A feast of Zombies....

Everyone, at some time in their lives, should have the pleasure of reading a good zombie novel. Unfortunately there are many poorly written examples of this genre (refer to my review of "Night of the Nazi Zombies" http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/254866557 ) It is therefore most enjoyable to read and review "The Rising"  by horror supremo Brian Keene. Zombie books, to be fully appreciated, must contain certain essential ingredients; first and foremost we have a world in meltdown and a population devastated by the surprisingly well name Y2K virus turning ordinary upstanding citizens into demented, bloodthirsty, murdering, stinking!... blobs of leaking, reeking flesh!! (I'm enjoying this reivew :) Our hero Jim Thurmond is travelling to New Jersey in the hope of finding his son Danny who he believes is still alive. As he journeys we are introduced to a host of characters just doing their best to survive in a world of chaos and bloody murder....Frankie a prostitute, Jason and his dad Delmas, Worm a retarded youth, Martin the preacher man still believing that God will always shine a positive light and that his will..will always be done. If we add to the mix a renegade group of mercenary soldiers, led by the thoroughly evil Colonel Schow looting, pillaging and raping their way from city to city...then we have a sure fire winning recipe horror feast. In one memorable scene Col Schow takes a traitor aloft in a helicopter, attaches a bungee to his ankles throwing him mercilessly to the flesh ripping zombies below, and as he falls to earth and bounces skyward, in true horror fashion, he is ripped to pieces and consumed with relish (and I don't mean the sauce)....nice! The Rising is a great fun read that never takes itself too seriously, the zombies being the real stars...in the words of zombie leader UB "Your kind must learn that your time is over. You are food. Meat. Transport. Nothing more. Your time here is over"...so join UB and his evil smelling pals for a tour de force horror fest of ginormous, bloodthirsty portions...if you dare..................