REVIEW: Extinction Machine by Jonathan Maberry

Todd Jepperson

EXTINCTION MACHINE is the fifth novel in Jonathan Maberry’s Joe Ledger series involving a retired Boston P.D. cop who finds himself at the business end of the Department of Military Sciences. As the leader of Echo Team, Joe is always running full speed into the kinds of things nobody else wants to play with. These are the guys the big guns call in when the situation starts to get out of hand. And when I say out of hand, I’m talking in a bad way: zombies, weaponized eugenics, the ten plagues of Egypt, vampires… that kind of stuff.  

In EXTINCTION MACHINE Joe is charged with the job of tracking down the President of the United States and bringing him back home after he is taken from the White House right under the nose of the secret service. The only clue being the curious, geometric crop circle pressed into the lawn out front.

In the wake of it all, the DMS’ biggest threat, Vice President William Collins, assumes the role of Commander in Chief and pins the whole thing on suspected terrorist, our hero, Captain Joe Ledger. In reality, though, Collins just wants Mindreader. But as long as it remains the personal property of Mr. Church, he’s got no leverage. So, he does what any good leader would do; he paints Joe as the bad guy and goes after it with guns.

As if this day hadn’t gotten bad enough yet, there’s also the issue of the North Koreans, the Chinese, and the rogue, top-secret initiative group M3 all racing to reverse engineer the technology scavenged from the several UFO crash sites around the world in an effort to end the global arms race once and for all. Also the aliens who want their stuff back.

And oh, yeah, did I mention the pigeon drones that can detonate with almost nuclear force? Yeah, those are in there too.

Out today from Jonathan Maberry and St. Martin’s Press, you can pick up your copy of EXTINCTION MACHINE and find out who or what wants the Majestic Black Book and is willing to destroy the world to get it.

REVIEW: 21st Century Dead

Todd Jepperson

If you were visiting the site back in July, you remember our release coverage of an all new anthology, from award winning editor Christopher Golden, called 21^st Century Dead.  If you weren't, then I suggest you go back and read our Roundtable discussion (1 and 2) and catch the free excerpt “A Mother’s Love,” from John M. McIlveen and Criminalelement.com (registration required).

Well, the book is now available for public consumption and it’s a damn fine time for a review…

21^st Century Dead is a perfect follow-up to 2010’s game changing splash The New Dead—which is currently one of the most and highest rated zombie anthologies on Goodreads.com—wherein you will find a nice, tasty assortment of today’s freshest zombie varieties mixed in with a dash of the classic Romero-style Shambler.

Golden’s introduction, "Zombies are Good for You," is a well-crafted prelude to exactly the kinds of things you’ll find inside the book and why he chose to include them. He then steps back and lets you wander through the graveyard he’s created by combining both seasoned veterans of the genre and promising new comers. The writing is fantastic, and right from the very first story, you know why he’s been nominated six times for a Stoker (and won, both on his own and as part of a group) and twice for the Shirley Jackson. He has one of the best eyes in the business for top-quality, captivating work and he’s not about to get out of the habit.

The party gets started with Mark Morris’ story “Biters” where a little girl comes face to face with the father she thought she’d lost years ago and then Morris does something not even the most seasoned zombie reader will expect.

Orson Scott Card picks up the ball and drives it toward the goal in his story “Carousel,” which takes me back to my childhood days of “The Twilight Zone” and pulls the God card in a way I’ve never seen before.

Stephen Susco fumbles just slightly with “The Drop” before Brian Keene and the Stephanie Crawford/Duane Swierczynski duo recover and carry it right into the home territory with “Couch Potato” and “Tender as Teeth,” respectively.

for the MVP, though, I have it as a dead heat between Jonathan Maberry’s "Jack and Jill," a troubling tale of what constitutes “dead” in Stebbins County, Pennsylvania, and Thomas E. Sneigoski’s seriously unbelievable “Ghost Dog and Pup: Stay.”

Other notable entries include S.G. Browne's "Reality Bites," "Antiparalellogram" by Amber Benson, and the one-of-a-kind "Why Mothers let their Babies Watch Television: a Just-So Horror Story" by Chelsea Cain.

Considering you should be able to land the paperback for right around ten bucks, there is no way you could ever go wrong dropping your hard earned cash in exchange. If audio is your thing, you should be ready to pay about twice as much, but even for that price, you will be very happy with your purchase. Keep your eyes on the award circuit for 2012 horror literature, this is definitely a title you’ll be seeing more of. 

