Teel McClanahan doesn’t mess around. He started his own publishing company, and uses it to write zombie novels the likes of which the world has never seen.
I just finished reading “Cheating, Death” – as you might have guessed from the conspicuous punctuation, a double entendre! – and was left with the kind of satisfaction I usually only encounter after watching a really good zombie crushing, or maybe after Thanksgiving. The book is the sort of simple fiction that doesn’t make you think too hard, but still manages to make you notice you’re biting your lip while you’re reading.
McClanahan shows no sympathy for his characters, building the whole story around the most gruesome destructive deaths he could come up with. The zombies are realistic, meaning they’re laughably slow and stupid but still terrifyingly relentless, and they always win. Definitely a fun read. It’s a whole series!
Speaking of realistic zombies, our gallant author took it upon himself to write Appendix Z, a list of (his) zombie characteristics. My two favorite bullet points:
- Zombies who did manage to eat the brains of their victims wouldn’t be much of a threat, since they’d prevent the spread of zombie-ism by doing so.
- Zombies spread quickly because the living are stupid, too.
A man after my own heart. Check out his stuff; you’ll like it.
