The Infection (The Infection, #1) in Apocalypse Whenever

Jan 01, 2012 Netanella rated it really liked it

Shelves: zombies, horror, post-apocalyptic

This is not really a zombie book, although it can and has been shelved with most of the post-apocalyptic, crazy cannibals at the end of civilization fiction that seems to predominate my reading list these days.

This book is truly horrific; the writing intense and immediate. DiLouie uses a present tense writing style intermixed with flashbacks from the lives of the main characters that seems to jerk the reader from one visceral scene to the next.

I enjoyed the different take on the zombie - here ...more

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May 09, 2011 Colleen rated it really liked it

Shelves: horror, zombies

A very different book, which is something in a genre filled with cliches. I don't know if this even falls into a zombie classification entirely. It's far more Lovecraftian -- to the point where I personally would have given up very early if I survived the first wave.

The author puts a spin on the usual zombie origin tale, and I always like when authors do this, so I'm not sure why more don't stray from the standard "get bit or scratched, in a few hours, turn, and become slow zombie"--sometimes yo A very different book, which is something in a genre filled with cliches. I don't know if this even falls into a zombie classification entirely. It's far more Lovecraftian -- to the point where I personally would have given up very early if I survived the first wave.

The author puts a spin on the usual zombie origin tale, and I always like when authors do this, so I'm not sure why more don't stray from the standard "get bit or scratched, in a few hours, turn, and become slow zombie"--sometimes you get slow & fast zombies, sometimes turn faster/slower, but that's usually what authors go with. In this book, 1 out of 5 people in the world begin screaming and fall down. They're not dead, but in comas. Naturally, world wide bedlam at this, people go door to door checking on neighbors, and bringing all the "infected" to the hospital or home-care.

Three days later, those infected get up. There's fast zombies, slow zombies, thirty foot tentacle monsters, horned truck sized demons, little scorpion monkeys that impregnate you, humongous worms, gooey egg sacs, etc. Zombies really are the least of anyone's concern. The other thing I appreciate is that so many zombie books involve humanity falling apart immediately, generally from the moment the first zombie shambles towards the Army Guard shack, might as well just begin the stopwatch to totally being overrun--this book does something daring and people actually fight back credibly.

That might be the one part this book overreaches on just a tiny bit-- a cop, a preacher, a teenaged nerd, a school teacher, and a Home Owners Association Vice President would become such an elite fighting team so soon and the amount they fight back. Also the refugee camp having 130,000+. It depicts the awfulness of that well, with the silver lining of people volunteering to do grunt clerical work, I just was doubtful of people holding to together against THAT kind of monsters. But hey, I think author makes a very good case that in the awfulness of situations (like in this book) there are some people that band together and become heroes. It's not cornily done, each of the characters in their own way screws up in the book, and I marveled to myself at points how well he did the characters. Very disparate voices and flashbacks (which I enjoyed), and none of them cardboard or hackneyed. A few parts of the book felt a tiny bit uneven, but overall an impressive entry. I'll have to check out more by this author. ...more

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