A Father's Quest (What Zombies Fear #1) in Permuted Press Authors

Apr 10, 2014 Shana Festa rated it really liked it

Victor Tookes is an embodiment of every family man you know. He is average, Sponge Bob witty, works hard, and loves his family. Everything he does, he does for his wife and child. What started as a normal day turned no into less than a nightmare, when Tookes, only wanting his toasted bagel, witnesses the horror to the beginning of the end.

What Zombies Fear takes place right here, right now in this society. Tookes (As he is called by his friends) isn’t dumbfounded by the presence of rising dead, Victor Tookes is an embodiment of every family man you know. He is average, Sponge Bob witty, works hard, and loves his family. Everything he does, he does for his wife and child. What started as a normal day turned no into less than a nightmare, when Tookes, only wanting his toasted bagel, witnesses the horror to the beginning of the end.

What Zombies Fear takes place right here, right now in this society. Tookes (As he is called by his friends) isn’t dumbfounded by the presence of rising dead, he immediately thinks ‘zombie’ like most people would. The first thing, and not the only thing, that I really liked about this book.When I first started reading, I had to remember the synopsis, because I actually wanted to stop. Not ‘stop’ as in a bad thing, but because I was so drawn into the relationship between Tookes and his son, that emotionally, I didn’t want to see where it was going.
I was not let down.

The book is written in first person, and at times more journal-style than a first person narrative. Told by Tookes, the book takes the reader on a journey through Tookes’ struggle to protect his son and get to a safe place. Tookes has some knowledge of weapons and like a lot of guys, has to have that big off-road type truck that never gets dirty and blocks you from seeing to get out of a spot at your local grocery store. All of which, I took as metaphoric. The truck was more for show just as zombies were more fiction. Everything in the story is bigger than Tookes. It’s a learn as you go for him, survive as you can. He does it well with believable stumbles and fears.

Allmond does a superb job making this characters realistic and likeable. He builds the tension well. Although I wasn’t a fan of the name choice given to Tookes’ wife. When I read her name ‘Candi’ immediately I envisioned some stripper. But that’s just me.

I didn’t give it five stars because I felt there were times the dialogue was a tad stilted, and there was a ‘missing; of emotion when dealing with action - a few times it felt as if Allmond added emotional descriptions because e had to. There were also a few instances the knowledge (Such as with weapons), were so detailed, that it didn’t fit with the usual flow of the story.

But those really are trivial in the grand scheme of the story. Allmond delivers a fresh and, shall I say, ingenious take on an overwritten genre, going above and beyond what we expect from the dreaded creatures. He makes it more than just a zombie tale, he makes it suspense, mixed in with horror and thriller. Allmond does it all by staying true to the writer he is and conveying to the reader that he knows what it is like to love a son.

He doesn’t beat around the bush and you get caught up in his story, loving the characters, and wanting more. Guess what? There is more. What Zombies Fear is a series, and a heck of one at that. ...more

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