Dying to Live: A Novel of Life Among the Undead by Kim Paffenroth Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Dying to Live: A Novel of Life Among the Undead
Book Review: An intelligent book for an intelligent reader...
Summary: 4 Stars
Mr. Paffenroth's book, Dying to Live is apart from other zombie literature a new "taste" for the wicked. The philosophy behind zombies is done really well here. The writing is clean, neat yet whimsical in parts and the story itself deals with ideology of our nation...racism and war, yet leaves you by the last page in wonder. An intelligent reader always will love an intelligent book. This zombie piece goes up one level beyond the cliche' b-movie brisk. The air here has something wretched in it and it's not just zombies...it's society as well.
Eric Enck-
Book Review: Probably The Best Zombie Book Out There
Summary: 4 Stars
Having read zombie tales by Lebbon, Keene, Adkins, Clark, and more, I think this rings the most truthful. Deeply involved character development and realistic situations kept me turning the pages late into the night. My only gripe was -- without giving anything away -- the discovery of the "other" people in town. Their situation and characters felt a little cliched and not as organic as the rest of the book. However, if you were ever considering reading a zombie book, this is the one. Action, suspense, gore, surprises, and more. It has a little of everything. Highly recommended. Book Review: I heard mediocre
Summary: 3 Stars
This book was actually a present for an associate whose opinion on these matters I trust implicitly, so I shall repeat his words here. He stated that the novel was of average fare when considering most aspects of literary worth (plot, characterization, action, etc.) and that it added little novelty to the genre.
The one original idea the author had, says my friend, was not of great magnitude, and any positive effect it might've had on the book was negated by its overuse and repeated application. So, if you're looking for another zombie apocalypse book, by all means purchase this one; but if you're looking for a new twist on the genre, look elsewhere.
Book Review: Nice to see slow zombies, but overall not so great...
Summary: 2 Stars
I have a strong preference for slow zombies (i.e., original Romero movies) versus fast zombies (i.e., Dawn of the Dead remake and 28 Cups of Coffee Later), so I enjoyed that aspect of the book. On the whole, I would have to say the book is fair at best, partly because the writing is a bit amateurish and clunky in many spots, and partly because the author goes off on a "no matter what happens, mankind will always be its own worst enemy" tangent that is a bit overworked, I think. Also, apparently the author believes that anyone who goes to prison is a completely depraved monster, which I think is reaching.Book Review: For Zombie die-hards....
Summary: 3 Stars
First things first I know a lot of jaded horror readers have long ago written off the Vampire genre as overdone and lame. Not me, as a genre I think vampires are wide open for thousands of paths but the novels do require a fresh spin. The only genre I was afraid to read before was the zombie novel. Don't get me wrong I love Romero Zombie movies, hell I loved Land of the Dead a movie that many zombie fans were let down by.
The most interesting looking zombie fictions to me in the past were the books that subverted the genre. The Rising by Brian Keene and Cell by the King are not exactly Romero rules, this statement coming from a guy who hated idea of running zombies when I heard about it. So obviously I have mixed feeling about zombie novels. I finally swallowed my pride and watched the Dawn of the Dead and found running zombies were pretty scary looking. So could I be wrong again? Are zombie novels a good thing?
After my first read I'd have to say hell yeah!
Permuted press who put out this very nice looking trade paperback has in the last few years built up a reputation for putting out so many zombie books in the last few years it reminds me of the scene in Day of the Dead when the front gate is opened to the bunker. They have done a similar thing to the independent horror fiction market.
A novel true to the Romero style could do no less and perhaps the best thing I can say about Paffenroth's first novel is that I could see it fitting in nicely with the original dead films.
The novel is a first person narrative seen through the eyes of Jonah a college professor turned zombie apocalypse survivor who finds a small community living in a museum. While I didn't really connect with the narrator I enjoyed side characters like Popcorn and Milton a lot for reasons that should not be spoiled.
Pafferoth is a professor himself in religious studies and uses his knowledge to weave deep themes without a heavy hand. Dying To Live is an intense work peppered with chilling moments - one that impressed me was Jonah stopping after braining a zombie to look through his wallet. That was perhaps my favorite moment.
While I don't think huge amounts of new ground were broken this book is a must for zombie fans. It also was good enough I intend keep checking out permuted's releases.