a very g...more
This book is about several unlikely heroes who need to try and get out of Britain as the animals are turning into bloodythirsty zombies. There is Geldof, who is born to hippy parents and is a vegetarian. However, as a teenage boy he is none to happy about this and craves meat. Their is Lesley, a journalist, although not a very g...more
Zombie cows, government conspiracies and a good old fashioned British comedy...
*Full disclosure: I received an ARC of this novel through Goodreads. I was not obliged to provide a review. All opinions expressed therein are my own.*
First of all I will say that I have a phobia of cows, so add that in to the fact that this book has zombie cows on the rampage through the whole of Britain and you do in fact have my worst nightmare!
The book starts off with sneezing cows at an abattoir. Caught up in a...more
*Full disclosure: I received an ARC of this novel through Goodreads. I was not obliged to provide a review. All opinions expressed therein are my own.*
First of all I will say that I have a phobia of cows, so add that in to the fact that this book has zombie cows on the rampage through the whole of Britain and you do in fact have my worst nightmare!
The book starts off with sneezing cows at an abattoir. Caught up in a...more
This book was ok. It wasn't terrible, it wasn't great. Essentially some idiot scientists create a virus that turns animals into flesh desiring, sex crazed monsters. One cow escapes, and England is in the midst of an Apocalypse situation. The narrator is a teenage boy who is much like the narrator of Zombie Land, or Ready Player One, or many other books. He's that kid. He's into video games. People don't like him. He has a crush on an inappropriate woman because she's good at math. You know the k...more
This last Easter weekend, I had a gazillion things on my to-do list, and accomplished hardly anything. The culprit - Michael Logan's fantastically irreverant and funny Apocalpyse Cow. Winning the Terry Prachett prize, my expectations were already high, furthermore, it promised sex crazed zombie cows - how could I resist! And it delivered on every front. With a thrilling pace that kept me gobbling up the pages and a cast of charachters that felt absurd and all too real all at once, I got to the l...more
When I found out that I won this book from First-Reads, I was totally psyched. It sounded like the perfect ridiculous book to kick off my winter break and I wasn't wrong. This book knows not to take itself too seriously, definitely for people who enjoyed the movie Zombieland or the horror/comedy genre in general.
If the premise isn't absurd enough a selling point, the characters certainly help. A lot of zombie media nowadays feature protagonists that you would expect to survive an apocalypse by...more
If the premise isn't absurd enough a selling point, the characters certainly help. A lot of zombie media nowadays feature protagonists that you would expect to survive an apocalypse by...more
The news reports says it was a stampede that sadly resulted in the abattoir burning to the ground. But one cow didn't die and soon a virus has been unleashed which turns Scotland's cattle into slobbering, sneezing, flesh-craving and horny beasts.
Not only did a cow survive, but abattoir worker, Terry also made it through the massacre but is now being held hostage in what looks suspiciously like a secret government research facility. The tip-off of the government's involvement falls into the lap o...more
Not only did a cow survive, but abattoir worker, Terry also made it through the massacre but is now being held hostage in what looks suspiciously like a secret government research facility. The tip-off of the government's involvement falls into the lap o...more
Apocalypse Cow is a book about a viral epidemic in Britain that first infects cows, then other animals and then humans. It makes them turn into zombie-like creatures and it falls upon three individuals – hemp-allergy sufferer Geldof, abattoir worker Terry and failed journalist Lesley – to help the world put an end to it. Together they attempt to escape the hordes of infected animals, the efforts of the army to put them into camps and the pursuit of one crazed man who is trying to conceal the tru...more
For me, the fundamental rule for reviewing is objectivity – or, as much objectivity as possible given that reviewing can be a subjective business. In practice, this means that I assess a book for what it aims to be rather than what I’d personally like it to be in a perfect world where everything I read was specifically written for me. In short: if it’s Harry Potter don’t condemn it for not being Middlemarch (God forbid that anybody writes another Middlemarch).
The plot of Apocalypse Cow is straig...more
The plot of Apocalypse Cow is straig...more
A light and easy read and rather predictable: a set of dis-likeable characters set out to escape as the UK is ravaged by Zombie animals infected by a man-made virus.
