Mini-Review: Zombiestan by Mainak Dhar

Synopsis (From Amazon): 

It began with stories of undead Taliban rampaging through Afghan villages, and faster than anyone could have anticipated; the darkness spreads through the world.

In a world laid waste by this new terror, four unlikely companions have been thrown together- a seventeen year old boy dealing with the loss of his family, a US Navy SEAL trying to get back home, an aging, lonely writer with nobody to live for, and a young girl trying to keep her three year old brother safe.

When they discover that the smallest amongst them holds the key to removing the scourge that threatens to destroy their world, they begin an epic journey to a rumoured safe zone high in the Himalayas. A journey that will pit them against their own worst fears and the most terrible dangers- both human and undead.

A journey through a wasteland now known as Zombiestan.

Mini-Review:  A friend recommended this book to me, and since I wrote briefly about a zombie outbreak in Afghanistan in Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator, I figured I should read it.  I was not disappointed.  The plot was one we've seen before:  world is overrun by zombies, but one child may hold the cure so we must get him to safety.  However, I was impressed by the realism of how people handled the situations, from tactics I could actually agree with the usual human stupidity I would expect in a world gone mad.  I also enjoyed the (for me) exotic locations:  Pakistan, Delhi, northern India.  I felt for the characters, especially the Navy SEAL.  (Sentimental me teared up when he did the heroic last stand to buy the others time, and afterward, a general (also a SEAL) promised to search for him.  "We don't leave our own behind.") I will warn you, though:  if you hate head-hopping, then this book might make you dizzy.  Personally, I had no problem with it and thought it kept the pace fast.

Definitely a fun read for zombie fans.

Get it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/ZOMBIESTAN-Mainak-Dhar/dp/098724003X

Top Ten Reasons to Write about Zombies

In honor of Zombie Awareness Month, I present...

Top Ten Reasons to Write about Zombies

(In no particular order, from the home office of Karina Fabian, author of Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator)

10.  They're the next big trend!  Forget your sparkly vampires--maggoty zombies are the hot literary trope in the fantasy horror world!

…okay, this is really a lame reason to write about them.  Write what you enjoy and what's in your heart--make the trend; don't follow it.  However, this is the first time I actually was part of the current, and it's a new experience for me.  Wonder if it will mean much sales-wise.

9.  Need to incorporate all five senses?  Zombie stench makes that easy!

8. There's so much uncharted territory.  Let's face it--if you have to add glitter to your vampires to make them new, the genre's been done.  Zombies are still wide open.  Really--see the guts?

7. No more pressure to put in that sex scene to bump ratings.

6.  You can abuse them freely.  They're dead.  You can whack off their heads without remorse.  Or, if you choose to go for the legs and leave them crawling and groaning "flesh wound!" it's funny. Bonus--the ASPCA doesn't care about them!

5.  Body humor!  No one can lend you a hand with that better than a zombie!  (From Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator:  " He moved in to cover her while she checked out some zombie spoor: dried skin, a rotting finger, what looked like part of a nose.  Must have been some sneeze. ")

4.  Easy to write dialogue for.

3.  What a literary device.  In Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator, I use zombies as a foil to attack some of the finer aspects of society--conspiracy theorist, radical ecologists, activists, etc.  It was a lot of fun to point at these groups with a rotting finger.

2.  When you've explored all aspects of life, what's left?  Oh, wait!

1.  To prove you have the braaaiiiins for it!

Announcing the Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator Book Tour!

By the 2040s, the shambling dead have become and international problem. While governments and special interest groups vie for the most environmentally-friendly way to rid the world of zombies, a new breed of exterminator has risen: The Zombie Exterminator. When zombie exterminator Neeta Lyffe gets sued because a zombie she set afire stumbles onto a lawyer's back porch, she needs money, fast. So she agrees to train apprentice exterminators in a reality TV show that makes Survivor look like a game of tag. But that's nothing compared to having to deal with crazy directors, bickering contestants and paparazzi. Can she keep her ratings up, her bills paid and her apprentices alive and still keep her sanity?



Excerpt:
The workout room had a weights set and an elliptical in one corner, but Neeta ignored them. She needed more vigorous exercise than that if she wanted to burn off her emotional funk.

None of the plebes had done the routine she'd just set for herself. It didn't really reflect the reality of zombie movements, either. Although the crew had designed the targets to look much like actual undead, they moved too quickly, changed direction too suddenly, lunged and retreated in ways zombies couldn't imitate. They zigged and zaggged, dropped from the ceiling to zoom back up, flung themselves from the ground to trip the unwary. For once, this wasn't about training.

Neeta steeled herself, found an opening and dove in with a roar. She swung high, tagging the first zombie with the edge of her blade just as it got within her reach.

This was about reflexes,

She jumped over the arm that sprung up in front of her, doing the splits as she brought down her chainsaw to slice the hand off at the wrist.

