REVIEW: The Last Mailman: Neither Rain, Nor Sleet, Nor Zombies by: Kevin Burke

I’m generally a little leery of the first zombie novel an author puts out. Hypocritical as the first one I’ll be writing one if I do is that it’ll be full of the undead. Kevin Burke has killed off my fears as The Last Mailman not only has an original idea but is a well put together story from start to finish. The novel is a fun read and my only problems with it are a few nit picking details which means it’s an absolute blast to read and a novel that I highly recommend! Now before the review:

Full Disclosure: Kevin Burke has contributed 2 articles for Buy Zombie and will most likely contribute more in the future. Personally this in no way reflects how I review a book but you have a right to know! (Because knowing is half the battle.)

Plot: The world is dead and what is left of humanity is picking up the pieces. We have no knowledge of the rest of the world and the United States has fallen apart. However safe haven cities have formed to form a ‘United States’ with what they can try to save. There is power, planes, commerce. Life is ‘existent’ though the population has drastically dropped and our species is trying to carry on. Our main character, DJ, has dubbed his job of that as a mailman. What he does is go to the houses of those who are in the city to look for those that were left behind. While it usually just means coming back with mementos and word that the loved ones are dead or gone there apparently have been a few instances of finding survivors. It’s a dangerous and important position and one that gets DJ attached to guard detail on a flight to Atlanta to help bring back a cure for anyone who gets bitten. While the cure will not bring the dead back to life it will supposedly keep someone who has been bitten from becoming a zombie.

Excellent! A cure! The whole thing is going well too until, let’s say an accident, causes the plane to crash half way to their destination and now our characters have to survive on foot to attempt to get to their destination. The entire, accident, is caused by a man named Jasper who is hated by most of the group but ends up being right more times then not. There is a lot going on and it’s hard to write in detail without giving away too much but the journey to Atlanta is only half of the fun of the book.

Characters: Aside from the majority of the women being weak characters (at least those in the initial city we are shown) the cast is a fun mix of people with different ideas of how to get through he situation they find themselves in.

Writing: Clearly I enjoyed how the book flowed and was written with what I’ve written so far but there were a couple of small issues to bring up. You can’t have the good without the bad. The majority of the story is told through DJ’s point of view which works great, however near the end of the novel we get a point of view change to other characters that are rather abrupt. Aside from that and having to wait for the sequel though the story is enjoyable. There is a lot of humor sprinkled through the book to lighten the mood and it’s just enough to believably keep the characters from snapping but not take away from the serious tone of the situation that they are in.

Overall:A great novel, a fun read, great pacing, great character development, and a solid plot with tons of twists. This is a must pickup for all of the zombie fanatics out there! I have to end this with a warning. While this is Kevin’s first novel and it will suck you in you have one thing that you’ll hate right as you come to the close of the novel. There is a cliffhanger. Yes ladies and gentlemen Kevin ends the novel with the main characters all having not finished their journey and while the sequel is in the works it is not out yet. For those that have read it I’d also love to read a story about the guy who decided to start is own zombie farm. I think that’d be a great short to full length story of it’s own.

Available at Amazon