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Pariah

by Bob Fingerman (Goodreads Author)

3.57 of 5 stars 3.57 · rating details · 569 ratings · 104 reviews

A frightening, darkly comedic look at people surviving a zombie onslaught, from award-winning comics sensation and novelist Bob Fingerman.

A global plague has nearly vanquished mankind; the citizenry of New York City is no exception. Eight million zombies. Shoulder to shoulder. Walking the streets, looking for their next meal of human flesh. The residents of an Upper East S...more

Paperback, 352 pages

Published June 28th 2011 by Tor Books (first published August 3rd 2010)

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Feb 09, 2013 Penpilot rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love zombies, so when I read the concept for this book, I was like gimmie-gimmie. I loved the approached the author took. The story is about people still being people even in a Zombie infested world. The writing pulled me through at a brisk pace, and for me, it was a page turner that had me reading past my usual bedtime.

But the story isn't without its flaws. To me, the story started with an interesting enough cast of archetypical characters. (Notice I didn't use the word stereotype?) But as th...more

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Feb 15, 2012 Gina rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Look! A zombie book with a happy ending! Like half the people survive!
But I almost didn't make it through this book.
It shares some of the same problems of a lot of books in the zombie genre. There may just be no getting around it. Zombies are gross.
But the author throws in these little ironic touches, and time to time, you're almost laughing. It's sick, but what can you do?
The residents of the building are slowly starving to death when someone new arrives. She can walk among the zombies safely....more

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Aug 19, 2011 Leah rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The sad fact of being an avid reader and zombie fan is that so much zombie fiction consists of unmitigated awfulness. PARIAH, despite occasional flashes of competence, fails to rise above this stigma.

Two things bothered me from the start. First, Fingerman commits the authorial sin of head hopping, something his editor should have corrected. One paragraph we're seeing through the eyes of Character A, the next we're in Character B's shoes, with no transitional lubricant. Already I feel like I'm in...more The sad fact of being an avid reader and zombie fan is that so much zombie fiction consists of unmitigated awfulness. PARIAH, despite occasional flashes of competence, fails to rise above this stigma.

Two things bothered me from the start. First, Fingerman commits the authorial sin of head hopping, something his editor should have corrected. One paragraph we're seeing through the eyes of Character A, the next we're in Character B's shoes, with no transitional lubricant. Already I feel like I'm in the hands of a self-published author whose grasp of basic narrative mechanics is feeble.

Second, the gross-out level is high, but it's not what you'd expect. In a zombie novel, I expect--indeed, I *want*--blood and guts and gore. What I got instead was snot, puke, pus, dead skin, finger/toe nails, and all sorts of various decomposing scraps and fluids coming off the bodies of the LIVING characters. This was so unexpected, and so unnecessary, that I found myself in a bizarre predicament: I was totally grossed out by a zombie book, but NOT by the zombies--it was the living who were so repulsive.

This is clearly one of the novel's themes--the living reduced to the level of ugliness, repulsiveness, and slow decay of zombies--but Fingerman laid it on too thick, too early, and too crudely. The novel opens with a character peeling off his own dead skin and eating it. We then cycle through the other characters, watching them engage in similarly grotesque behavior, and this made it nigh-impossible for me to sympathize, let alone like, any of them. Nor did I buy this behavior being born of desperation. Concentration camp prisoners, who starved to death while enduring brutal physical and psychological torture, maintained more human dignity than the cast of PARIAH. It seems Fingerman was only interested in the shock value of these images of squalor and suffering rather than any semblance of verisimilitude.

Beyond these issues, the plot, such as it is, moves at a glacial pace. There is little action; this is an introspective book. The zombies feel like bookends, or fences--there just to contain the story and its characters. Dialogue is stilted; relationships and social interactions bear no resemblance to reality (though one could argue that this is life compressed into a tiny, airless, hopeless space, distorting it beyond all recognition--but would everyone be so uniformly cynical and hateful?).

There's no one to sympathize with and root for, and not even the train-wreck fascination of watching miserable characters spiral further into misery, as real people would at least cling pitiably to some vestige of dignity and hope. I'm left with the impression that Fingerman is the type of scat-obsessed shock-loving writer who isn't really interested in telling a story or evoking emotion--he just wants to see you squirm. And there are far more talented authors capable of doing so while also transcending this type of bottom-of-the-barrel pandering.

