136 pages, Sonar4 Publications
Review
by Hereward L.M. Proops
A
year or so ago, one of my short stories was published in an anthology of
Western horror titled “Throw Down Your
Dead”. As much as I am proud of my own story, I wouldn't really recommend
searching out the collection as much of it was pretty awful. However, one of
the stories in the collection struck me as being really rather good. It was set
in an alternate-history Wild West where zombies are a commonplace nuisance.
Indeed, the problem is so widespread that the government hires men to hunt down
and exterminate any rogue zombies. The most deadly of all these
government-sanctioned gunslingers is the tall, dark and mysterious Zombie
Killer Bill. E.M. MacCallum's short story was a well-written pulpy romp with
enough wry humour and blood-soaked gunplay to keep me thoroughly entertained.
When I heard that Sonar4 Publications was bringing out a novel-length
adventure, I was intrigued and bought a copy as soon as it arrived in the
Kindle store.
As
you might well have guessed from the title, “Zombie Killer Bill” is not a particularly sophisticated work of
fiction. Indeed, you can probably guess from reading the title alone whether
you'd enjoy this story or not. Those who enjoy daft genre-mashing tales will
undoubtedly find something in this novel to applaud. Those in search of
intricate plotting and deep characterisation would be best off searching
elsewhere.
This
isn't to say that MacCallum totally neglects plot and character in pursuit of
fast-paced gory thrills. With the luxury of a longer narrative, the author is
able to give Bill a bit of a back-story as well as a comedy sidekick. The plot
isn't especially complicated but the central mystery is unravelled at a decent
pace, culminating with a suitably blood-splattered showdown at its climax.
What
sets “Zombie Killer Bill” apart from other zombie westerns (a genre which, I am
very glad to say, appears to be growing in popularity all the time) is the way
in which MacCallum takes the traditional zombie-virus outbreak and gives it a
few subtle, but noticeably unique, tweaks. There are different classes of
zombie in MacCallum's book. “Legals” are humans who have been infected with the
virus but have not yet succumbed to its full effects. They remain physically
able and cognisant but they lose the ability to heal from any injuries. Worse
yet – further bodily and mental degeneration awaits as the disease takes fuller
hold of them. The unfortunate victim of the disease can go one of two ways.
They can turn “Illegal” where they become a classic drooling, shambling,
flesh-eating undead beastie. Alternatively, they become “Slaves”; mindless but
ultimately docile zombies able to follow simple commands and carry out menial
tasks. Slaves are rounded up like cattle and set to work on farms or
plantations until their bodies rot into nothingness. Zombie Killer Bill's job
is to hunt and destroy any illegal zombies and to monitor any outbreaks of
illegals on the huge slave farms. Like all great anti-heroes, Bill has a secret
he wishes to keep hidden from the world... he is a legal zombie himself,
anxiously biding his time and wondering which way he'll go when he finally
turns.
“Zombie
Killer Bill” is a lot of fun but suffers from a curse that blights so many
Kindle books. Although Sonar4 Publications have done a decent job of editing
the text of the novel, the page layout is all over the place. Whole paragraphs
are shifted halfway across the screen and between chapters we are treated to
large numbers of blank pages. It is a simple enough thing to fix when
converting the document into the fiddly .mobi format that Kindle uses and there
really is no excuse for such sloppy formatting when there are so many helpful
(and free) guides available on the internet.
If
you are willing to see past this technical oversight and are looking for an
undemanding piece of entertainment, you could do a lot worse than “Zombie Killer Bill”. It is just such a
shame that Sonar4 Publications are charging quite a lot for the Kindle
download. At ￡3.82, they are charging customers
substantially more than many independent publishers would dare and this,
unfortunately, seems destined to condemn a fun little book to total obscurity.
Hereward
L.M. Proops
No comments:
Post a Comment