As I have mentioned in a previous review, Zombies seem to have become back in fashion in recent years and never has this become more apparent than in the surge of horror novels dedicated to their subject matter. DEAD CITY is the latest in a long line of Zombie novels and features not the semi-intelligent undead of BRIAN KEENE's imagination but more the classic Romero Zombie as made famous in his Dawn Of The Dead series of movies.

This time around, the pandemic arises after a series of hurricanes tear apart the Texas Gulf Coast. Survivors are airlifted out of the devastated areas but soon reports begin to be heard of the rescuers being attacked by the very people they are attempting to save. It seems a viral or bacterial agent has developed that causes the human body to literally begin to decay whilst stimulating in the victim the need and desire to consume human flesh. It is not long before the disease, spread through the exchange of bodily fluids or by being bitten by one of the undead, begins to spread out of control and before long San Antonio Police Officer, Eddie Hudson, finds himself not just fighting for his life but also trying to save his family caught up in the midst of the epidemic....

Right from the very beginning when Eddie is called out unknowingly to one of the first local cases of infection, the story starts moving at a fast pace that never once lets up for a second throughout the remainder of the novel. All sorts of questions and issues are raised about the Zombie phenomenon through the various characters that Eddie meets during one of the longest nights of his life and the action never falters as district after district of the city becomes overrun. Forget RESIDENT EVIL, this is one of the most realistic outbreaks ever imagined by a horror writer and with it's enviromental overtones and it's clever comparisons to the events that followed Hurricane Katrina, one of the scariest novels you are ever likely to read. Of course you know this is never going to happen and of course Zombies aren't real but then thats exactly what the characters in this novel are thinking before the outbreak takes hold!!!

The writing style is a little basic but that works to the novel's advantage as, at times, it is almost like watching a movie whilst following the action across the page. It is also a relatively short novel so it's not going to take you an excessive amount of time to read this. If Zombies are your bag, then you really need to pick this up!!

My only complaint is perhaps a familiar one and that is that the ending is a little too......neat. It certainly is not as bleak as BRIAN KEENE's CITY OF THE DEAD and there is more hope and optimism in this novel, but everything feels a bit too nicely tied together by the time you reach the end. Still fans of Romero will find little here to be discouraged by and if you can pick this up cheap on EBAY, then it's worth spending a couple of quid on.

Just remember, it's not real; it's only a book-- such a thing could never happen, could it.....?