Skip this.(less)

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Feb 02, 2011 Erik Christensen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Fresh off the first season of AMC's "The Walking Dead" (based on the long-running comic book series of the same name), I've developed a taste for zombie stories. I've always appreciated a good monster tale since, as any fan of the genre can tell you, monster stories are always stories about the monsters that live inside each of us.

And so it is with Bob Fingerman's "Pariah." Following an apocalyptic event of unknown origins that has reanimated the dead as ravenous zombies, a small band of still-h...more

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Jan 31, 2011 Marcus rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Most people who are into the zombie genre will likely enjoy this. Non-zombie fans might want to look elsewhere though.

As the blurb goes, the story is about a disparate group of people trapped in an apartment building in a post-apocalyptic New York surrounded by ravenous zombies. In the midst of all this enters a girl who repels the creatures and is allowed to walk freely in the city.

If you're looking for a zombie movie of survival a la the Walking Dead series this isn't it. The characters aren...more

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Dec 29, 2010 Dayna Ingram rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, zombies, reviewed

I read this in one day. I just couldn't put it down; I had to know what was going to happen to this collection of characters. I love zombie stories that zoom in on a pack of "survivors" and just stay solely focused on the individual even while we know this zombie thing is global. It's one of the reasons WORLD WAR Z worked so well for me; sure, it was an account of a complete world war, but the oral histories allowed you to zoom in on one particular experience. And PARIAH does that here, focusing...more

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Mar 02, 2011 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I avoid most zombie fiction since there’s such a glut of it now, but Pariah is actually a nice addition to the genre. Like Robert Kirkman’s ongoing comic book series, The Walking Dead, Pariah focuses more on the living’s struggle to survive than it does the shuffling corpses trying to eat them. Fingerman’s portrayal of ten sweaty New Yorkers trying to cope with boredom, depression, insanity, starvation and dehydration during the dog days of summer feels very real, but doesn’t have the same level...more

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Jul 26, 2010 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-zombies

Pariah is a book about zombies. I love zombies. Naturally, I expected to enjoy this book, but I was completely unprepared for how amazing Pariah was.

It's the zombie apocalypse and the government has boarded people up in their apartment buildings. As those few humans struggle to survive, they notice a girl who can walk among the zombies. Mona wanders unharmed through streets filled with shambling undead. The zombies see her, they just don't care. While the survivors try to unravel the mystery as...more

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Nov 26, 2010 Linty rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: zombies

Ahhh..zombies. My favorite creatures of terror and mayhem. I've always loved zombies but as of late I've had a zombie obsession(and I've even been accused of being a zombie myself: shambling along, making grunting noises instead of proper speech, being brain dead, etc. Arrgh!). I've been fortunate to have come across some excellent zombie literature recently(The reapers are the angels, Crusade(Eden part two, Rise again: A zombie thriller) to name a few. And now, 'Pariah' to add to my great reads...more Ahhh..zombies. My favorite creatures of terror and mayhem. I've always loved zombies but as of late I've had a zombie obsession(and I've even been accused of being a zombie myself: shambling along, making grunting noises instead of proper speech, being brain dead, etc. Arrgh!). I've been fortunate to have come across some excellent zombie literature recently(The reapers are the angels, Crusade(Eden part two, Rise again: A zombie thriller) to name a few. And now, 'Pariah' to add to my great reads list.

There is something fascinating(for lack of a better word) about end-of-times/zombie type of stuff. I don't know...maybe it's everything falling apart, structures long held crumbling, and how humans may react during such a crisis of a wide scale magnitude. To pull off that kind of atmosphere off is special. Bob Fingerman magically pulls it off. I love how he writes. He takes that old theme and adds new life to it. He has created such an incredibly desperate but hopeful atmosphere here. (I can't think of a better place than NYC for true grittiness). I loved the scene where two of the characters were in a bar as everything was starting to break loose outside. I was just thinking: Does Bob Fingerman write from his own zombie experience by living in NYC? When I visited New York City years ago I recall seeing real life zombies or something close to it. hehe. The kind I see here in my home town day. Anyway, in this book the characters are so real and their reactions are real. This is about a zombie outbreak but mostly-I think-it's about humans and how they respond to circumstances so big and overwhelmingly mind-numbing.

This is definitely a character study but it doesn't get lost in that. The zombies don't take a backseat in the story.

A few reviewers mentioned the humor. This was the thing I loved the most about this book. The humor is very dark and sharp. Even sarcastic. Sort of the same sense of humor that was found in his other excellent book, 'Bottomfeeder." I found myself laughing out loud at certain lines.