Definitely,

Dead&Gone

Todd Jepperson

How did Riot escape from the Night Church? How did she survive the Rot & Ruin--and the horrors of her own past? There's only one way to find out...

Grab your very own eBook copy of the all-new 80 page prequel to the next in Jonathan Maberry's  Benny Imura series, Flesh&Bone (which drops on Sept. 11th, 2012), at your favorite online retailer today.  Inside, you'll get to know a girl called Riot who's on the run from zombies and an extinction cult through the great Rot & Ruin.  

21st Century Dead Roundtable Part 1

Todd Jepperson

Today, we have the privilege of providing you with part one of our Zombies & Toys roundtable discussion of 21^st Century Dead, featuring a couple of old friends and  a few new ones.

JONATHAN MABERRY is a New York Times best-selling and multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning horror and thriller author, magazine feature writer, playwright, content creator and writing teacher/lecturer. His books have been sold to more than a dozen countries. Notable contributions to the zombie genre are his Joe Ledger novels Patient Zero and the forthcoming Code Z, his Benny Imura series for Young adults, and the gritty thriller Dead of Night. He can be found at his website jonathanmaberry.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jonathanmaberry, and on twitter at… you guessed it,   www.twitter.com/jonathanmaberry.

S.G. BROWNE is the author of the novels Breathers, Fated, and Lucky Bastard - dark comedies and social satires with a supernatural edge. His short story collection, Shooting Monkeys in a Barrel, contains ten twisted tales and is available as an eBook. He loves dark comedies, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and is a sucker for It's a Wonderful Life. Check him out at his website sgbrowne.com and on twitter at www.twitter.com/s_g_browne.

RIO YOUERS has drawn praise from some of the most noteworthy names in the speculative fiction genre. He is the author of two novellas, Mama Fish (Shroud Publishing) and Old Man Scratch (PS Publishing)—the latter earning him a British Fantasy Award nomination in 2010. Rio was born in Amersham, England, but has been living in Ontario, Canada, since 2001. He can be found at his website rioyouers.com and also on twitter at www.twitter.com/rio_youers.

STEPHANIE CRAWFORD is a monkey riding a bomb into hell. always the fifth coolest person at the library. also: writer. Find her and links to all of her future endeavors by crawling over to her twitter page at https://twitter.com/_mos_stef_

We threw them all the same few questions, and the creature that came to be is the monster that follows.  Enjoy!

ZOMBIES&TOYS: To get started, why zombies? What do the shambling hoards of not-quite-dead stir up within you that gets your motor running?

JONATHAN MABERRY: I’ve been a fan of the zombie genre since before the genre had a name. I was there at the Midway Theater in Philly on the world premiere of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, October 2, 1968. I was ten and I snuck in with a buddy of mine. The movie traumatized him, giving him years’ worth of nightmares and turning him into a neurotic bed-wetter well into his twenties. I stayed the see the movie twice, and came back every day while it was playing. I love my life-impaired fellow citizens.

As a storyteller, zombies offer a wonderfully blank canvas.Once introduced they represent a massive, shared threat that’s so big it impacts the lives of every single character in the tale.Once that threat is established, the zoms often take a back seat to the much more interesting drama of disparate characters interacting during a time of great stress. That also allows for the ‘zombie’ to act as a stand-in for anything we’re afraid of, from political corruption to psychological disintegration to the fear of disease. Everyone I know who writes zombie stories comes at it from a different angle, proving that the genre is enormously elastic.There are no shortage of original stories that can be told in a world of zombies.

S.G. BROWNE: Why zombies? Because I saw Night of the Living Dead on Creature Features when I was eleven years old and I fell in love. The fact that they used to be us, that we could become a zombie simply by the act of dying or becoming infected by a virus, is a compelling scenario. What gets my motor running is exploring what happens to us when we come back from the dead, how we deal with the fact that we’re reanimated corpses, and playing with the social dynamic of a scenario in which zombies have been integrated into society.

RIO YOUERS: For me, zombies symbolize degeneration: of life, society, health, even the ozone layer. As a writer, there’s so much to work with … so many fears to amplify. But forget all that interpretive hooey … sometimes it’s fun just to watch dead people walking around.

