Fighting to Survive

August 15, 2011
First self-published in 2009, this revised and expanded edition continues the story begun in July’s The First Days. When the world was overrun by zombies, a small group of quick-thinking survivors led by construction worker Travis converted a building site into an ad hoc fortress secure against the ravening hordes. Now overcrowded and pressed for supplies, the survivors must clear and secure the zombie-infested hotel next door while dealing with internal divisions, profound survivor’s guilt, troubled romances, and a heavy-armed, brutally predatory biker gang. Centering on the travails of close friends Jenni and Katie, Frater’s novel explicitly draws from Romero’s works while developing optimistic themes untapped by the pessimistic filmmaker, embracing the possibility of creation even in the face of the end of the world as we know it.

September 15, 2011

At first, Jenni assumes her abusive husband is being his usual sadistic self. It's not until he begins devouring their three-year-old son that she realizes something is terribly wrong. Soon enough her entire family is both reanimated and ravenous, and Jenni flees. She's rescued by Katie, a passerby in a pickup truck, and the two women join forces to embark on a Thelma and Louise-style odyssey into Texas hill country. Together they slice a swath through hordes of fleet-footed zombies to seek safety with other survivors in a small fortified town. In the sequel, the two find nothing is easy in this violent new civilization. The survivors labor to expand and fortify their territory as the world disintegrates around them, but these days the danger is greater than ever as the women and their men face off with human outlaws, a mysterious vigilante, and the ever-present zombies. Meanwhile, power struggles and tensions among members of the community threaten to erupt and destroy the safe haven they have built.

Frater gained a significant Internet following when she published this zombie trilogy (the conclusion, Siege, is scheduled for May 2012) as an online serial, but her work is less effective as novels. Many of the characters are flat, the dialog is often trite, and, at times, the writing is reminiscent of a PG-rated romance, a style that blends poorly with zombie fiction. On the flip side, the author has fashioned some great action sequences featuring a pair of tough but sexy female protagonists who divide their time between kicking zombie butt and making out with their respective beaux. Good for fans of the undead who like lots of hugs and kisses during their zombie apocalypse.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.