Catherine C. (c-squared) reviewed on 6/7/2013 + 181 more book reviews

I don't usually read zombie books, or even horror novels in general, but this one sounded different enough to interest me.

The premise of this novel, written as if it's nonfiction, is that roughly 20 years ago, a disease broke out (probably originating in China) that, after the victim has died, reanimates said victim as a bloodless, flesh-eater who can only be stopped by destroying its brain. This enemy became known as zombies or ghouls (shortened in military speak to Zack or Gs). The world war that broke out between the zombies and the living lasted roughly 10 years, and now another 10 or so years have passed. The author has traveled around the world, interviewing survivors from various countries, backgrounds, and roles, all of whom offer different perspectives of the war. His original purpose was to create the "United Nations Postwar Commission Report," but distilling all the interviews into black-and-white facts didn't feel right to him, so he put together this book as a supplement.

My husband keeps saying that it's only a matter of time before Nature takes care of the overpopulation problem, be it some type of super flu or whatever. Obviously, a zombie outbreak seems unlikely, but otherwise, this book hypothesizes what that type of catastrophic event could look like, in chilling, fascinating detail.

Edit:
Second reading (for book club): March 11-18, 2013
I still really enjoyed this book the second time around, but trying to see it through the eyes of my book group members, Brooks includes a fair amount of gore (really not anything compared to the average zombie book, though...at least what I'm guessing the average zombie book contains since I don't usually read that genre) and a lot of f-bombs and their various little friends. Unless you've been strong-armed into reading this book by members of your book group (another woman actually suggested it, I just seconded), you're probably prepared for these two elements.

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