Deathbreed: A Review POSSIBLE SPOILERS

[deadwrtr]

Deathbreed: A Review By Deadwrtr Deathbreed: A Zombie Novel. 2007 Written by Todd Tjersland. Let me start by saying I hated this book. I hated the characters, the dialogue between the main characters, hell, even the setting rubbed my senses raw, like sand in my urethra. A deja vue mind screw like you wouldn't believe. The book irritated me in many ways, but most probably because I couldn't put it down. Yep. There it is. I couldn't put the damn thing down. The story takes place in 1991, shortly after the Rodney King Fiasco, which plays nicely into the theme. The location is Olympia, WA in a convenience store called the Lucky Mart. Several details in the story brought me back to that era, a literal time travel in culture. I thought this was a great idea, of which the book had many. It was scary, funny and thrilling all at the same time. Oh, it had problems. I could barely stand the main character, and so wanted him to be eaten by the zombies that were so late in arriving. You knew they were coming, but they didn't even show up until page 73, and even then you couldn't be sure. Jimmy Nyberg, world class loser and the guy you can't help but hate is the main character in this story, and throughout the book he refers to women as bit*hes and ho's, p*ssy and so on, and his main drive, even during the zombie apocalypse was to score with any woman who caught his eye... even if she happened to be dead. He hates everyone, feels "retards" should be put down at birth and throughout the book, this becomes a mantra. Jimmy is plagued by something akin to irritable bowel syndrome (which is explained, unnecessarily in great detail several times in the book) which becomes a serious threat to his well being. Small details about Jimmy's home life are explored, the author dropping little tidbits of information about how poorly he was raised, but by the time this info was provided, I couldn't care less and kept reading in hopes of finding some zombie mayhem perpetrated on this loser. His boss is a racist scumbag who you just know is going to buy the farm. The author makes it very clear right away that Bryan, owner of the Lucky Mart, hates everyone who isn't pure and white. This theme went on a bit too long and started to make me wonder if it was ever going to end. Page after page of racist ranting continued, and at certain points I just skipped ahead. Hey, I'm as tolerant as the next guy, but I learned a few racist tags that I didn't know before after reading this book, and I hate that. A character I wish had been developed more was that of Ace, Jimmy's sidekick of sorts who is a cross between the Fonz (of Happy Day's fame), Vinnie Barbarino from Welcome Back Kotter and the worst wigga' you ever set your eyes on, yo. (the author's description...) It was an odd mix, but it worked. The preview of the next novel (aptly named Deathbreed II) seems to focus a bit more on Ace and his adventures outside of Jimmy's shadow... I'll be looking into that when it becomes available. The zombies were modeled after those in Romero's universe, fast moving (referred to as Fast Eddie's by Jimmy... a name that didn't really catch but did make me giggle as I remembered my Iron Maiden days) zombies shortly after infection, then shamblers later in the game. The explanation for the resurrection was hinted at, but wisely, the author didn't give a reason for the zombie surge, letting the reader form his or her own opinion. The descriptions of the zombies were dead on, the author nailing the tiny details that made the zombies scary. Throughout the book are props to Romero, a nice touch. The zombie attacks were fantastically orchestrated; I could almost feel what the main character was feeling, his hopelessness, his absolute terror. Fantastic writing here. His little nicknames for the zombies were excellent. Boob job, Barbeque head, Frenchula. All these names will make sense once you read the book. The book was weak in some areas and excelled in others. It's strength came from the fact that the author doesn't really care if you like the characters or not. If they offend, then they did their job. And believe me, they are offensive. I'm not a zombie, but I would have taken great delight in tearing out the throat of the main character with my own teeth. And I do recommend reading it. It's a great story, one I loved to hate. You will too. Give it a chance. 3.5 stars out of 5

[DrSiN]

I just finished it as well but I certainly could put it down. In fact, it took me a week to finish because I could only stomach it in small doses. I'm 100% with you that the characters (and indeed the whole story) is a racist spew of vial and stupidity. I didn't care for or believe any of them. Having racist characters that mean something to the overall story/plot is one thing. Having them for the sake of having them is another. There was a hint of good story telling in the scene at the taxi office but the rest was just horrible. Had he managed to keep up the pacing and tension of that scene, the book might have worked. And while horror is certainly filled with examples of people doing stupid things, the characters in this book don't do ANYTHING intelligently. Believability rates a -2 here! Overall, this book felt to me like the kid in jr High School who constantly talks about how he keeps nailing older women. The characters are beyond juvenile and the story goes nowhere (literally). Overall, I'd give it a 1.5 out of 5 and .5 of that is for the interview at the end. Fo real, yo!

[Danny]

sounds...bad, to put it midly.

[capncnut]

Damn.

[kortick]

well you are either "persons agressive and not polite" (to quote hues, get used to this saying cuz i like it) or this book isnt all that great i dont know if the racist stuff would bother me as i know some really rude people who have done worse in real life than these people but i dont want to read a boring book some day i may tell about my friend who worked at walmart in the pet dept and the little black kid who kept pestering him and what he did and see if it is worse than this guys fiction I guess the question is: is it as good as WWZ?

[Huescacho]

Bad book, no?. The charcters always are doing stupid things in the movies... This is a normal thing (it's very sad). Why always the writers/productors, etc... think that we are stupids?.