I hope that Fingerman continues to write in novel form. I read that he does graphic novels but I have a hard time getting into that form of writing.

Anyway, I consider this book at the top of the zombie pile. Bravo! Well worth the high praise it's getting. This book really does have everything: gore, humor, atmosphere, originality, a gripping story, real characters, etc. A book to stick in your brain. Oh, did someone say brain?

*groan groan*

*shuffles off*
(less)

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Nov 10, 2010 Nick Cato rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Everyone from ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY to FANGORIA has been raving over this one. Despite being a zombie fanatic, I'm about at my limit with zombie novels, but had to see what all the fuss was about.

Fingerman (author of the well-praised vampire novel, BOTTOMFEEDER), paints a grim picture of post-apocalyptic Manhattan: the novel basically takes place in a single apartment building, and much time is given to the few survivors who dwell within. Thankfully, there's much well-done humor here, and a coupl...more

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Apr 21, 2011 L rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: zombie-books

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

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Nov 15, 2010 Craig Allen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read a lot of zombie books. I mean, a LOT. They are usually the typical story: zombie outbreak happens, people come together to attempt to survive-insert lots of gore, guns, explosions, and pick your ending with whatever survivors. This one was a lot different. In this "zombie book" it's almost like the zombie outbreak is the backstory to the social story going on with the group of survivors trapped in an apartment complex in NYC. The writing style in this book is so great, but above that it's...more

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Nov 03, 2011 Andrea rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really like the author's style. I got involved with the characters and their plight. I followed them through guts and gore and horrible death. I shivered with them and starved with them (Not really - I think I gained 20lbs reading this book, it made me so hungry). Then, I got totally pissed at the author and how he ended his story. I will continue to be angry until he writes a second book explaining why he made the final choice that he did and what he was trying to impart as an author. He suck...more

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Mar 16, 2012 JonSnow rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mylibrary

Torn between a 3 and a 4 out of 5 on this one. I enjoyed the book, and while it had a fair level of originality to it, it was loaded with corny cliche's, terrible one liners, and a narrative that tried to be more intellectual than I can reasonably give it credit for. I had the feeling, reading this, that it was actively and noticeably trying to be different, gritty, hash, and what not. There was the whole homosexual aspect which felt very forced at times. A lot of the dark humor the book apparen...more

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Nov 24, 2010 Anthony Fitzgerald rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

INCREDIBLE!!!!

This was easily one of the best zombie-themed novels I've read, and I've read quite a few! Ironically, what I loved most about this novel was that the zombies are actually secondary to the more prevalent human condition element to the story. You see what happens when you trap a bunch of New Yorkers inside a building with zero way of getting out. Doesn't always end well...

Fantastic writing, excellent New York City references that make it all too real for actual NYC residents (travel...more

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Aug 05, 2011 Becky rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-challenge, borrowed

This book was well written and well named. I started to like the concept until I read the entire book and think he should've had it where you just had to have the drugs in your bloodstream. The book is a Goose That Laid the Golden Egg story with zombies and a better ending. The author was descriptive but I had a hard time figuring out how his zombies were killed. Normally zombie killing involving neck breaking or massive brain trauma (head shot.) Fingerman's zombies still operated with necks bro...more

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Feb 10, 2011 Ms. B rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I felt this book was a better book than many of those in the Zombie genre. It is no World War Z or Pride, Prejudice & Zombies - it was neither as funny or as compelling, but it was a much more traditional zombie tale. However, that we are mainly stuck in the characters' heads and once again zombie fighting action was still very minimal.

That being said, I appreciate the diversity of the individuals in the book. And once again, this is a zombie book whose lesson is that humanity, not the hord...more I felt this book was a better book than many of those in the Zombie genre. It is no World War Z or Pride, Prejudice & Zombies - it was neither as funny or as compelling, but it was a much more traditional zombie tale. However, that we are mainly stuck in the characters' heads and once again zombie fighting action was still very minimal.

That being said, I appreciate the diversity of the individuals in the book. And once again, this is a zombie book whose lesson is that humanity, not the horde of zombies is terrifying element ... All of the most frightening moments (for me) involve not Zombies, but one of the human characters. I got flash backs to Pillars of the Earth - one of the characters is pretty much a modern day William Hamleigh.

