"That life was over. Mankind had destroyed themselves, and baseball along with it. There was nothing left to cheer for. No more heroes."
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Me and the Undead by Frank Omar Trafford Publishing
book review by Wendy Strain
Full of all the requisite gore of a true zombie story, Omar explores the true nature of monstrosity in his newest novel. Which is the true evil? Is it the hidden psychopath within the mind of an outwardly calm and quiet banker? Is it the tempestuous relationship between two people who love to hurt each other? Is it the uncontrollable urges of a pedophile? Or is it the moaning, groaning hordes of zombies just waiting for the chance to grab a bit of fresh meat who also managed to bring about the end of the world?
Although lengthy, this book never gets boring. Omar provides just enough background detail on the main characters to give them life and purpose but never gets so bogged down with the flashback details to lose any of the story's flow. Case and Luna are flawed individuals from the beginning, with no true promise of being redeemed. As potentially the last two humans left in Rome, there seems little incentive for their actions other than a simple animal determination to survive, yet survive they do. The couple manages to breathe new life into their relationship through the necessity of cleaning up their neighborhood until the arrival of the mysterious Cristina. The question remains, though, whether this new life is a positive or a negative element in the destroyed world they find themselves in.