[Review] - The Fucking Zombie Apocalypse
By Bryan Smith
By my count, this is Smith's 41st published work and I guess he wanted to celebrate this by putting the word "fucking" in one of his book titles. As he should. The more that I think about it, the more I believe he should've put this word in all of his titles: Fucking Kill For Satan!, Fucking Merciless, Fucking Depraved, Slowly we Fucking Rot, etc. This man has waved the extreme horror flag for a long time and has always been amongst the best in this subgenre.
So what's the deal with The Fucking Zombie Apocalypse? Probably not what you think. Well...it does have zombies...aaaaand the apocalypse. Ok, ok, it is sorta what you'd expect. What is remarkable here is that Smith manages to avoid most zombie novel tropes. Is there a group of survivors banding together? nope. A parent trying to find their kid (Although I did like The Rising)? nope. A scientist trying to figure shit out? nope. The Fucking Zombie Apocalypse is about a guy with a crazy fucking girlfriend, a fucking hamster, and fucking Satan. I think you're onto something here, Bryan. It's fun to type this word.
This is a short (115 pages) and fun read. My only problem with the book is that it wasn't quite as captivating as the last few that I read from Bryan (Merciless, Kill For Satan! and Dead Stripper Storage). Maybe the book is too short? The reader may have benefitted from a tiny bit more fleshing out of the relationship between the protagonist and his girlfriend. Maybe a bit more from the girlfriend's perspective also? I'm not sure this would've been possible and still keep the breakneck pace of the book. Nevertheless, if you're a Bryan Smith fan, you really should read this. Release date is January 30th, from the one and only Grindhouse Press!
To sum it all up: guy + crazy girlfriend + hamster + Satan + zombies = The Fucking Zombie Apocalypse.
Grade: C
Review by Jason Cavallaro
Twitter: @pinheadspawn
I received a copy of this book from Grindhouse Press in exchange for review consideration.