[DrSiN]

well you are either "persons agressive and not polite" (to quote hues, get used to this saying cuz i like it) or this book isn't all that great I am certainly a person who says exactly what I think without sugar coating anything. Take it as you will. I guess the question is: is it as good as WWZ? No, but then there hasn't been a zombie book in a while that stands up to WWZ. Bad book, no?. The characters always are doing stupid things in the movies... This is a normal thing (it's very sad). Why always the writers/productors, etc... think that we are stupids?. I don't mind characters doing stupid things if in the overall story line those stupid things have a reason (push the plot forward, etc). The characters in this book far exceed the threshold for that. In my opinion of course. Btw... I wasn't really offended by the racism. As I said, if there was a reason for it it's fine. The problem here is it's both excessive and pointless and it made the reading tedious. When he diverged from it, the story and the writing improved 100%. The problem was he did that only once (basically the preview). That section (which btw, is why I bought the book to begin with) shows the author has potential. It's just disappointing that the rest of the book didn't maintain it.

[kortick]

it cant be a bad book he said about himself "my genius will eclipse the sun" http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0864672/bio scroll down and see

[deadwrtr]

I am certainly a person who says exactly what I think without sugar coating anything. Take it as you will. I don't mind characters doing stupid things if in the overall story line those stupid things have a reason (push the plot forward, etc). The characters in this book far exceed the threshold for that. In my opinion of course. Btw... I wasn't really offended by the racism. As I said, if there was a reason for it it's fine. The problem here is it's both excessive and pointless and it made the reading tedious. When he diverged from it, the story and the writing improved 100%. The problem was he did that only once (basically the preview). That section (which btw, is why I bought the book to begin with) shows the author has potential. It's just disappointing that the rest of the book didn't maintain it. The racist thing really bothered me too, and yes, the characters did a LOT of stupid things (especially that idiot Jimmy). BUT, you have to admit the character was memorable, even if the memory is one of anguish and regret that he didn't at LEAST get bitten or scratched by one of those infected. Now that the big racist is out of the way, perhaps the next book will focus a bit more on character development (outside the realm of hater of all things not fitting in the tight package of Jimmy-normal). Overall, I liked the idea of the book, certain potions of the story and the zombie interactions. If the author had focused more on those areas, the book would have been more of a short story, but perhaps a bit tighter. There are some that might say, "There's nothing new here" but I like stories of zombie mayhem, even if they seem a bit redundant. Look at a large majority of the stories in the archive here. Obviously this sort of scenario has great appeal to people, otherwise there would be a lot more variations on the theme. Mistakes were made, but I truly did enjoy the book, racist rants aside. I cheered when the racist loser got what was coming to him. If it had been a character I didn't really think about, I doubt it would have had the same impact.

[Fleshmunch]

I ordered a copy today. I'll try and post a review after I read it. **fingers crossed**

[Todd Tjersland]

Thanks for the feedback! It's nice to get a mix of opinions from folks who liked it (Deadwrtr, even if he had some problems with it) and those who didn't (DrSIN). It's all valuable where the sequel is concerned! You can also post reviews and opinions on my Deathbreed forum at www.ZombieNovel.com

[HLS]

well you are either "persons agressive and not polite" (to quote hues, get used to this saying cuz i like it) or this book isnt all that great i dont know if the racist stuff would bother me as i know some really rude people who have done worse in real life than these people but i dont want to read a boring book some day i may tell about my friend who worked at walmart in the pet dept and the little black kid who kept pestering him and what he did and see if it is worse than this guys fiction I guess the question is: is it as good as WWZ? LOL. Nacho (hue) has a wonderful way with words. yes? Thanks for the feedback! It's nice to get a mix of opinions from folks who liked it (Deadwrtr, even if he had some problems with it) and those who didn't (DrSIN). It's all valuable where the sequel is concerned! You can also post reviews and opinions on my Deathbreed forum at www.ZombieNovel.com Ahhh. A Newbie for me to torment( j/k) I got to get this book.

[Huescacho]

Yes, Kortik spoke very well... He said that I'm very cool, but he too... In my firsts posts, I don't knew that Kortik was a black man, but a few days ago, I discovered it for his posts, and I think that it isn't important. Import the attitude...

[capncnut]

Import the attitude... Couldn't agree more Nacho.

[Fleshmunch]

I got my copy yesterday. All I can say is WOW. I'm really enjoying it!! I don't get the big problem some people had with the two racist characters, Jimmy and his boss. What they say (at least so far) isn't anything you don't hear on South Park, Dave Chapelle or Carlos Mencia. I used to work at this one place and the guys there talked pretty much non-stop all crazy like that every damn day. So I don't get the problem. Besides, you know they are going to get eaten by zombies or shot or something for being such jerks in the end. The more trash they talk, the more you look forward to see them get killed. I don't know. Does that count as suspense? LOL It takes awhile to get to the zombies as others said but I enjoyed the story even without them. I was laughing my ass off at all the stupid sh*t Ace and Jimmy were saying. When the zombies DO show up, it is scary as hell!! I got a few hundred more pages to read before I can say for sure but right now this book ROCKS!!! Definitely different but I guess not for everybody, but what is?