Book reviews from EP1000

"Review of the Breathing Dead: One hell of a Zombie ride & a terrific novelette ~ Romero fan satisfaction certified... If only Diary of the Dead had been this... The Breathing Dead is the first horror book from A M Esmonde. The book rightly comes with a warning - this not for the faint hearted, the dark subject matter of death and self-sacrifice is not for the emotionally unstable. The Breathing Dead puts the horror back into zombies with it's Romero style slow moving dead. What sets this novelette apart from other zombie stories out there is that its relationships between the female characters and the fact the women can hold their own without the male characters helping them fight off the hordes of the dead. Whilst the subject of Zombies isn't usually the most intelligent, A M Esmonde cleverly allows the reader to draw comparisons consciencely or sub-consciencely with real topical issues, isolation etc and different crisis throughout history. It lets the reader decided how deep they want to examine the story. I'll lay my cards on the table and state that A M Esmondes world in the town of Farmore is chilling and nasty,there's, blood, guts swearing and horrific deaths for starters - it will have no problem holding a zombie fan right to very end. For such a short book it explores the loss of close family and the topical subject of unjustified or justified military action coupled with the question of what is more import, procedures and missions or the people and their survival? Some difficult political choices are questioned and made. A M Esmondes main character, Jane Reed, her life is in tatters she has no family and no hope but she refuses to give up. When she meets Samuel the story turns into the classic heros fighting against the odds, however, it's not a simple as that and there goals change as what they want out of life in a dead infested world. Samuel then goes on a journey along the way meeting an array of flawed characters. While Jane Faces her own emotional demons. A M Esmondes writing style is very vivid in depicting a world gone mad in frighting detail. His chief protagonist, Frank, has a hardened Soldiers story. He will stop at nothing to get a job done even if it means sacrificing his own men, as to not cut any read tape. Each sub character & their story, from the female Vice president, to House and Fins suicide missions are simply chilling. As the fast paced plot pans out, The Breathing Dead deals the reader plenty of unexpected deaths and a satisfying end. It's the type of book you can revisit; as it may take time for the interlaced stories to merge in your minds-eye. Due to its shortness it leaves the reader to fill in the gaps of description which I'm not sure is a good or bad thing. The Breathing Dead is gloomy, scary and foreboding but hey that's what apocalyptic zombie stories should be like right? "