Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I am a huge fan of all things zombie, and to be honest, this has sometimes made me fall prey to less than well written, self-published, needs-actual-editing, type of novels. Lacking depth and, at times, imagination, these books left me feeling a little brain dead myself upon their completion. FINALLY I found the Kenemore! I have been a fan of his humor books from the beginning (starting with The Zen of Zombie), these books are pro-zombie and very tongue in cheek type of humor (comparing Jesus to a zombie, oh my!) And while these are humor books, I have always found them very thoughtful and well written. I have also read some other Scott Kenemore work which was published in the Kenyon Review a while back, and it wasn't a zombie story at all, but about a man tattooing a dead body. Scott Kenmore's a writer capable of many layers, and I believe he especially proves his mastery of the horror genre itself in his latest, and first, full length novel. Zombie, Ohio is a rip roaring fun, tearing up the country side with my zombie horde at my back, in this ultimate "I was raised from the dead and I can still think" adventure type of novel! Wow, that was really a mouth full!
Zombie, Ohio had me chuckling with it's asides to HP Lovecraft (where was the meteor reported?) And it's knowledge of everything from local folk lore (Wild Black Turkeys representing some type of witch?) to the intimate layout of the Ohio countryside. This book was well thought out and planned in three parts. I believe you could actually make a study of some the additional symbolism that Kenemore uses in the book, but you also would need to be aware of his allusions to Zombies in pop culture (movie references throughout also). . again, this is a novel with many layers, on the basic level it is a book about a sad, alcoholic professor who loses his life in a zombie outbreak and finds himself a lucid zombie. But on another level, it is about a man who finds himself ineffectively prepared to live courageously until he becomes one of the undead, and then, we find he is not only effective but indestructible and fearless! Scott Kenmore's novel is also the first "pro-people" Zombie novel I have read, where the people keep it together and adjust and fight the zombies back, another statement of social commentary? And that's not the only example throughout the book of social commentary, and no it is not all positive either.
I would also like to give a big nod and a chuckle to the "first time" scene. . ahh Kenemore says, you never forget your first time. Stinking hilarious! Also, because I am also a baseball fan, the reference to the minor league ball team "The Kernels" was very well received by me! Again, this book had many layers, including it's final part labeled "redemption" which ends without such a thing, if you ask my opinion (I will not give it away, this is a MUST READ, not only if you like zombies but if you enjoy horror at all!) left me very thoughtful and also feeling like Mr. Kenmore was making a statement without ever saying a word. . perhaps, in the end, there is no redemption for any of us, except in death? hmmm. . . ?
This is it guys and gals, the Zombie novel you have been waiting for and craving. . . with BRAINS!!!!!
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