The zombie story that’s not a zombie story. Well, not as much as you’d think. So, you’re probably thinking to yourself, “Well, that sucks. Why would I want to read a zombie story that doesn’t focus on the zombies?” I’ll tell you why – it’s a great story. The zombie apocalypse, that the story takes place in, provides the desolate setting and feeling of hopelessness that permeates through the story for our protagonist, Noah, to navigate through.
Noah is a mid-twenties college drop-out from alcoholism and a lost love when the apocalypse hits. After holing up in the family cabin in the rustic Smokey Mts, he loses his family and is alone without contact with any people for 5 years. He sits around most days getting high and thinking about losing his college girlfriend day after day. When his sister shows up, out of the blue, and goes off on him for not coming to look for her, guilt overcome him and he begins drinking again. This triggers his desire to trek across the country to see if she’s still alive. His drinking quickly gets out of control and he narrowly escapes peril numerous times. His poor decisions followed by strange happenings makes him question his sanity along the way.
This is where the reader has to pay attention. Things begin to not make sense and you wonder if they really happened, is it delusions from his excessive drinking, or is he losing his mind? The story is around 300 pages and they go by amazingly fast. Smith is a wonderful storyteller and even though he backs off the throttle on the gore in this one, the story doesn’t need it. It’s a wonderful testament to Smith’s versatility.
4 whiskey bottles out of 5
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Into The Macabre 