The first ‘episode’ of the Miami Spy Games is available for download and I have to say Armand Rosamilia has setup an amazing groundwork for a story that could be a fun entry into the zombie genre. It is a mix of ex-KGB members who are still developing weapons to fight the cold war, a fun take on zombies, and a group of American spies who are in place to prevent any major threats to US interests. While not everything has been fully mixed together at the conclusion of episode one (it isn’t full novel length hence the Episode 1 and not Book 1 so don’t expect to pickup a 250 page novel when ordering this one) however it has laid a base that should get fans of the Joe Ledger series interested in the book.
There are not a ‘lot’ of books that can pull off a good spy thriller and zombies. Until this point only Jonathan Maberry has done it with Patient Zero and its subsequent follow ups. Don’t get me wrong as there have been military/zombie mashups to date but SPY/zombie mashups just haven’t been done do death yet and that’s a great thing as that means Armand has been able to break some fresh ground with this one. AK Waters has a ‘few’ Spy Games books out there though with the introduction of Armand’s hand we get the first one for fans of the undead.
We open the story with the want for a Russian weapon that turns people into zombies and quickly fast forward to a secretive Russian weapons research facility that has been working on just such a weapon for the government. The general in charge of this project is unconvinced that it could be at all a viable weapon until he is shown firsthand how it turns people into bloodthirsty animals whose soul purpose is to kill and devour anyone within their path. Not a controllable weapon but one that can easily be used to cause mass panic in the ranks for the enemy and make them turn upon themselves, especially in a country that is halfway across the world. Yes they aren’t ‘zombies’ in the strictest of senses on a spreading virus or that they are the dead brought back to an unlife to feast upon the living but its an extremely close state of being.
The only problem though is it is developing it for an arm of the government who is still setting up for the Cold War and have not been convinced that the dream for Russian superiority through military might is over. They have been secretly bringing high grade weapons into the United States for years in preparation for just such a war and now their latest weapon has crossed our borders and only one team is aware that the weapon has even arrived – though they don’t know what it is. The team of three spies are an interesting mix and their initial description had me bored with them until they were actually introduced and their personalities just shined through the ‘pages’ of my Kindle to show they will be a diverse and fun set of characters. While the team is aware of the weapon shipment they don’t know one of the guns that did arrive on US soil was immediately stolen from the shipment and is currently out in the wild in the hands of a wanna be arms dealer in Miami. Its a good read and introduction to what will hopefully be a continued fun set of Miami Spy Games.
Available on Amazon