Positive points for me - I enjoyed the character arcs for everyone - particularly how quickly each individual reverted back to their selfish, greedy selves upon a turn in the fortunes. I also thought that the plot of drug induced personality amplification accelerate the ending - which was good, because I was unsure how long I could indulge the greedy/jealous/insecure thoughts of everyone else. I also thought it was interesting who Mr. Fingerman ultimately left as the final survivors...

Negatives - Bob Fingerman should not try to write female characters ... ugh. At the beginning every time Ellen began to narrate I put the book down and had no desire to pick it back up.

Nit picky things that don't really take away from what Fingerman did, but that I wish were there any way: I felt the book was a little thin on explanations - after all the Zombie apocalypse was well under way at the start of the book and the flashbacks shine little more light on the how's and why's -- particularly since Mr. Fingerman made some interesting choices - Corpses returning to life who had no contact with zombies and I know again, its more realistic for there to be a lack of information ... but once again, its fantasy and its fun to have an origin story. I was also a bit annoyed by the lack of real ending.

(less)

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Jan 29, 2012 Jeff rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The book takes a familiar premise, yet manages to make it new and original. Taking in the little things and details most books of this type skipor don't bother with. It get's gritty and makes you feel the desperation of the situations withno hope. That it becomes unbearable at times. Gets you into the mindset of each character. I am an accasional follower of Bob Fingerman's work and his fatalistic stories. I loved RECESS PIECES and BEG THE QUESTION, But am overjoyed he finally has dipped into mo...more

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Aug 10, 2011 Angelina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, zombies

I'm not a huge fan of zombie anything, but I read this book to see if I could fly it for a teen book club. The answer on that is NOPE! It's far too graphic, sexually and emotionally to be a selection for any middle/high school book club.

The book is good. It's dark, it's realistic and full of humanity despite the multitudes of shambling rotters.

Fans of the TV series Walking Dead would probably enjoy this book. It's primary focus is on the residents of a building who have been stranded since the z...more

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Apr 09, 2013 Bonnie Dean rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Zombie afficianados

I was on a post-apocalyptic literature kick last year and found this little gem. The pariah of this story is a young teenaged girl who seems to repel zombies. Her quiet, disaffected demeanor just adds to the mystery of how and why she is able to walk freely among the zombies where others would be torn to pieces. This baffles all of the inhabitants of a low-rise building who have managed to survive the initial zombie onslaught and are close to starvation when she appears. She's able to scavenge f...more

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Sep 07, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The worldwide zombie plague rages on with the shambling masses of walking dead. New York is home to eight million zombies and a handful of living people unable to leave their apartment building. The living wait for the zombies to deteriorate or stop, but they keep going, covering the city once teeming with life. Months go by and their food, water, and patience for each other are dwindling. One day, they spot a girl walking through the zombies. The zombies actually move away from her while she wa...more The worldwide zombie plague rages on with the shambling masses of walking dead. New York is home to eight million zombies and a handful of living people unable to leave their apartment building. The living wait for the zombies to deteriorate or stop, but they keep going, covering the city once teeming with life. Months go by and their food, water, and patience for each other are dwindling. One day, they spot a girl walking through the zombies. The zombies actually move away from her while she walks and they get her attention. Their world gets marginally bigger now that they can access necessities and luxuries with this girl's help. After a while, they get curious about why she is immune, but is the information worth possibly alienating her and severing their only tie to the outside world?

Pariah isn't a typical zombie apocalypse novel. Most books have the humans trying to fight the zombies or trying build a normal life despite the zombies. These people do not. Only a few acts of heroism were done on the first day and then the people resigned themselves to life in a cage. They didn't try to escape or gather supplies from the outside world after seeing a few people's failed attempts and they don't do much of anything except bicker, eat, pass the time, and wait to die. The portrayal of human behavior in this extreme situation feels real. People can get used to the most horrible conditions, even if it is constant hunger and hopelessness surrounded by the undead. These people have chosen to try to outlast the zombies instead of trying to work through or around them to get the things they need. This fact becomes extremely clear when no one does anything to help a dying infant and they are just as resigned when they run out of food. No one is willing to risk their lives among the zombies to help anyone.

The outside world is so close, but they can never reach it, creating a torturous existence. The first half of the novel describes how they live day to day, introduces each character, and fills in some their pasts. These characters come from a variety of backgrounds, ranging from Abe the elderly Jewish man to Eddie the macho misogynist. Some of them find or reaffirm their religion and others see their atheism proved. All of these people are selfish, annoying, and insufferable, but this is probably a better representation of what real people would actually do in a zombie situation. I didn't really like any of these people, but I found the writing and the story compelling.

