Recommended to me by a close friend, Keith C. Blackmore’s sprawling zombie survivor series recalls early Herbert and King and zips along at a pace that even Patterson would be proud of.
First (self)published in 2011, the story of a grumpy old man, yep, he lives on a mountain, slowly drinking himself to death is not exactly the rip-roaring adventure that most would be wanting to settle into.
However, as the wider world in which our ‘hero’ Gus inhabits begins to open up, the full scale of the post-apocalyptic atrocities awash in the zombie-ravaged streets becomes horrifyingly clear.
Characters are as you may expect for a zombie feature: men are grizzled, tough as boots and so full of testosterone that they may explode from their puffed up chests at any moment.
Our main hero, for example, has managed to survive an incredible amount of injury and Blackmore likes to talk about ‘balls’ an awful lot.
And it is true, that in earlier entries in the series, female characters are poorly written, serving as sexualised objects for the male antagonists, but Blackmore does add layers to returning characters such as Amy and Collie as the books develop in later chapters.
Blackmore’s vision of the future is relentlessly bleak and he spares no details when covering the violence and horror that human and zombie foes wreak on the living.
It can be claustrophobic at times, the unrelenting doom having rare moments of respite, and, yes, at times the structure is clunky, but for fans of this genre, there is much to love.
R.C Bray’s dusky narration on the audiobook can also rankle those who do not appreciate the American’s burr.
The Mountain Man saga is available via Blackmore’s home page and on a number of audiobook libraries.