STEPHANIE CRAWFORD: Like many, I grew up watching zombies as a kid - catching the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD late on television was always a thrill. Once I got old enough to stop having to sneak the stuff from my parents, the sheer breadth of what creative types could do with the concept seduced me. From the gory, goofy fun of NIGHT OF THE CREEPS to reading stacks of serious-minded zombie books reviewed in the Nightmare Library sections of old issues of Fangoria, there was always something to keep me obsessed. Once I discovered Lucio Fulci it was all over for me.

I'm also the type that sees a staggering amount of connections between zombies - their infection, isolation, decay - and how the chronically ill are treated in modern day society. Being able to delve into that, then being able to watch cartoons about zombies on Youtube immediately after... that's pretty great.

ZOMBIES&TOYS: There was a time when there were only two choices in the world; fast or slow. Today, these monsters can fill any shape you stuff them into. What is your personal favorite brand of zombie, and why?

JONATHAN MABERRY: I like any kind of zombie that can scare me. Romero scared me with slow shamblers in NIGHT and DAWN, and Bob Kirkman made them scary in THE WALKING DEAD. Zack Snyder scared me with fast zoms in the DAWN remake. And the infected humans model (THE CRAZIES, 28 DAYS LATER) is even scarier because that’s more scientifically plausible.

As a pop culture geek, I did whichever kind of zombie works best in any given book, movie, comic or TV show.

As a writer, I vary on which kind of zom I use based on how I want to build suspense in my stories. I’ve used all kinds of zoms: slow shamblers (ROT & RUIN), fast zoms (PATIENT ZERO), both kinds (DEAD OF NIGHT), and even super-powered zoms (MARVEL ZOMBIES RETURN).

S.G. BROWNE: While I enjoy all types of zombies, I tend to prefer stories told from the zombies’ POV. Rather than being the villains, they’re the heroes and I like having things flipped around to provide a different perspective. Plus most zombie stories aren’t really about zombies—they’re about the breakdown of society and how people deal with the problem of zombies. So I write stories about zombies and how they deal with the problem of people.

RIO YOUERS: I like the slow, shambling zombie. They may not be as threatening, but they have a kind of helplessness and repetition that gives me a serious case of the heebie-jeebies. They also seem more … well, dead. And that’s the whole point of a zombie, right?

STEPHANIE CRAWFORD: I'm partial to the charming, (barely) semi-coherent zombies. I have a not-so-secret crush on Bub from DAY OF THE DEAD, and the gang of ambulance ordering undead in RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD is something I've always found charming. Then again, maybe I'd just prefer someone still have to ability to have a sense of humor while they were gnawing through my skull on the off-chance that it might soften the blow a bit.

ZOMBIES&TOYS: Contrary to recent headlines, the fact remains that zombies are not real. However, we have been shown many scenarios that could possibly spawn a true life zombie apocalypse (virus, infection, etc.) in the future. Is this strictly an imaginary scenario for you or do you feel the need to make some type of preparations? If so; what are they?

JONATHAN MABERRY: Even though I’ve conjured up some pretty plausible scientific explanations for my novels (PATIENT ZERO, DEAD OF NIGHT, etc.), I don’t think we’re in any real danger of a zombie apocalypse. Certainly not with anything that Mother Nature cooks up, no matter how cranky she gets. Of course, it’s inside the realm of possibility that a designer pathogen could be concocted to approximate the symptoms consistent with zombies. However, it isn’t likely. Terrorists are more likely to simply blow stuff up.

That said, it is very likely that we might face some kind of global pandemic that is so aggressive and contagious that it has an apocalyptic quality. A weaponized version of Ebola would do it. It wouldn’t turn people into flesh-eaters, but everyone could become a carrier, so in a very real sense the infected would be an ever-growing plague army. Infrastructure would collapse as soon as health care workers, police, EMTs and the military became infected – and since they’re on the front line, that is going to happen. So, apocalypse? Yeah. Possible.

The best preparation we can make is to educate ourselves on the proper use of antibiotics (so we don’t eradicate our own immune system), quarantine protocols, hygiene, basic health, and first aid. And we could all take some workshops on cooperation. That’d keep things from spinning out of control when the lights go out.

S.G. BROWNE: I tend to believe it’s more imaginary than realistic, so I don’t really have a zombie apocalypse contingency plan. But if the walking dead did become a reality, I’d likely grab my Camelback, Louisville Slugger, a pair of comfortable shoes, my leather backpack, and several pair of clean underwear. Just in case.

