Post apocalyptic fiction is my guilty pleasure. I’m not new to this kind of stuff so when I say “Whew! What a thrill ride! I’m ready to put up a credit for the next installment!” You can believe that I know what’s good!
These nine books by Bobby Adair were great on so many levels!
First there was the brilliant plot that kept a breakneck pace throughout NINE Volumes! Not a dull moment, lots of action and unexpected twists. It was humorous and smartly written
Then there’s the great buddy relationship between Zed the Null Spot and Murphy. I loved how these guys met and the story of how they teamed up and became, first allies and then real friends. There are other great characters who wind through this roller coaster of an omnibus and all of them are well drawn and three dimensional, but the primary pair are the focus.
This is the story of how a virus rips through the world’s population and turns people into zombies (whites in this world) but unlike other stories in that genre not all zombies are created equal. The only common denominator for those who have been infected is that they loose their pigmentation. Different mutations of the disease affect people differently. Some become raging cannibals, others still retain intelligence. Some of the intelligent ones are criminally insane and are able to control the other less intelligent ones to organize and form mobs! Still others are docile and submissive. This is something I’ve never seen in other zombie stories and it made for some interesting opportunities for drama in this story.
The story starts in Austin Texas and the action takes place in various parts of that state,. It explores what might happen to the government, military, medical professionals and average people. All of it was gripping!
There’s not a lot of romance in the apocalypse, although Murphy forms a strong relationship with one of the surviving women they encounter, poor Zed, on the other hand, carries a torch for several of the women he encounters that are subsequently killed, for which he blames himself.
There’s a lot of talking about one’s feelings, like buddy therapy. Now I’m not a man and I’ve never had a man friend in the post apocalyptic scenario described here, but I have been a bartender and I have a hard time believing that two guys would be talking about their feelings so much and helping each other process. But I could be wrong and it did flesh out the characters.
The narrator was perfect. His Zed voice was equal parts sarcasm and bravado and his Murphy voice was relaxed and calm. Although I read Murphy as being Black, I appreciated that the narrator didn’t try to affect a jive accent for him. He sounded more Texan than Zed. There was also a wonderful ex military character who had a strong hint of Clint Eastwoods character in Heartbreak Ridge.
Over all I think this Omnibus is a bargain that should definitely be in your library.