Loaded with self-conscious irony as a pair of Eco-warriors, an unwilling teenage vegan, a meat-mad moron and an abattoir worker face down farm animals turned zombie carnivores, it started out interestingly, I thought it was going to be more than it was - it was, after all the co-winner of the Terry Pratchett prize - but it was just...more
Loaded with self-conscious irony as a pair of Eco-warriors, an unwilling teenage vegan, a meat-mad moron and an abattoir worker face down farm animals turned zombie carnivores, it started out interestingly, I thought it was going to be more than it was - it was, after all the co-winner of the Terry Pratchett prize - but it was just...more
Nov 29, 2012
Karl
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
first-reads,
first-read,
good-reads,
goodreads-giveaway,
horror,
zombies,
horror-zombies,
fantasy
I really do not know where to begin with this review... I really had thought I would not like book at least not all that much, or as much I ended up liking. Just don't like the zombie, or vampire matter. Of course book has nothing to do about vampire (I guess unless you include the bats) Just think are two subjects are just way over rated and feel to much of it then it should. So really don't know I entered for a chance for the book. I guess mainly people always bugging me about whatever zombie...more
***REVIEW BASED ON AN ADVANCED READERS COPY***
great zombie genre must read! unique twists on characters and zombies. there were genre typical, 'i hope you don't get eaten', 'i can't wait for you to be eaten', and of course, 'the weakling turned hero.' but with a family of vegans, an abattoir who reeks of meat, and a journalist who couldn't write her way out of a paper bag hilarity ensues. the sneezing, sex crazed cows and other animals made for very intresting situations. there were great zombi...more
great zombie genre must read! unique twists on characters and zombies. there were genre typical, 'i hope you don't get eaten', 'i can't wait for you to be eaten', and of course, 'the weakling turned hero.' but with a family of vegans, an abattoir who reeks of meat, and a journalist who couldn't write her way out of a paper bag hilarity ensues. the sneezing, sex crazed cows and other animals made for very intresting situations. there were great zombi...more
Definitely one of the funniest, and yet oddly realistic, post-apocalyptic books I've read! The story follows a group of people after a virus has infected the animals of Great Britain, turning them into violent sex-crazed killing machines. Yes, sex-crazed. The main characters are all kind of screw ups and it was hilarious and awesome watching them try to cope with the increasingly bad situations as the virus spread. At the same time that it was funny and the premise slightly ridiculous, I also li...more
It's the zombie apocalypse.... but not as we know it! This time around, a virus has infected some cows, and then spreads to sheep, pigs, cats, dogs, rats and many other mammals. The animals are covered in open wounds, they don't feel pain, take a lot of effort to kill, and have a hunger for living flesh. Glasgow, Scotland and eventually all of Great Britain succumb to this plague.
And our heroes are: an incompetent journalist, a sad and lonely abattoir worker, and a dorky teenager who's allergic...more
And our heroes are: an incompetent journalist, a sad and lonely abattoir worker, and a dorky teenager who's allergic...more
Last year saw the launch of the Terry Pratchett Anywhere But Here, Anywhen But Now First Novel Award. More than 500 manuscripts came chasing the £20,000 prize for previously unpublished novelists, and ultimately it was split between two winners, Michael Logan and David Logan (no relation).
The winning novels, Apocalypse Cow and Half-Sick of Shadows are more different than chalk and cheese, which at least are both high in calcium. The competition’s requirements boil down to alternative, imaginativ...more
The winning novels, Apocalypse Cow and Half-Sick of Shadows are more different than chalk and cheese, which at least are both high in calcium. The competition’s requirements boil down to alternative, imaginativ...more
Terry, lone survivor of abattoir attack and Lesley, Scottish reporter down on her luck, end up on the run in a countryside full of dangerous wildlife – from cows, pigs and rats to squirrels, cats and dogs, while Geldof, teenager with bad skin, out of control hormones and parents in full hippy mode is struggling to convince his parents of the danger. Each of these characters feels real – none of them are Bruce Willis or Angelina Jolie. What they are, are fully formed flawed and entirely likeable...more
Apocalypse Cow is a hilarious book that follows a group of people in Britain during an epidemic where cows and then other animals are infected by a virus making the animals into zombies. The ragtag group of main characters suffer casualties and in some cases insanity on their quest to depart the infected country and publicize the truth behind the chaos.
I wouldn't recommend this book if you are easily offended or grossed out, if that does not describe you then definitely read it! The title of th...more
I wouldn't recommend this book if you are easily offended or grossed out, if that does not describe you then definitely read it! The title of th...more
This book is silly. That's not a bad thing but I thought I should let you know, just in case the title and the likewise pun-ridden chapter titles didn't tip you off and you were under the impression that this is a serious 90s-vintage treatise on the potential dangers of bovine spongiform encephalopathy... It definitely isn't.