RIO YOUERS: Yeah, my plan is to hide behind Brian Keene and let him do the fighting. It’s cowardly, yes, but smart; Brian has written so much about zombies that I figure he knows what to do. He also has guns. Lots of guns. And heavy metal music. What could possibly go wrong?

STEPHANIE CRAWFORD: Assuming that it IS fact they're not real (ASSUMING), I think it's entirely possible our frail human bodies could be manipulated and ravaged very quickly and society could go sideways almost immediately. Saying that, life is too short even when things go reasonably smoothly for me to get too gung-ho with preparations. I do have some friends that are well-stocked, however, and I fully intend to always let them know how delightful they are and how dearly I treasure our friendship.

ZOMBIES&TOYS: If the world finally does fall to pieces and you find yourself surrounded by masses of the hungry dead, how long do you think you would survive?

JONATHAN MABERRY: I’ve been a martial artist for nearly fifty years, and I’ve worked variously as a bodyguard, self-defense instructor and trainer for all levels of law enforcement including SWAT. I’m damn good with any weapon, and particularly handy with a katana. I can also get moderately cranky if my loved ones are in peril. So, if it comes down to any kind of apocalypse, I’m going to make it to safety with my family. Anyone who wants to come along is welcome to join us, but I give this warning: if there’s one of those cranky, loud-mouthed clowns in the party, I’m feeding him to the zoms so the rest of us can get away.

S.G. BROWNE: I’d like to think I’d be pretty crafty and would be able to navigate the zombie apocalypse with some common sense, considering I’ve seen enough movies on the subject. So I give myself a pretty decent chance of survival. I’d probably be more likely to die at the hands of some gun-toting douche bag who wants my supplies before I’d get eaten alive by a hungry zombie.

RIO YOUERS: See question #3. I’ll survive forever, unless I switch Brian’s Anthrax CD for my Captain and Tennille. Then he’ll shoot me himself.

STEPHANIE CRAWFORD: Unless zombies are into slapstick and crave vaudevillian entertainment, I’m pretty sure I’d die within minutes. As much as I enjoy zombie survival tales, I don't think I'd have much interest living in a world filled with rotting bodies, chocolate factories shut down and the only available soda being flat.

ZOMBIES&TOYS: Finally, do you have any other projects on the horizon we should keep our eyes out for?

JONATHAN MABERRY: The third in my series of post-apocalyptic zombie novels for teens debuts in September (FLESH & BONE), and I’m currently writing the last book in that series. I’m also working on MARVEL UNIVERSE VS THE AVENGERS, a mini-series that will launch around Halloween. And my first anthology as editor, V-WARS, just debuted, which is a shared-world vampire story.  Also…we’ll be making some noise soon about a movie deal.

S.G. BROWNE: I’ll be releasing a Christmas themed zombie novella titled I Saw Zombies Eating Santa Claus that’s a sequel to my debut novel Breathers and takes place nearly a year after the first novel left off. It’s scheduled for release November 13, 2012.

RIO YOUERS: My new novel, WESTLAKE SOUL, hit bookstores recently, and the reviews so far have been outstanding. I have a bunch of short stories coming out in various anthologies, and I’m about to start work on a new story with fellow 21ST CENTURY DEAD contributor Mark Morris. And if all goes well, there should also be something new from Cemetery Dance in 2013

Check back in tomorrow when we wrap up with Part 2 of this discussion featuring Simon Green, Daniel H. Wilson, and John M. McIlveen and stop in and make sure your favorite retailer is preparing for the release of 21st Century Dead! 

Book Review and Contest: Dead of Night by Jonathan Maberry

Todd Jepperson




How does the world end?

On the eve of the destruction of one of the most abysmal human monsters to ever live, Dr. Herman Volkner is finally able to put the skeletons in his closet to bed. He’s the physician in charge of administering the lethal injection to the despicable Homer Gibbon, who’s responsible for the deaths of so many men, women, and children it’s easy to lose count.

Instead of administering the triple phase cocktail of sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride, Volkner instead introduces Gibbon to a top secret CIA bioweapon; codename Lucifer. The drug is a mix of the Coupe poudre, Toxoplasma gondii, Dicrocoelium dendrictum, and Euhaplorchis californiensis all swirling through the eggs and larvae of a hypermetabolic version of our old friend, the Emerald Cocroach wasp.

