Words of their Roaring

Author(s): Matthew Smith

Publisher: Abaddon Books

Publication Date: 2007

Name of Reviewer: Mark “Wally” Wall

Review: Words of their Roaring follows the story of a man called Gabe and his personal struggle through a city overrun with a zombie virus. A virus unwittingly released after an M.O.D backed experiment went extremely wrong. Gabe works for a gang-lord called Harry Flowers who, in all the ruckus and confusion surrounding the city of London, feels it's his time to take the throne... This book was highly addictive and was quite hard to put down in between sittings. Many twists and turns to the story line keep you reading on and wanting to know more about each of the characters' lives. The characters seemed very realistic, up to the point where, when I was imagining them, I was pairing them up to who would be able to play them in a film of the book. This would make a brilliant transfer onto screen, with very little modification to the structure of the story.

 

Zombie Fear Factor: 4 Brains out of 5

Words of their Roaring is certainly not a children's, or even teenager's book. It is most definitely for adults. From the harrowing prologue, it sets a good standard for the rest of the book. The character's do get themselves in some sticky situations, but there doesn't seem to be any point in the book where the main characters seem to be overrun by zombies in your typical “we're all doomed” scenario. I've only given it 4 stars, as there always seems to be a little glimmer of hope on the next page. Either that or I was reading it too fast for the characters to be in a prolonged amount of danger.

Zombie Behaviour: 4 Brains out of 5

Now, I'm split on this one. Without giving too much of the story away, I will use the word ‘evolving'. Although this may make some zombie fans cringe, it really does fit with the story line, so do not be put off. Because of this, I've only knocked off one point, as it really does work and makes for a great read. I'd say it was like all of the stages of Romero's dead series rolled into one book...from the bumbling blue zombies in Dawn, to Big Daddy and his tool wielding cronies in Land, with a little bit of verbal communication thrown in for good measure.

Zombie Threat: 5 Brains out of 5

Got to give 5 stars for zombie threat. There are most definitely millions more zombies than people and the threat of evolution and intelligence on the side of the zombie certainly ups the fear factor.

Gore Content: 4 stars

Gore Content: 5 Brains out of 5

The gore content was absolutely superb. There was unquestionably enough blood and guts to keep any fan of the grotesque engrossed. The descriptions of the scenes were explained well and left enough room for imagination to kick in and complete the whole horrific scenarios. I've given it 4 out of 5 stars, as although there is plenty of gore, it didn't go over the top with it and was well spliced with a good story line. There are no overly shocking parts in the story, where gore would be unexpected.

Overall Quality: 5 Brains out of 5

There is no doubt in my mind that this is one of the best zombie books I have read. I would definitely buy this book and would recommend it to all zombie fans who want a bit of a break from the normal “die-resurrect-kill” stories out there. It's a very well written book and at no point was I bored, or wanting the book to end.

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