Review: Roads Less Traveled, by C. Dulaney (review by DeadVida)

Roads Less Traveled: The Plan

C. Dulaney

Paperback: 236 pages

Publisher: Permuted Press

Pub Date: August 24, 2011

ISBN: 9781934861998

This novel is a great example of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. While my suspension of disbelief never fully engaged, my bullshit-o-meter remained relatively silent. I found myself engaged in the story and tore through the book in two sittings.

I could nitpick – too many 20-something characters, first-base sexual tension, omniscient characters – but that seems unfair because this is actually an entertaining zombie novel that takes some unexpected chances. It marriages, at once, brutality and common sense with a smidge of touchy-feely without venturing over to the land of pointless nihilism. And the dog lives.

The outbreak occurs and Ben, a college student in Pennsylvania, contacts Kasey, an online friend living in West Virginia. They had a plan for this and begin to enact it. As one would expect in a world now teeming with the living dead, nothing goes as planned. Instead of just Ben, Kasey, who is anti-social and dealing with unspecified anxiety, welcomes a group of strangers into her home. She lives in a remote farm house nestled against the Monongahela National Forest that is a survivalist’s dream home.

Conflict, of course, arrives with her visitors – internally and externally; dead and living. The characters are both stupid and too smart, but the mixture keeps this from tilting either way. Dulaney attempts to create complex characters and some are better realized than others. For comparison’s sake, Brian Keene often creates one-dimensional characters, but Colson Whitehead’s Mark Spitz was fully three-dimensional. Dulaney’s characters hover around the 2-2.5 mark. There was more character back story that was alluded to, but perhaps cut. I was left with a few questions. Or maybe she just isn’t done introducing us to her characters. I’m curious to see if they go fully 3-D with the next installment.

This may seem like an odd or disparaging comment, but this would also be good for a YA audience. I mean this in a complimentary way. The main character is a strong, self-sufficient young woman; someone who I think would resonate with either gender. The sex is implied behind closed doors. There is strong language, but nothing they haven’t heard before. There is violence, but it has repercussions. And no sparkly vampires.

Overall, rollicking bit of zombie lit with plenty of action, blood, and coffee. And yes, I am heartened by an apocalyptic world where coffee still exists.

Review: Infection, by Craig DiLouie (by DeadVida)

INFECTION

By Craig DiLouie

Paperback: 296 pages

Publisher: Permuted Press

Pub date: February 22, 2011

ISBN-13: 978-1934861653

Imagine if you will standard (almost) zombie fair – outbreak, unexplained violence, mass chaos, group of unlikely survivors banding together – only the story is somehow the unlikely lovechild of THE BREAKFAST CLUB and H. P. Lovecraft. In that description I offer praise, as well as some criticism. There is a lot to like here and the overall story and pacing engaged me as a reader. Some of what I found original was also some of what frustrated me, so make of that what you will.

The story starts with 20% of the world’s population screaming and then going into comas. A few days later they awaken and begin attacking the rest of the population. We then meet a group of survivors, and their stories are told in flashback as the novel progresses. This was handled well and the flashbacks even managed an organic, at times nightmarish, feel. We meet Ethan, the high school math teacher, dealing with his missing wife and child; Paul, the former reverend, who is searching for god; Anne, the most inscrutable character at first, who is carrying more baggage than most; Sarge, an Army man just back from Afghanistan and fighting a new war he understands even less; Wendy, a young cop from Pittsburgh unsure of herself; and Todd, a high school junior who seems to cope better than most because of his age and ability to disassociate and skill with FPS games. Together, they attempt to find safe haven and eventually flee Pittsburgh in Sarge’s Bradley tank as the city burns.

The survivors go against zombie movie conventions and attempt to take refuge at a hospital. It is here that the book kicks into high gear and deviates from the standard viral zombie storyline. At the hospital we learn that there are “things” now infesting the earth – worms, parasitic monkey-like creatures, and “demons.” The characters offer theories, but these are never explained and their “otherness” felt Lovecraftian to me. I couldn’t tell if I liked this and the possible explanation or if it was superfluous. Regardless, they are creepy. I mean, as if fighting deranged, infected humans wasn’t enough! Furthering the creep factor is that children aren’t infected – they are simply killed and eaten.

Each character has had his or her purpose in life destroyed or altered, and DiLouie attempts to show the characters as they struggle with this new reality. They each try and find reasons to live, knowing they have the very real option of just giving up. The individual characterizations were decent, especially given the amount of action in the book. It often seems that authors choose one or the other. In my option, action is meaningless if there is no investment in the characters.

It is dealing with who the characters were and who they are now, as well as the almost forced intimacy that steers this into THE BREAKFAST CLUB territory. I mean, we all know that they went back to ignoring each other on Monday, right? These characters had nothing in common before and the sense that they were one big family after two weeks felt contrived. As individuals, DiLouie put a great deal of effort into their characterizations. I wish he would have done the same with the individual and group dynamics.

This passage is a good example of what many of the characters are going through, “We try and live with as little pain and as much pleasure as possible. But pain makes us realize we are alive. We truly live one moment to the next when we live with pain. When pain stops, we become afraid. And we remember things that we do not wish to remember that are themselves painful.”

I am curious if there is a sequel planned and if certain things will be explained. Overall, this is a worthwhile addition to the genre. 

Z.A. Recht, RIP

Z. A. Recht, author of Plague of the Dead and Thunder and Ashes passed away recently. This talented young man will be missed by many. 

There is a lot of discussion on these two message boards:

http://permutedpress.com/smf/index.php?topic=7125.0

 

http://morningstarsaga.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=4025085&trail=25

His family has set up a non-profit memorial scholarship fund. Donations may be sent to: Z A RECHT SCHOLARSHIP-MEMORIAL FUND
P O Box 193
Bunker Hill WV 25413