The bad news is, a little too late we find out that the bad guy actually had someone who cared step forward and claim the body. Instead of being sealed into a cheap box and dropped in a hole out behind the prison, Gibbons is instead transferred to a mortuary in rural Pennsylvania where the alarm clock goes off and he is once again free to go about his business. His morning snack is quickly followed by the second course cleaning lady, and then it’s off for a little walk to meet-up with Aunt Selma.

Desdemona Fox and JT Hammond of Stebbins PD are called in to investigate a break-in and they instead find breakfast and lunch pointing them to a bloody trail of footprints which lead out the back door. JT goes to check out the trail while Dez takes up the gloves and fills in for round two with Gibbons’ lunch and we get front row tickets to the end of the world.

Remember when I told you that Maberry was good? Well, let me clarify that. After taking home the 2006 Bram Stoker award for Best First Novel (Ghost Road Blues, Pinnacle Books) and 2007 Bram Stoker for Nonfiction (The Cryptopedia, Citadel Press), He thought he’d add a New York Times Bestselling Author credit to his list (The Wolfman, TOR.) His Joe Ledger books have been optioned for production by various big players and he’s firing from both barrels for Marvel Comics (you’ll have to click each word separately for complete awesomeness.)


Debuting at ZomBcon in Seattle, The first thing I have to say about this novel is that it’s probably the most uncompromising piece Mayberry has released to date. The sober realities of the end of all things are pretty clear in this book. I can’t really get into specifics without spoiling the un-characteristic twist at the end, but what I can say is that things are not pretty in Stebbins, folks. Dead of Night is no roller-coaster; it’s a pedal-to-the-metal journey through the genre like you’ve never experienced. Expect language, gritty violence, sexual themes, and horror. The book will drive your mind and heart through the gauntlet and then leave you shaken.

Available in hardback, TPB, and Ebook formats everywhere October 25th, 2011. Pre-order today from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or your favorite local bookseller. And one lucky Zombies & Toys reader will win a first edition copy signed by Jonathan Maberry himself. Entering is just as easy as you’ve always had it, just send an email to maberry@zombiesandtoys.com with your name and address. We’ll draw the winner in two weeks.

This is how the world ends. Not with a bang, but with a bite…

Jonathan Maberry NY Times Bestseller and Multiple Bram Stoker Award winner
ROT & RUIN -available from Simon & Schuster
THE KING OF PLAGUES -March 29 from St Martins Griffin
WANTED UNDEAD OR ALIVE -available from Citadel Press
MARVEL UNIVERSE VS THE PUNISHER -available from Marvel Comics
Website & Blog: www.jonathanmaberry.com
www.facebook.com/jonathanmaberry www.twitter.com/jonathanmaberry
PROUD Member of The Liars Club, http://liarsclubphilly.com

Joe Ledger: The Missing Files

Todd Jepperson


Remember our review of Patient Zero, the novel by Jonathan Maberry? Well, in that book, we learned all about a Baltimore P.D. Detective named Joe Ledger and a top secret branch of government called The Department of Militarty Sciences. In Patient Zero, Ledger is up against Seif al Din (read: the zombie plague); in The Dragon Factory, it’s eugenics; and in King of Plagues it’s a whole new level of evil revisited with the 10 biblical plagues of Egypt. Joe’s been around and killed them all; or has he?

Coming soon, from Blackstone Audio, is Joe Ledger: the Missing Files. This audio anthology, read by Ray Porter, will contain five short stories detailing how the boss of Echo Team spends his free time.

Countdown is a prequel to Patient Zero where you can learn all about Joe’s big promotion.

Zero Tolerance is an audio version of the sequel story to Patient Zero which appeared in The Living Dead 2; the DMS gets back to work on Seif al Din and wraps up all the loose ends.

In Deep, Dark, Joe finds himself about a mile underground on assignment to contain a military experiment gone tragically awry.

Material Witness will have fans of Maberry’s first horror series riding shotgun down memory lane when Joe visits the creepy little town of Pine Deep where “nothing is what it seems.”

Also included will be the exclusive, and all new, Dog Days. In the wake of personal tragedy, Ledger takes some time off to get himself a little R&;R; hunting the world’s most dangerous assassin.

This anthology is set for release on the first of August, 2011. You can snag your own copy either on the Blackstone Audio site or Amazon. Don’t miss it!