My favorite character by far is Mona, the messiah/pariah that arrives about half way through the book. She is the most intriguing character because of her special ability to walk among the zombies unmolested and because she is the most selfless character in the entire novel. (Plus she doesn't talk much.) No matter how big or small the request, Mona always ventures out into the urban wasteland to get whatever her newfound friends want or need without judgment or question. She never really fits in with the zombies or the humans, leaving her in a category of her own. The zombies are inexplicably repelled by her, but the people don't feel quite comfortable with her either. Although she saved each on of their lives, they want to know why she is immune and they are not. Mona saved this book for me because I was just about to give up on it when she appeared.

Pariah is a weird but realistic zombie novel. The varied cast of characters portrays humanity in a frank and unflattering manner that rings true. Many think this book is too bleak or not action packed enough, but I think it's a good addition to the zombie genre. I would recommend it to zombie fans interested in character studies and character driven plots with ambiguous outcomes.(less)

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Nov 27, 2011 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010-reads

God bless you, Bob Fingerman, in this era of pastiches and rom-zom-coms for bringing the good old postapocalypse back to zombie fiction. Granted, there's not a lot of actual apocalypse here - things have seriously gone to shit before the narrative truly starts, and we get only a very little of the outbreak in flashbacks - but there's plenty of the nitty gritty of survival in the bloody aftermath of Z-Day. Frightfully literary in places for something with so many eviscerations, Pariah delivers b...more

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Dec 19, 2012 Rachael Moss rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: aesthetic-of-violence, horror, contemporary-fiction, dystopia, lieberry-book, science-fiction

I couldn't finish this. Half way through, our narrator focuses into the thoughts of Eddie, a tenant in an NYC apartment building whose residents board themselves in to weather out the storm that is a post-apocalyptic zombie horde. Eddie is a minefield of Italian-American male stereotypes, racist, homophobic, ego-centric and sex obsessed. Other ethnicities in the book fare far better, though all are stereotyped, almost juvenilely so. The blunt use of this technique (for what purpose? I cannot fat...more

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Sep 08, 2010 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, zombie-fever

Bob Fingerman draws on the rich tradition of zombie lore, and adds his own particular spin. This quickly paced well-written novel doesn’t skimp on the gore, or gallows humor. The characters in the book are all trapped within a NYC apartment building, and are running low on supplies. Along comes Mona the pariah, who mysteriously seems to be immune to the zombies. In fact, her presence actually repels them. The apartment dwellers beg her to move in with them, so that she may keep them supplied, an...more

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Mar 02, 2013 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: own

Like someone who grown up with games like "Resident Evil" and movies like "Night of the Living Dead" before going to bed I'm really into zombies. The old school ones - who are slow, dead, and well just zombies. And this is why they are fun, because it's about how you cope with it and how you will survive. So then I read a summary of this book that this is about the people and not about some action packet zombie killing I was really interested in this book. From time to time it was hard getting m...more

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Jan 18, 2013 Leslie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sigh,

What to say about a zombie story that is more about the people than the zombies. It's hard to write them. Zone One did it, The Reapers Are the Angels did it, and Robert Kirkson's The Walking Dead, Book One did it. Pariah did not. Instead of insight into the nature of human beings once stripped of the last vestiges of familiarity and civilization we are given vignette after vignette of the muddled thinking of probably the worst representations of the human species to be written about.
The wri...more

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Apr 03, 2012 Shelly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: borrowed-from-the-library, finished-in-2012, zombies

Bob Fingerman is a really, really great writer. I'd certainly have to say if you are weak of stomach you probably want to skip this one because the descriptions of the rotting bodies and other events are very graphic. With that out of the way, if you are looking for something different to read in the zombie genre give this a look.

While not as fast paced as something like The Walking Dead, Pariah still offers up something different in terms of the zombie appocalypse and it is worth checking out....more

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May 18, 2011 Rob rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, urban-fantasy

I really wanted to like it especially given how much buzz it had garnered, the idea of a post apocalyptic Melrose Place just sounded fun. Unfortunately it could not live up to the hype, humour or innovation promised. The perspective jumped from person to person without rhyme or reason – not even chapter demarcation made sense – made the entire project feel amateurish. The plot itself was scant and the only discernable antagonist just felt clichéd and obvious. All in all, I didn’t much care for...more

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Feb 10, 2011 Elke rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novels, zombies, own, horror, review

At first sight, the book reminded me of the zombie movie "Rammbock", which I saw on TV recently and enjoyed very much. With a bunch of people barricading themselves against the undead in an apartment block, the story begins very similar, but then they diverge significantly.

