Book Review: Resurrection: A Zombie Novel by Michael Totten

Like popular zombie comic and show The Walking Dead, Michael Totten’s Resurrection: A Zombie Novel is a character-driven suspense drama set amid a disease-ridden apocalypse.

A  handful of survivors gather together in frenetic events as the entire world has collapsed to a viral plague that turns humans into wild-eyed, aggressive cannibals. These are zombies closer to popular World War Z than George Romero, and Totten uses that to heighten the realistic effect of this apocalypse escapism.

Totten jumps perspective among these characters, like Hughes, the herd-hearted protector and Kyle, the manipulative do-gooder, or Parker the self-centered alpha. These three struggle with leadership and outside tensions.

But, Annie is the novel’s pivot, as she carries a secret about the plague that will change everything for these survivors. Her secret is the crux of the book, and it’s a clever and interesting take that makes the book worth more than plain zombie “porn.”

As perspectives shift among these characters, the reader gets inside their heads and watches them change. The characters hope. They connive. They ache. They face hard truths about themselves and sometimes plot terrible plans for others.

The flaw in this approach is the sudden shifts without cue. Many shifts occur naturally with a break, others simply follow in paragraphs. It’s not hard to follow, but jars some, feeling a bit like the book needed a little more polish.

Wonderfully, the book improves considerably as pages turn. The zombie menace is real enough, but Totten doesn’t reveal their violent presence for many frustrating pages as the characters pace and argue.

But, then the zombies arrive again and again, and they’re dreadfully real.  Totten sets the book in the Pacific Northwest, an area he knows well. Well enough to make a couple key scenes terrifying. Parker’s race to a boat in darkness and rain is a fantastic passage that nudges the book from tense character drama to real horror work.

Resurrection: A Zombie Novel by Michael Totten: ★★★★

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