JONATHAN MABERRY is the New York Times bestselling and multiple Bram Stoker Award–winning author of Ghost Road Blues, the first of a trilogy of thrillers with a supernatural bite. A professional writer and writing teacher, he has sold more than one thousand articles, seventeen nonfiction books, six novels, and two plays. Check him out at http://jonathanmaberry.com/

Zombie TV: The Dead About to Rise

Todd Jepperson



Kids, get your living room furniture arranged and Homer Simpson style ass groves all warmed up for fall. And who doesn't enjoy some quality undead television?  I am obviously excited as we’ve got three big shows coming our way. By big, I mean I have no idea what the shows will be like. Everything is really preliminary at this point and we’ll just have to see how things turn out.

First up, we have something called Awakening coming to us from teen network sensation The CW (90210, Gossip Girl). Details, as of now, are few and far between; but, it seems like the show will coat-tail two sisters’ broiling hostilities during the beginning of the Zombie Apocalypse. I’d expect this show to be quite a draw for the ladies, and fellas, we’ll let you know who they cast as the two strong female leads.

Next, we have a project which was picked up recently by NBC titled Zombies vs Vampires which sets two cops in a world filled with animate cadavers; the catch? One of the cops is secretly a Vampire. The cops are assigned to a specific division of law enforcement whose task is to deal specifically with Zombie crime. Created by McG, the dude who brings us Supernatural (my favorite TV show of all time… if you throw away everything after season 1), this actually shows some potential. The thing that worries me; however, is that it’s a CW production. Expect heavy censorship and a timid approach to the Undead on mainstream network television.

Last, but certainly not least, there are very few details about a Sony Pictures Television show called Department Zero; a spinoff of Jonathan Maberry’s novel Patient Zero, which will chronicle the activities of the Department of Military Sciences. I assume this will contain Zombies; but, not have them as the central theme. Expect CSI meets the Walking Dead meets Sleeper Cell. All I know, from all my digging, is that the script was on the desk of ABC execs, and they passed on it to do another remake of Charlie’s Angels . . . Yeah, really. Anyway, I think we have some pretty reliable people who are eager to break the news to us as soon as there is any news to break; so we’ll let you know as soon as we can.

Let’s hope these shows are half as good as they could be. The CW has had some on and off luck, with me, in the past, and NBC gave us The Office. So all hope is not gone. If and when these shows hit the airwaves we’ll keep you in the know.

Patient Zero Review

Todd Jepperson

What does it feel like to kill the same guy twice in one week? Joe Ledger knows. His swat team hits a terrorist juncture in a warehouse where all hell breaks loose. He ends up putting four men down in the sting and still manages to drag his shredded buddy, Jerry, back outside after his shield gets torn up by a Chinese QBZ-95. The strange thing about the ordeal isn’t that he had to shoot somebody. He’s Baltimore P.D. He’s used to that. It’s that there were only twelve dudes in the room when they kicked it down; but, there were thirteen when it was all over. That last guy is the only one which caught him off guard; the sicko actually tried to bite him. When thirteen makes a move for one of his partners, Ledger puts two rounds from his .45 into the guys back.

Fast forward a few days and Joe gets nabbed by three goons in suits and shades. They throw him in a car and drive him about 100 miles down the road to a building he’s never seen before. They leave him in a windowless room to wait a couple of hours and then send in the boss. Mr. Church, they call him. He’s hard as a hammer and pulls no punches. After a few minutes of interesting dialogue, and a few cookies, he gives Ledger his “audition”.

In a room similar to his interrogation room, sits a man at a table. Joe simply has to go in, subdue the guy, and walk out. Simple, yeah? Not by a long shot. The moment Ledger gets close, the man springs on him; number thirteen. The guy should be in a box buried under a nice field of fresh cut grass right now; but, he’s snappy as a spring chicken. After one of Maberry’s marque throw downs, Ledger finds out exactly what Mr. Church wants with him. There’s a new face behind global terrorism, and they’re looking to release a Prion disease, which they call Seif al Din; or, Sword of the Faithful, at a conference in D.C. The disease is a combination of fatal familial insomnia and some naturally occurring aggressive parasites which cause the dead to rise… hungry. They plan to set the world on fire and dance in the shadows of its destruction.

This book is what got me into reading Maberry. The reason I picked it up, back in ’09, is because I was in the market for a new zombie book after The Zombie Survival Guide and I’d started to hear buzz about this Jonathan Maberry dude. He’d won multiple awards, including the Bram Stoker award for best first novel, and he was an 8th degree black belt in Jujitsu. I figured I’d give him a try; It was a great decision.

