Zone One in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Aug 01, 2014 Claudia Recinos rated it really liked it

Zombie apocalypse as a metaphor for how we live, how we love, how we leave. As a work of literary art, this book succeeds painfully well. The writing is glorious. The themes heartbreaking and raw. As a zombie book, however, it completely fails. The story drags, loops, meanders, grinds to a halt, skips forth some more. The pace is virtually nonexistent. The trick, I found, is to read the book as a work of literature that just happens to have zombies in it. I was left chilled, not in the nightmare ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Feb 29, 2016 Alison rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: dcpl_elibrary, fiction

This was a really great post-apocalyptic zombie novel, focused around a man who is part of a sweeper team that's checking Manhattan for any zombies the Marines missed. One thing I liked about this is how fast the bureaucracy was re-built. At the time the novel is set, you slowly get the sense that they're at the tipping point - they're either about to slide over into full-on rebuilding, or slide back into the war. Definitely a great read for anyone into this kind of stuff. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

May 29, 2014 Melissa rated it really liked it

Shelves: strange-worlds

A little more than four stars, probably four and a half.

I really enjoyed Mark Spitz's voice - very wry, resigned but also on alert because he isn't going out without a fight. A very deconstructed narrative. It feels like a reflection on the breakdown of society in that the frame of the story is linear (Friday - Sunday) but inbetween Mark Spitz wanders back through his experiences and that of his team during the chaos of the zombie apocalypse. I got a bit confused with the tenses a few times, so ...more

Like · see review

Jun 07, 2012 Kate rated it liked it

I'd give it 1.5 stars, but rounded up because I can't say I absolutely didn't like it. Surprised that NPR made a big deal of it.

A short story spun out to the length of a novel through a series of flashbacks within flashbacks. This habit was particularly frustrating right in the middle of "action" scenes, where we're stopped for pages of ruminations. In the end, with no twist or great insight, it just feels like mountains of setup and no payoff.

And, as an aside, the main character's mediocrity d ...more

Like · see review

Jul 27, 2012 Tara rated it liked it

Not as fabulous as I'd hoped but a worthy zombie read. ...more

Like · see review

Nov 24, 2011 Laurie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2012

I really liked this post-apocalyptic novel, mostly centered on one character working to re-claim lower Manhattan from zombie-like plague victims. It sounds weird, but this is a very realistic zombie novel. And it is more complex than many -- I've been thinking of it as the literary fiction zombie novel. If you like post-apocalyptic novels that are pretty gritty, this is a good one to try.

...more

Like · see review