The first romantic-contemporary-zombie series?! Possibly.
By Kato's Revenge on March 22, 2016
Format: Kindle Edition
"This is no dream! This is really happening!"
- Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Revenge of Zeeka was a quirky, fun horror tale with zombies at its heart. Like any new born, it can struggle to walk and find its feet. However reading book two in the series (and it's helpful to read book one back too), this is confident storytelling where the author has given us more thrills and twists that might sit well in a longer book. To accomplish this in a novella is quite something.
When book one ended, there was what I would call a 'soft' cliffhanger in that readers would not be annoyed that there was a cliffhanger in itself, because it was a complete tale in itself. Now with Zeeka's Child, the plot revolves around Raynor and Janet, and the serious nature of having to raise a child that is not his own.
This is an interesting concept to feature in a zombie story, which would at first appear to be nothing more than a skin bursting sideshow, and I was a little (just a little) put off by the initial chapter because it seemed more like a romantic interlude than anything else. This is actually a very clever piece of writing by the author, because it is like she is saying 'hey, you know this is a zombie tale, I know it's a zombie tale, but let's confuse the hell out of the readers by focussing on contemporary romance for a while.' This could be the first ever zom-contemp-rom, unless you know of another story like it.
The characters are better realised here too, I like Raynor and Janet, because they act like a real couple - fawning over each other one minute before having serious disagreements. This is actually a lot more fun to read about than experience.
However, both of them are confused, because they have a sense of duty to a child that is disproportionate. However, they have a strong bond with each other. Despite that, they still manage to throw at us a number of twists at each chapters' close.
Throw in the discovery of a necklace by local cop Jack Wildy (who makes a pleasing return from book one) and sidekick / waif with badge Jerry Cole. He plays an energetic, idealistic cop to Wildy's jaded persona. Cliche? Not really. These two really enhance the story, taking it into mystery-crime-thriller and away from zom-contemp-rom land.
The necklace links the mysterious Zeeka with Janet in a way she - and especially Raynor, are not happy about. It also leads into the best question ever asked of anyone in history (probably):-
"Did you know that he had a secret basement where the zombies were kept?"
- cop not expecting to ask this question, ever.
"My God! No! If there were zombies there I would not have gone there."
- Janet affected by the word 'zombie' causes her to spew 'there' several times. As you would.
Right on, lady, right on. Rule number one of surviving a zombie story, don't go to a place where they might convene en masse, playing cards, poker, eating human heads, that kind of thing.
Whilst not as gory / creepy as the first book, it is the better one because the story is more layered, developed and you can identify with the characters more.
It ends satisfyingly, and we get a hint of what might be coming in book three.
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