Patient Zero is the first book of real-world fiction novels about Detective Joe Ledger (followed in 2010 by The Dragon Factory and in 2011 by King of Plagues). The things in the book aren’t real; but, the situations are too close to science fact to ignore. There’s even a flyleaf disclaimer at the beginning of the book to which lets readers know no matter how real it sounds, it’s not… yet. Expect violence, picturesque brutality, sexual themes, language, and everything that goes with it. Definitely not for the kids.

Sadly, Zombies are only the theme of the first book; the second dealing with Genetic Splicing and Eugenics and the third to deal with a remix of the Biblical plagues. Still, you’re gonna wanna pick these up. You won’t regret it.

Don't forget to read our review of Rot & Ruin and enter to win a copy!

Rot & Ruin Book Review and Contest

Todd Jepperson

Remember that first summer job? The one that was the greatest job on earth until you showed up and actually had to work? Benny Imura does. In the town of Mountainside, where Benny is growing up, when you turn 15 you get a job; or you try to get by on half of what you need to survive. The community is trying to rebuild after the Zombie Apocalypse, and every able-bodied member of society must contribute.

Benny and his buddy, Chong do what I would’ve done at 15 if I had to find a job; they open the newspaper and cut out want ads. They order them from highest “cool factor” to lowest, and get to work. Along the way, they try their hands at just about everything you can imagine; locksmith, fence tester, fence technician, carpet coat salesman, pit thrower, crank generator repair… the list goes on. In Mountainside, there are a lot of jobs which need doing, and a lot of them could get you killed or infected; so it takes time to find the right one

Benny’s stepbrother Tom is the envy of Mountainside. He’s a bounty hunter. Neighbors pay him to risk his life out in the vast spaces of what used to be the United States to “quiet” their loved ones. Benny doesn’t understand what the big deal is about Tom. He thinks Tom’s a coward. His earliest memory in life is of Tom running away while his parents are chewed on like peppered jerky in the house he used to live in, before everything went to hell. Of course, he wasn’t quite two years old then; but still he remembers. To him, the real heroes are guys like Charlie Matthias and the Motor City hammer. Those dudes are rough and ready with stories to tell about their adventures outside the fences. They’re all about dirt, scars and money. They’re the cool ones; not Tom. When he’s all out of options; though, it’s take over the family business, or starve. He begrudgingly resigns himself do whatever Tom does out in the great Rot and Ruin; he’ll smash a zombie and take home some cash.

Once there, Benny gets a taste of what the world is really like. He finds that there are people who would rather live with the undead than the living; because they feel safer that way. He finds out about a special little piece of hell called Gameland where horrible people take kidnapped children from the scattered remnants of society and make them fight to the death against zombies for fun. He learns about the savage “Lost Girl” who’s lived outside civilization her whole life, and he learns who Tom really is; and why he is the town hero.

Benny Imura is a believable kid who I found myself growing attached to. He just can’t bring himself to admit that since his friend Phoenix, (“Nix”) has grown up a little; He’s really started to like her. He tells himself dating her would be like dating Chong just to keep a cool head. He wants only to collect zombie cards, and daydream with his buddies, Chong and Morgie, about adventuring together outside the city gates. When Nix gets into trouble; however, all of that goes out the window. Benny and Tom set out to fight monsters, real monsters, and do a lot of that coming of age stuff along the way. It’s not about the end of our world, it’s about the beginning of theirs.

Before I tell you what made me like this book, I have to come clean. This is the eighth piece I’ve read by Maberry. If I had a favorite author, it would be this dude. It’s gonna get all fan-girl gushy, and you’re gonna have to read his work on your own to find out if I’m right. That being said, I don’t get paid to make it sound good. It just is.

My favorite thing about his writing is the way Maberry makes you feel what it’s like to get into a struggle for your life. He has black belts and years of martial arts training he can’t help but to put on paper. I’ll try to stop oozing after this; but, Jonathan Maberry’s fight scenes are the best I’ve ever read. You won’t find any flying, sparkling, pretty boys in a dance battle here. There are no fireballs, no smoke and mirrors, and no fluff. You have monsters being shredded, and people being shot, stabbed and sliced into a bloody mess. Main characters can take a hit just like anybody else. If they get cut, they bleed. If they bleed too much, they die.

