GREAT READS

Breathers: A Zombie's Lament

S.G. Browne.

In his new novel, S. G. Browne shows us that just because a person has been killed in a car accident, re-animated, and lives in their parent's wine cellar doesn't mean they can't feel the pain of discrimination.  It doesn't mean that a person can't fall in love with a vixen of a suicide victim. It doesn't mean they can't hunger for a better life, and an occasional taste of breather. In Breathers: A Zombie's Lament we see the world through the undead eyes of Andy, previously a normal contributing member of society.  Now he is a "card carrying member of the undead," whose life has been reduced to awkward weekly meetings of the local Undead Anonymous chapter.  Unfortunately life as one of the undead is anything but anonymous.  Andy and the other members of his group face fraternity brothers who purloin zombie limbs as part of their initiation ritual, and walking through town can get a decent zombie carted off to the SPCA.  This dark comedy is filled with the trials of the post-deceased, offering a new perspective on the classic zombie image and a unique set of dramatic issues.  After all, who else has to decide if they should eat their parents after they wake up on the floor to find they have killed them and stuffed them in the freezer?  As Andy would say, if you've never read a darkly comic book written from an average zombie's perspective you probably wouldn't understand.  Are you hungry for more zombie action?  Check out World War Z by Max Brooks, or another new release, Patient Zero by Jonathan Mayberry. The Living Dead offers short stories on the subject by famous authors like Stephen King and Neil Gaiman.

Recommended by Megan Willan