PLAGUE OF THE DEAD

(The Morningstar Strain)

Author: Z. A. RECHT.

Publisher: Permuted Press

Publication Date: 2006

Name of reviewer .... Debbie Graves

Review: The Morningstar virus is claiming victims worldwide turning them into the living dead. It spreads fast & furious leaving few survivors in its wake. We follow the stories of several groups of people and their battle for survival- The well known news anchor woman who realises there is more to the disease than she is allowed to broadcast. This causes her to dig deeper and end up in a very dangerous situation. The doctor from the U.S Army infectious disease institute who knows all about the virus, but struggles against the Authorities. The General and his few remaining troops trying desperately to protect the survivors as well as themselves. We also get to know civilian survivors and their stories - the family & friends they have lost to the disease & their desperate attempts at survival. It is a very addictive book- very easy to read and fast paced. The main characters are realistic and you get to know them very quickly.They are a good mix of personalities- all of them fighters with no silly "girly" types, so you are rooting for them all the way!

I liked the fact that there was a mix of both fast zombies - "Sprinters" and slow moving ones - "Shamblers" making the survivors have to work twice as hard to outrun them. The settings are well written too- you pick up on the tense atmosphere, the fear and suspicion of the survivors, the derelict, deserted towns & buildings providing both shelter and hiding places for both the survivors AND the Infected! I also liked the fact that once bitten, the victims don't turn into zombies straight away- instead they become carriers, and like all good diseases it takes time to develop and take them over.

There are plenty of twists and turns as the individual stories unfold- with plots and sub-plots to keep you turning over the pages!  I was pleasantly surprised that there were no rude bits too! (I do feel that some authors tend to put these in to "pad out" the stories and distract the reader from the main story!) I liked the use of computer screen email format. I felt this made it more realistic, and you can put yourself in the position of the characters they were sent to and from. I felt that it was a very up to date story and the disease and the way it spread was very believable. The Infected themselves, both the way that they became infected, the way they were during the infection and the way they spread the infection were also very believable.

I felt that the gory bits could have been more elaborate- I felt that they were glossed over a bit too much, or even missed out (as in the case of one of the main characters that one moment was on a mission to get supplies, the next minute he's returned to the others and has been bitten)- we don't get to "see" what happens to him, we just hear a very short account of his attack when he is asked what happened.

Although ,on the whole I really enjoyed this book, and got into the story very quickly, I must say that I was a little disappointed by the ending. I felt it was a little abrupt and, dare I say, a bit rushed too. I felt as if there could have been at least two or three more chapters. The pace right from the first few pages was very fast moving, and all the plots and different characters that evolve keep you wanting to know what's going to happen next, but then it suddenly seems to stop.  Maybe that's because I wanted it to keep on going!! I suppose this means that it has left it open for part 2 (3 & 4!!), I even thought that the Epilogue could have tied up a few more loose ends than it did. 

I have been left wanting more- let's hope there is very soon!!

 

Zombie Fear Factor: 4 Brains out of 5.

The fact that there are more than one type of Zombie to contend with, makes the fear factor difficult to pinpoint. The "sprinters" are very fast moving Zombies. They appear from nowhere and are difficult to outrun. They are vicious and show signs of intelligence which gives them a very high fear factor. The "shamblers" on the other hand, are a more traditional, slow moving Zombie. They are not quite as scary as the fast ones- but are still just as threatening. While the characters attention is on the fast ones, these slower ones get in the way and catch them unaware.

Zombie Behaviour: 4 Brains out of 5.

Again, as there are two different types of Zombie and they behave quite differently, I will rate them as a whole. The "Shamblers" are slow moving Zombies. They still eat flesh, rip bodies apart and attack the living, but at a much slower rate! They do show a glimmer of intelligence in the way they seem to follow on from the "Sprinters" but they behave more as individuals. The "Sprinters" seem to be the more violent, vicious ones. They show signs of intelligence, but in a believable kind of way- by this I mean that they act more like wild animals, moving in packs, giving out warning cries, attack calls etc. They also set booby traps and ambushes.

Zombie Threat: 5 Brains out of 5.

I have given this a 5 star rating as the way they are portrayed is a bit more believable than some Zombies I have seen. I think the fact that there are different levels of infection makes the threat of the disease more intense. Once bitten a victim can carry on almost normally for quite a few days before the disease begins to take hold- this increases the rate at which it spreads. They are almost normal human beings, then slowly start to show the symptoms then suddenly change- this means it is very difficult to control as carriers can pop up anywhere by surprise. Once the disease takes hold it spreads extremely fast because the carriers become the "Sprinters" so move very fast. Once the "Sprinters" are killed, they in turn become "Shamblers" which means they have to be killed twice!

Gore Content: 2 Brains out of 5.

I must say, I was very disappointed by the gore content. I thought there were plenty of opportunities when the author could have gone into a lot more detail about the injuries being inflicted. There were a couple of places I thought the gory bits were missed out altogether! The bits that were mentioned were quite subdued, they just got going with the description of the pain and the actions of the attacker, but were cut short by an interruption, or trailled off. I suppose this was to encourage the reader to use their imagination, but I (being a true gorehound) was left feeling a bit let down!

Overall Quality: 4 Brains out of 5.

I would definitely buy this book, but it would be in the hope that there will be sequels and therefore start a collection. On the whole I really did enjoy reading it, and got through it very quickly! It kept me wanting to keep going as long as possible and was fairly difficult to put down. Although I have given it a poor Gore-star rating, I still feel it was very well written, and did have enough gory bits to keep me entertained, all-being a little too tame for my personal taste. I would recommend it to other people (in fact my Hubby is about to start reading it now, as he picked it up & flicked through it the other day & it got his attention- a very rare occurance as he doesn't read many books!!)  

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