Sunday, May 01, 2011
Michael Allen
The novel Monster Island was first published by David Wellington as part of a serial online; this was back in 2004. A couple years later, Monster Island was published by Thunder's Mouth Press and Wellington has gone on to produce other titles in this series, including: Monster Nation and Monster Planet. Now, this zombie thriller gets the 28DLA book review treatment and this novel, mostly set in New York, is especially interesting, due to its development of several interesting rotting villains. In this novel, the undead come in all shapes in sizes, with one man, Dekalb, standing between them and humanity's destruction. And mankind always triumphs, right?
More than half of Monster Island is devoted to the malefactors and their desire to wipe out humanity from the face of the earth. A disease has done much of their job for them, but one man, Gary, sets his goals on becoming one of the undead and later, his ambition temporarily makes him The Undead King of New York. His ability to continue thinking into the afterlife allows him to speak, long after his pulse has stopped. This makes him a resource for several recently arrived Somali schoolgirls, who are looking for a cache of AIDS fighting drugs in the local area. Imagine being able to walk amongst the undead, without having to worry about being infected. However, Gary's abilities do not benefit this group long and nor their leader, Dekalb, as Gary has his own plans for his growing powers.
Who is the oldest zombie around? Jesus and Lazarus are good guesses, but think of the Pharoahs and their post-life state. Mummies play a big part in Monster Island, as they plot to "close the book on humanity." However, they are a little rusty at the whole ruling-the-world deal. To become more prominent in the later books, these undead Egyptian kings bring a greater and darker consciousness to Gary. Later, they turn on him, as millions of the undead build new pyramids in the middle of New York's Central Park.
Finally, the millions of the undead inhabiting this metropolitan center are the crux in Dekalb's simple mission, of returning AZT-like drugs back to a diseased Somali warlord. They are especially troublesome, with Gary now controlling them through telekinesis and telepathy. They hinder the protagonist at every turn, as several Somali fighters, all female, reduce their massive numbers through accurate AK47 gunfire. The final chapters include a giant zombie, seven foot tall mummies and a super-sized Gary. All of these villains must be faced by simple blood and bone, with the results understandably tragic.
While unfamiliar with Monster Nation and Monster Planet, Wellington's first novel, Monster Island was read ferociously by this zombie fiction fan. Read in only a couple of days, Monster Island will fully immerse horror literature fans in a New York breaming with death and post apocalyptic destruction. Wellington leaves enough loose ends to tease readers into the sequels, but the novel here is constructed in such a fashion - to leave readers with a sense of satisfaction. Violent, and innovative, Monster Island will keep fans reading late into the night, where every sound from outside amplifies the tension in Wellington's excellent zombie novel.
Characters/believability: 7 (talking zombies? sure, I believe it, multiple characters, fleshed out properly).
Story/structure/suspense: 7 (some late suspense, leading to the finale, develops linearly, no noticeable plot holes).
Overall: 7 out of 10 (a good read, enjoyable).
David Wellington's website is located here:
The Official Website of David Wellington
All three of Wellington's book in this flesheating series are listed below:
Advertise Here - Contact me Michael Allen at 28DLA
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Posted in: 2011,book cover,book review,new york,new york city,zombie,zombie book review,zombie hordes
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