REVIEW: Memoirs of the Walking Dead: A Story from the Zombie’s Point of View by: Jason McKinney
Jason McKinney resides in Madison, TN with his wife, three children, and seven pets. He walked away from a twelve-year accounting career, to pursue his dream to write. Memoirs Of The Walking Dead is his first published novel.
Paul Rierson, enjoyed the quiet and reserved life of a bachelor. He was content coming home to his cat and Japanese Cloud Tree every evening after work. Life was simple, and good. Reserved and a bit shy, Paul lacked the assertiveness to tell someone ‘no’. As expected, when his co-workers use his birthday as an excuse to have a party, he doesn’t refuse. Sadly, Paul doesn’t live to see his thirty-third birthday, but he gets to celebrate it as a newly undead. These are his “undead†memoirs.
Theme
Through Paul’s eyes, the reader will see a very unique perspective of what it is like to be undead. His king-size heart is both a liability and an asset, now that he is a zombie. The immense love for humanity, and firm moral resolve earns him both favorable notoriety, as well as negative criticism. Jason McKinney has created a novel full of cherished life lessons with unmistakable humorous tones. A few scenes made me laugh so hard, I was in tears! You will definitely find yourself laughing and shedding tears as Paul learns to adapt to his new undead life.
The novel is interwoven with very strong moral fibers. Jason brings to life the inevitable situations that would face each of us, if in the same situation. Eating other human flesh is considered “tabooâ€. Though, it has been practiced in certain cultures for hundreds of years. Taboo or common practice, would you be able to feast upon other human flesh, if faced with such an immense hunger? As a new member of the undead, would you still feel the same emotions you experienced when you were alive? Would you still adhere to the same moral ethics important to you when you were alive?
Plot (character actions)
Memoirs Of The Walking Dead opens with a very thought provoking question, “If someone wrote a book on your life, would anyone want to read it?â€. A question that will cause you to sit back and think for a moment. Thought provoking, but also a perfect opening for the subject matter of this novel.
The characters are vivid, engaging, and three-dimensional. It is very easy to find yourself crying, laughing, and angry along side the characters. Even minor characters, no matter how brief their appearance, are very indepth. With such names as, ‘pierced dead girl’, Jason does not neglect attention to detail. I must mention that some of the laconic names are quite comical!
Setting
Paul resides in an apartment building of a mid-sized city in Ohio. The population consists of the undead and the living, both trying to live somewhat normal lives. Jason has created a setting that speaks of the true nature of humanity. The undead have “bad seeds†in their population, just like the living. It is virtually impossible to not be able to identify with at least one character or event in this novel.
Style
The basic elements of dialogue identified with normal human speech patterns. However, I did find something to be distracting. This was the “zombified†drawn-out dialogue: “Naammme and addrrrrresssss?â€. I understand why Jason used this style, for the added effect and realism. Yet, I feel it disrupted the prose flow.
Mechanics
As a proof-reader and editor, I found the level of grammatical errors a bit distracting. The errors were not horrible, but my eyes are trained to immediately spot them. To someone whose eyes are not trained, I doubt this would be a distraction.
Overall Opinion
Jason should be very proud of his debut novel! It is a heart warming story bringing to light humanity’s will to survive, and what we are willing to do for those we love. With many humorous antidotes, and an intricate story-line, I feel many would enjoy this!
Available on Amazon
