Book Review: " Z " by Michael Thomas Ford

THE FIRST RULE OF TORCHING:

CLEANSE WITH FIRE.

Josh is by far the best zombie Torcher around.  At least, he is in his virtual-reality zombie-hunting game.  Zombies haven't existed in the real world in more than 15 years, and the battle to defeat the devastating zombie epidemic is now the stuff of history lessons.  Or so it seems.

When Josh accepts a coveted invitation to join an underground gaming league in the dark, forgotten, tunnels of the city, he soon realizes that hunting zombies is not all fun and games.  Real blood is spilling, members of the team are disappearing, and the zombies in the game are acting strange.  And then there's the matter of a mysterious drug called Z.....

MY REVIEW:

Alright, well I got this ARC from Harper Collins and to be honest, I kind of put it aside for a little while as I usually have zero interest in Zombie books.  I don't know what it is but I just never got into them.  The typical "story" of zombies is kind of boring.  I mean, they're just dead, ugly, things that walk around and moan all the time, right??  Anyway, I happen to pick this up one day to just test the waters.  I actually liked it a lot because it wasn't your typical Zombie book.  That said, I thought it was pretty cool.  

Josh is the main man here who sort of is addicted to this zombie video game.  He plays all the time with his good friend from school, firecracker.  What is hysterical (and kind of pointless) is that they refer to the zombies they kill in the game as meatbags.  Sorry, had to tell you.  Anyway, Josh is really good at the game and end up gets recruited by Charlie, who happens to be like the best online player Josh has ever seen.  Charlie recruits Josh to the underground zombie fighting game which is supposed to be simulated and created by this tech junkie named Clatter (he wears a long coat and keeps keys to just about everything in his coat, hence Clatter).

In this "simulated" game, Josh and a group of existing team members have to go around cool, desolated areas of the city to mach playing zones and torch the zombies.  The zombies are nothing more than mechanical targets (walking and moaning) that clatter has created.  The deal is rich people come and bet on the torchers to see who can get the most kills, etc.  

Strange things seem to happen to Josh's team mates while playing the game.  It appears some get bit by these fake zombies and for one reason or another get hurt and need to take a break from playing.  Something that Charlie introduces Josh to is a drug called Z.  Z takes your mental status and sort of makes you think, act and behave like a zombie in order to heighten your senses for the game.  The questions is, what is Z?  What's up with the "dummy" zombies?  They act awfully weird.  Where do all of Josh's teammates disappear to? What is so weird about the torcher's torch shooting real fire out of it and torching the simulated zombies?  Ok, so that was a bunch of questions, but the good news is that the answers to all of them are in the book and they will not disappoint you!  

Again, I am NOT a fan of zombie books and there is a good chance that unless there is a part 2 to this series, which I believe there will be, I don't think I will be reading too many other zombie books.  So, if you are looking for a fun new read that is actually different from the usual, give this one a shot when it comes out.  I believe it's due out in Sept of 2010, which is right around the corner!

Enjoy!

Dave

BTW, had to sneak it in, but I believe ARC's of James Dashner's " The Scorch Trials " are in the mail!!! WOO HOO, GO DASH!  I can't wait!  So many !!!!!!!  Am I excited about this?  Naa, not that much...  cough cough (chokin on my words!)