…about burning aggression,

She spun a full circle, moving the saw in a sine wave. She took one target out at the knees, sliced another sideways across the chest, beheaded a third.

…about moving beyond thought and planning and negotiations with writers and directors and people who cared more for ratings than lives,

She lunged, spun, kicked and swung, her battle cries a perfect accompaniment to the pounding music.

A buzzer sounded, and the lights brightened and steadied. The targets stopped their frenetic motions and presented themselves for her to examine. She dropped the saw where she stood and braced her hands against her knees to catch her breath. Her arms felt like lead. A good feeling. She moved among the grimacing targets, noting the strikes that would have severed limbs, the ones that would have beheaded... When she came to the long-haired one with the pot belly, she gave a feral grin.

She's landed the blade in perfect position to slice Dave's manic smile right off his face.

Want more fun? Check out the Zombie Death Extreme show website!

Check out the Tour!

17-Oct		www.fabianspace.com		info
17-Oct		http://jaletaclegg.blogspot.com		Interview for Frightliner & Neeta Lyffe
18-Oct		http://rryalsrussell.com/blog/		Try a New Format
18-Oct		http://rosalieskinner.blogspot.com/		Why I wrote a Zombie Book when I Don’t Like Zombies
19-Oct		http://naomi-jay.livejournal.com/		Websites and Worldbuilding
20-Oct		http://museituppublishing.blogspot.com/		how to put on zombie make-up
21-Oct		www.snoringscholar.com		review
22-Oct		www.savvyauthors.com		Making Monsters
26-Oct		http://sallyfranklinchristie.com/wp/		interview
26-Oct		http://blog.sabolich.info		Best job in the world
29-Oct		http://timothycward.com/		podcast
30-Oct		http://shovedtothem.blogspot.com		review, guest post
31-Oct		www.fabianspace.com		What my Writing has done to My Kids

Press Release: Zombies: National Disaster, or Local Pest?

Since the CDC has issues a warning to prepare for the zombie apocalypse, I just had to issue a statement of my own. Feel free to repost on your blogs or wherever! CDC article is here: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/05/18/cdc-warns-public-prepare-zombie-apocalypse/?test=latestnews

PRESS RELEASE

Karina Fabian Kim Richards, Publisher, Damnation Books

2712W 1475N PO Box 3931

Layton, UT 84041 Santa Rose, CA 95402

801-593-0531 707-595-4738

karina@fabianspace.com kim@damnationbooks.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Zombies: National Disaster, or Local Pest?

Layton, UT: When it comes to handling the zombie apocalypse, author Karina Fabian has a little more faith in the government than its own Center for Diseases Control. While the CDC assumes an overwhelming contagion of Zombieland proportions, Fabian's book, Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator, postulates a country where private and government resources rally to tackle the problem.

"Look at how we handled H1N1. As soon as we recognized the problem, we mobilized. From public service announcements to vaccinations, we were on the problem like ugly on the undead," Fabian said.

In Fabian's zombie-infested world, thirty years in our future, zombies had gone from international threat to local pest. How? Federally mandated spine severing to prevent the reawakened brain from making the body move and private- and government-funded research institutes to not only seek a cure, but find more effective ways of battling the shambling undead. (Incidentally, "undead" becomes the official legal moniker for zombies, and the government issues professionals licenses to "re-kill.") Also in the private sector, extermination companies have found a new niche market: zombie extermination.

Of course, Fabian notes that she put in a few parameters to control the spread of zombie-ism.

"I didn't have a widespread sweeping contagion that took everyone at once," she said. "It didn't make sense to me. For the most part, diseases don't work like that, anymore, thanks to human knowledge and intervention. Also, my zombies have a few unusual characteristics that make them easier to manage. They aren't just brain sucking monsters. They have just enough brain function to retain bad habits. A smoker in life will take a pack of cigarettes over brains. TV will distract most zombies. Cleaning products repel them. It's ridiculous, I know, but so are zombies."

Fabian extends that "ridiculous" to include the world's reaction to zombies: zombie rights activists; conspiracy theorists, self-help videos ("You CAN Survive the Zombie Apocalypse!") and the reality TV show, Zombie Death Extreme. (Check out the website at http://zombiedeathextreme.com)

Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator, published in December 2010 by Damnation Books, stars Neeta Lyffe in the first season of Zombie Death Extreme as she deals with maniacal directors, bickering trainees, lawyers out for blood, and zombies out for brains. She's working on the second book, I Left my Brains in San Francisco.

Fabian said she realizes the CDC issued its release as a fun way to draw attention to disaster preparedness. "It's an important subject, especially with all the extreme weather we've been having. However, my vision of a 'zombie apocalypse' is just a bit different--and a lot more fun."

Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator, is available in print or electronic formats.

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Photos, press packages, and more available upon request.