Quirky Zombie

I might have ignored this due the title, but when I looked it up, ‘ragnorak‘ means the final destruction of the world in the great conflict between the gods and the giants and the powers of Hel under the leadership of Loki. So pretty much an apocalypse then!

I read it as a recommendation of the Zombie Book of the Month Club on Facebook, and I’m really glad I did.

The basic premise of the book is, that initial reports of rioting and chaos begin to appear in the news, slowly spreading east from California. As more is shown about the ‘riots’ it becomes clear that these people aren’t rioting, but eating other people.

When the disturbances finally reach Springfield Missouri, all law enforcement officers are called to field duty and only Office Wylie Grant and Corporal Chrissy Wilder survive the onslaught Their goal becomes to survive the trip back to the Nathaniel County Sheriff’s Office, where the few remaining officers are attempting to regroup. They, and the other officers, rescue a number of survivors and gather as many resources as possible to help survive. Of course they also encounter the worst that humanity has left alive after the invasion of the undead. These can be worse to go up against that the dead…

Wylie also made a promise to his wife that he would come for her and the kids, and part of this story is his journey across the USA to meet her at the boat he told her to hole up on.

I’ve got to admit, I found the very first bit of the book a little bit stilted. It was a bit of back story, and a bit of what was happening, but it just didn’t flow very well. I found this completely changed though once the action got going, and it really didn’t take long to get going. And there’s a lot of action! I did find all the description and guns and ammunition a bit dull but I could put up with that for the story and the pace. Maybe this is because I’m in the UK and we don;t have the same fascination with guns? The characters are entirely believable too and fallible, which makes them very human. Wylie doesn’t always make the right decision and I found myself liking him more and more.

Spec-4 (or Chrissy) is a real ‘lock and load’ character and reminiscent of strong female leads in films like Alien. Again a very believable and likeable character.

The book ends just where I wanted it to continue. Basically, Wylie can’t be left like that? I can’t wait for the follow-up book!

I’ve found a blog from the author – Ragnorak Rising Saga.

Have you read it yet? What did you think of it?