Who says romance is dead?
 
'R' is a zombie. He has no name, no memories, and no pulse, but he has dreams. He is a little different from his fellow Dead.

Amongst the ruins of an abandoned city, R meets a girl. Her name is Julie and she is the opposite of everything he knows - warm and bright and very much alive, she is a blast of colour in a dreary grey
landscape. For reasons he can't understand, R chooses to save Julie instead of eating her, and a tense yet strangely tender relationship begins.


This has never happened before. It breaks the rules and defies logic, but R is no longer content with life in the grave. He wants to breathe again, he wants to live, and Julie wants to help him. But their grim, rotting world won't be changed without a fight...

                                                                             *****

When my husband asked me to do a guest review for his site, the light bulb above my head instantly flicked on with a resounding Wuthering Heights. Then just as quickly, the filament went, the electricity failed and the bulb fell to the floor; smashing into tiny broken pieces on the ground. Come on Amy, Wuthering Heights? The site is called Book Bloke for heaven’s sake. Although anyone can enjoy Emily Bronte’s absolute classic; my post-apocalyptic, fantasy and zombie loving Book Bloke, without a doubt, would not. Luckily, it didn’t take me long to think of another book to review - Isaac Marion’s Warm Bodies- was the perfect book for me to guest review.

In Warm Bodies, the story follows R, a zombie. All R knows is that he is dead. He has no idea who he was before or how he got where he is now but what is evident throughout the novel is that R is desperate to live some form of life. Even in his catatonic zombie form, R takes a wife and kids, clinging to the ideal of societal norms well past his stage of decomposition. It isn’t until R meets the furiously strong willed Julie and after devouring her poor boyfriends brain, that R really begins to grasp real life again. I won’t spoil the book by revealing much more than that because this
book is a must read. 

The reader never gets to know R’s backstory, to be honest it’s not important who he was only who he becomes throughout the story and how he gets there. He is unquestionably the most interesting zombie in the world of literary fiction. Even in his undead state, R still has that certain something that sets him apart from the rest. ‘A hunting party forms around us as we shuffle towards town. It’s not hard to find recruits for these expeditions, even if no one is hungry. Focused thought is a rare occurrence here and we all follow it when it manifests. Otherwise we’d just be standing around and groaning all day.’  It’s little gems like this in R’s internal monologue that indicate to the reader from the very beginning that R is not just some unintelligent being meandering around the airport. R is aware, even if he is not aware that he is aware and that makes his character so deliciously complex that I, for one, was gripped. 

Marion has reworked the classic tale of Romeo and Juliet in such a fresh and modern way that I defy you not to love this story. Not only has he managed this but he has given readers an alternative
ending to the tale which would not have worked for the original but elevates Warm Bodies, so at no point do you feel like this tale is not his own.  Man or woman, it has all you could ask for action, love, humour and most importantly, a plethora of great messages. The most prevalent for me were firstly, love is powerful. Anyone that has felt the draw of real love can connect with this theme. Secondly, don’t judge a book by its cover, Julie doesn’t and it pretty much saves the world. Third and most importantly, that no matter how dark a place you find yourself in, with a little optimism, hope and heart, life can begin again.  

Older than her years and completely alone, Temple is just trying to live one day at a time in a post-apocalyptic world, where the undead roam endlessly, and the remnant of mankind who have survived, at times, seem to retain little humanity themselves.

Temple has known nothing else. This is the world she was born into. Her journey takes her to far-flung places, to people struggling to maintain some semblance of civilization – and to those who have created a new world order for themselves.

When she comes across the helpless Maury, she attempts to set one thing right, if she can just get him back to his family then maybe it will bring forgiveness for some of the terrible things she's done in her past. Because Temple has had to fight to survive, along the road she's made enemies – and one vengeful man is determined that, in a world gone mad, killing her is the only thing that makes sense . . .

                                                                             *****

The ‘Reapers are the Angels’ is a book which I had wanted to read for a while and was constantly being teased by my kindles recommendations but I just didn't have the time. When I finally did buy the book I was not disappointed. The book's main protagonist is a 15 year old girl called Temple, the story is mainly told through her inner voice and to begin with the accent put me off, I stuck with the book and I’m glad I did. Alden Bell does an excellent job of helping the reader see the world through Temple’s eyes and has created an exceptional and memorable character. Temple lives in a world full of ‘meatskins’ or ‘slugs’, it is a world which is all she knows, having been born 10 years after the world was ravaged by zombies. This gives it a very different perspective to my usual zombie novels, zombies aren’t evil or even that much of a threat to Temple, she says “them meatskins are just animals is all” and she deals with them quickly and with ease. 

Temple is a tough young girl who, although not able to read or write, is cunning and has a natural ability to survive. While she has this tough outer, Temple is a very lovable character and she carries with her a constant feeling of guilt and isolation.