The zombie apocalypse has arrived, heralded not by the shuffling of stumbling zombie feet but with the stampeding of zombie hoofs... Could cows bring the end of civilisation...more
The zombie apocalypse has arrived, heralded not by the shuffling of stumbling zombie feet but with the stampeding of zombie hoofs... Could cows bring the end of civilisation...more
I was expecting this to be funnier. Don't get me wrong, it had some very funny moments, but it wasn't the laugh-a-minute experience I was expecting given the premise of the book and the punny chapter titles.
The world is quite real, this is no Pratchett-esque fantasy land. There are some quite brutal deaths, emotional distress, and at one point I was wondering if any of the main characters were going to make it to the end alive.
Still a great book, maybe I'm being harsh on it because I've got a b...more
The world is quite real, this is no Pratchett-esque fantasy land. There are some quite brutal deaths, emotional distress, and at one point I was wondering if any of the main characters were going to make it to the end alive.
Still a great book, maybe I'm being harsh on it because I've got a b...more
Well that was fun.
I was pretty excited to read this book, because it's a book about zombie cows eating humans, which is a definite fresh take on the zombie genre. Plus, it's chock full of British humour!
The Story:
A group of crazy scientists have invented a virus which infected cows in an abattoir down in Bearsden, to which they totally did not expect the situation to become so insane that almost all animals were infected. This virus turned the animals into sex-crazed (targeting humans), flesh-hu...more
I was pretty excited to read this book, because it's a book about zombie cows eating humans, which is a definite fresh take on the zombie genre. Plus, it's chock full of British humour!
The Story:
A group of crazy scientists have invented a virus which infected cows in an abattoir down in Bearsden, to which they totally did not expect the situation to become so insane that almost all animals were infected. This virus turned the animals into sex-crazed (targeting humans), flesh-hu...more
If you like Sean of the Dead then this is the book for you. Very dark humour mixed with really gross scenes. It all starts with the cows, they have been infected with a virus that makes them sex driven, rage fuelled killers. Then it spreads to other animals. Every rat, fluffy bunny and cute kitten are now on a mission to kill all humans. Set in Scotland, the main characters are an abattoir worker, a sixteen year old forced vegan and a journalist who is forever in the shade of her father.
The book starts with an interesting set of protagonists, an abattoir worker who thinks he is smelling of death, a 15-year-old vegan suffering from an excema and hippie parents, and a young journalist living in the shadow of her famous war correspondent father, and at first I thought the clichès littering the pages (like that vegan food is bland and hardly edible) were meant as a humorous element. Unfortunately I was still waiting for the book to become funny when I turned the last page after the...more
This entire novel is hysterical and so difficult to put down, you find yourself promising 'just one more chapter' time after time.
Following the characters as their lives progress through hilarious episodes will have you looking at cows in a whole new light.
Laugh out loud funny and a must read for all!!
Following the characters as their lives progress through hilarious episodes will have you looking at cows in a whole new light.
Laugh out loud funny and a must read for all!!
But what IS a zombie really? If you think about it for any length of time all kinds of questions come to mind, and you realise that you really don't know very much about zombies.
Sadly, this book is not authoritative on the question of the meaning of zombies, but it's still well-written and satirical.
Sadly, this book is not authoritative on the question of the meaning of zombies, but it's still well-written and satirical.
Aug 05, 2012
Michael Logan
added it
· (Review from the author)
Shelves:
dirty-book-challenge-cheatbag
I am shamelessly adding my own book (without a rating) to get one book closer to my 2012 book challenge total. I proofread it this year, and since that has the word read in it I feel I am justified. Actually, I know that is very weak, but I am 8 books behind. I am desperate!
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Michael Logan is a Scottish journalist, whose career has taken him across the globe. He left Scotland in 2003 at the age of 32, has lived in Bosnia, Hungary, Switzerland and Kenya, and reported from many other countries. His experience of riots, refugee camps and other turbulent situations helps fuel his writing.
Apocalypse Cow is his first novel.
His short fiction has appeared in literary journal...more
More about Michael Logan...
Apocalypse Cow is his first novel.
His short fiction has appeared in literary journal...more
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Apr 13, 2012 02:22am
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