Another thing that I love is how it feels like Jonathan Maberry is really in the business of telling stories. He doesn’t fill pages and pages with wordy explanations or descriptions of simple things. A blue sky is a blue sky. We’ve all seen it, and we don’t have to be told exactly what each cloud looks like. His stories are direct, fast paced, and plot driven. There is a setting, conflict, rising action, climax, and resolution; and he gets it done in less than 500 pages.

As A zombie nut, I loved the new insight he’s given me on my favorite monster. The reason he can write so clearly is this guy knows what he’s talking about. He’s done his homework and studied this stuff more than I care to imagine. You can tell from his writing that he has considered every possible angle he could come from, and chosen the best one. I like my zombies single-minded. I don’t like zombies that talk, think, or create. Zombies are a base instinct driven natural disaster with no mind for self-preservation or purpose. Maberry’s zombies are exactly what I want to see. They’re a plague. They don’t act; they react. They are the ultimate freakin’ horror machine.

That brings me to my disclaimers: Although this is a YA novel, I happen to know from the author, that this wasn’t written specifically to target the genre. The original story was written in a darker short form and called Family Business. That being said, this book has realistic violence and gore. It also has a little bit of language laced in here and there, and there is the occasional suggestive theme. I’d say this is probably a mid-teen level book. I plan to read it to my son way before then, but I’ll have to do some on the fly editing when I do.

So, who wants a free book? Just as you’ve come to expect, entering the contest is easy. Send an email, with your name and address, to rot@zombiesandtoys.com. We’re gonna leave this contest open through the end of next month. If your number comes up, we’ll let you know via email and glittery contest update here on Z&T.

If you’ve read this far, and can spare three more minutes, check out the Simon & Schuster promo featuring the author himself below, enjoy!

Zombie CSU: The Forensics of the Living Dead - review

David Brown


How many movies have you looked at where you have thought “I don’t think this is realistic” or “I would do things differently if that were me”? Do you look for realism in everything zombie related rather than suspend your belief? Do you wonder how things would really work out during the zombie apocalypse including how it would start and the potential consequences? If you said yes to any of these questions than look no further that Zombie CSU: The Forensics of the Living Dead written by Jonathan Maberry, author of many horror novels and a winner of the Bram Stoker Award for best nonfiction title with his book The Cryptopedia: A Dictionary of the Weird, Strange & Downright Bizarre.

In Zombie CSU, Maberry sits down with many experts in various fields including priests, religious historians, forensics experts, law enforcement officials, doctors, filmmakers, and members of the media. During this time he crafts a zombie attack scenario in a realistic setting and examines all sides of the case. He starts out with discussions on police investigation techniques and the time-frames for evidence collection, crime scene set-up, and initial search for “patient-zero”. During each chapter Maberry looks first at the facts, recounting the scenario he sets up as well as looking at public domain information on the subject being discussed. He then goes on to a section detailing conversations with expert witnesses, talking with each about the techniques they currently employ in real world scenarios. He finishes up each chapter with a look at how the experts would react in a world where the dead rose.


As stated earlier in our review, this book deals with everything related to a “realistic” zombie attack. Sections covered include (in order): the previously mentioned crime scene unit and evidence collection, medical examinations of the living dead, zombie forensic psychology, police tactics, spiritual and philosophical implications of the walking dead, legal ramifications, armed and unarmed combat, news reports, and zombies in pop culture. Each section is masterfully written, including conversations with many experts from different fields. Maberry does not just sit idly and talk to one expert in each section, he looks at each piece of information from a number of different viewpoints and allows the reader to draw their own conclusions based on what experts in each area have to say.

Maberry may have his name as author but the book in not filled with just his thoughts. Scattered throughout the book are a number of conversations on many topics whether it be legality in dealing with the living dead, sections of zombie trivia questions, or continual conversations on whether experts prefer fast of slow zombies. For a typical author this would be enough, but Mabery goes a step further still by showcasing not only conversations with a number of artists on their reasons for becoming interested in zombies, but their artistic creations such as drawings, paintings, or photographs. Each artists and expert is given the same amount of consideration which truly adds to his credibility as an author.


Through reading the book you come to realize a number of things about yourself. This book makes you play through the scenarios in your head and rethink everything you have thought. It also does a great job of squashing any fears you may have regarding zombies. I don’t want to spoil anything, but just know that this is a must read book if you are a zombie fan. It takes everything you think you know about a zombie apocalypse and puts it into a real world perspective. The superb writing and excellent illustrations do a great job of making this a must own. If you are able to get this do so as soon as possible, you will not regret it.