As with Bottomfeeder, I expected to get some firsthand information about zombie life from an undead protagonist, but this is not the case with Pariah, which concentrates solely on the living survivors. Regarding the zombies, m...more

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Jul 31, 2011 Olivia R. rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's been some time since a zombie book looked different; I've been a fan of the genre for awhile, and with the explosion of popularity, I've found it hard to find something that seems interesting. This was the first zombie book in months (at least) where the blurb didn't sound like a copy-paste of a dozen other zombie books.

It looked like this book would have an interesting plot: someone immune to the zombies coming into the lives of those who are not. Most of the book kept me wondering if ther...more It's been some time since a zombie book looked different; I've been a fan of the genre for awhile, and with the explosion of popularity, I've found it hard to find something that seems interesting. This was the first zombie book in months (at least) where the blurb didn't sound like a copy-paste of a dozen other zombie books.

It looked like this book would have an interesting plot: someone immune to the zombies coming into the lives of those who are not. Most of the book kept me wondering if there would be a big twist, a big reveal; what is the reason for Mona being unaffected by zombies? Unfortunately, nothing really happened and nothing of interest came to light.

In my reading of the zombie genre, I've come to the conclusion that zombies books tend to fall into one of two camps: books about the characters and books about the zombies. Some books skillfully walk the line between these two (Z.A. Recht, may he rest in peace, did this; David Wellington, also), but this is firmly a character book. You're in it to read about how these people go from starving, skeletal survivors to selfish, well-fed, mostly drugged out jerks. You have to care about the characters (either favorably, or in a love-to-hate way) in order to enjoy the book; you can't go in hoping for zombie action or you'll be disappointed. The overall character arcs made me think of Lord of the Flies.

In short, the book opens mixing current events with flashbacks to the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. Characters are introduced in the past only to die as a way to demonstrate why the main characters are holed up in their New York apartment building. The story plods along, centering on the cast running out of food and considering desperate measures. Just as slowly as the rest of the book moves, Mona comes into their lives. She's a flat-line when it comes to personality, but what matters is that the zombies fear and hate her. The undead give her a wide berth, leaving her the ability to loot the city for supplies for her new neighbors; despite the fact that she doesn't seem interested in actually interacting with the main cast, she agrees to move in with them and be their gofer. This is, of course, a boon, and the characters are thankful and relieved; however, their innate selfishness rears its ugly head immediately when they prepare a large meal and sit down to eat, completely forgetting about Mona and what she's done for them.

As she is able to bring comfort and normalcy back into their lives, the characters go from selfless survivalists to selfish, jealous, whiny adolescents, incapable of thinking of anything other than themselves. Life's small joys- booze, drugs, cigarettes, religion- slowly pick off most of the characters until a rather anti-climactic scene takes place out among the zombies. Then, abruptly, the book is over, and we're down to less than half of the characters we started with, all of whom are presented as being happy, go-lucky.

With all the talk of religion, I had hoped the author was going somewhere more interesting with Mona's immunity. I had been hoping for something twisted and clever, perhaps having it be Mona herself that takes out the rest of the cast. Despite not being religious, I would have preferred a divine or evil hand guiding her rather than the explanation spat out in a short, bland paragraph. I don't like coming away from books with the thought, "Wow, I could have done so much better with this premise," but that's how I felt with this story.

Overall, if you are someone who reads zombie books because you like to get into the heads of the people stuck in the horror that is an undead world, I think you would enjoy this book. If you're looking for zombie action and interaction, give this a pass.(less)

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Horror > Zombies

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Horror

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Science Fiction

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Science Fiction > Apocalyptic

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Apocalyptic > Post Apocalyptic

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Fantasy > Urban Fantasy

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Book Club

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Science Fiction > Dystopia

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About Bob Fingerman

Recent releases are From the Ashes, a satirical "speculative memoir" set in post-apocalyptic New York (IDW, March 2010) of which The Onion wrote, “As a blitz of astringent satire, an unabashed love letter to his wife, and a love-hate manifesto aimed at the whole human race, From The Ashes is a gem; as an addition to the often-staid canon of post-apocalyptic pop culture, it’s a revelation… A“

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Pariah

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