When I bought this book my initial thoughts were that it would be full of zombies trying to eat Temples brains and a young girls struggle to survive, I was pleasantly surprised. The books antagonists are not the zombie as expected but other humans who, in a world gone to hell will try to take advantage of a young girl, only to meet their end. One such person is Abraham, Abraham's demise results in a vendetta by his brother Moses who will stop at no length to see that Temple dies. This sees Temple having to uproot from the relative safety of a small community and travel across the dangerous landscape. On her journeys she comes across Maury, who she refers to as dummy because he cannot speak. Initially Temple is reluctant to help the gentle giant but her conscience gets the better of her and gives her journey purpose.

This story was a great change from the usual zombie novels I delve into, the characters were well developed, although it did confuse me as to why Moses was so hell-bent on the demise of the young girl, but still he made a great adversary, opposite in physical description but similar in personality and values, as cunning and equality if not more so dangerous. I think that Moses and Temple are different from the other people in the book and as Moses puts it “Some people, he says, they hide themselves away from the eyes of the world. They hunker down and shiver. They find four walls high enough to put between them and everything else. Those people, to them the world is a frightful place. See, you and me, we're different. When we are called on to move, we move. It don't matter the cause or the distance. Revenge or ministration, reason or folly - it's all the same to us.”

I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it; it contains all the things I look for in a book, action, adventure, violence, horror, great memorable characters and settings and also was unique compared to most post-apocalyptic novels.

Benny Imura and his friends have made it to Sanctuary, they've found the jet and they've discovered that civilization is struggling to regain its foothold in the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse. Scientists are on the verge of finding a cure for the zombie plague. It should be time for celebration, but it's not. Benny's best friend, Chong, has been infected by an arrow dipped in the flesh of a zombie and he hovers between life and death and Dr McReady, a researcher who may have the critical formula for a cure, has gone missing. So Benny convinces Captain Ledger to mount a search and rescue mission to find the doctor and help Chong. But with the Reapers still pursuing their plan to turn all zombies into super-fast shock troops even if they can save Chong, can they save themselves? In the fourth book of the thrilling and emotionally charged Rot & Ruin series, the battle to end all battles is about to begin...

                                         *****

In the last book of this awesome series we find Benny Imura and his gang of Nix, Lilah and Riot faced with the dilemma that Chong, their best friend, has been infected with the zombie virus. Poisoned by the Reapers, a group of crazy arseholes, intent on sending everyone into the darkness by opening them up with knives. Benny and the gang must race to find Doctor McReady and a potential cure whilst at the same time keeping the Reapers at bay.

The book offers many exciting and tense scenes of action and Jonathan Maberry is excellent at building suspense and keeping you on the edge of your seat. One thing I love about Maberry’s writing is his ability to describe fight scenes in detail using his own knowledge and experience to help the reader visualise what is happening as well as what is going on in the characters mind.  Maberry is also excellent at incorporating humour into his books for example "Should we split up?" asked Lilah. "I can-"
"Not a chance," said Joe. "This isn't a bad horror movie. We stay together and we watch each other's backs. No one goes into the basement in a negligee to investigate a strange noise." I thought this was great and I did laugh as it reminded me of the many frustrating occasions when watching movies and seeing groups split up only to meet their end.

The characters in the book are well developed over the series and continue to develop throughout the book, Benny and Nix especially with the realisation that their relationship might have come about a little quickly, both transform from teens into adults and samurais, putting aside their relationship until the current situation was dealt with. We also see how Benny is adapting to his role as leader and how far he must go to defeat his enemies. I was happy to see the return of Joe Ledger which I had been looking forward to since the last installment, being a massive fan of the Joe Ledger series. Joe asks Benny “How scary are you willing to be in order to take the heart out of the enemy? Are you willing to be the monster in the dark? Are you willing to be the boogeyman of their nightmares?” In Fire and Ash we find out just how far Benny is willing to go in order to protect that which he loves.

There’s a great set of obstacles the gang must face including the fast and smart 'zoms' as well as those Reapers. Brother Peter and Saint John both provide some edge of your seat action and the dialogue between them and Benny is great.

Lilah, the tough wild girl, shows us her more caring side and is always there threatening violence at the mention of quieting Chong. Riot also had a big part to play in the story having originally being part of the Night Church (Reapers), she is also involved in a part of the story which, if I wasn't a manly man, might have produced a tear or two. Joe and Grimm were also excellent, right in the heart of the action, both as awesome as each other.

The story finishes with the gang having to prevent the fall of the nine towns which includes their original home, Mountainside. The ending although not as climatic as I expected did end on a high and finished the series off perfectly and I won’t be disappointed if it is the last time I read about Benny and the gang just a little sad to say goodbye.