What’s Eaters About?
Cheryl and her fiancé Mark, a soldier recently returned from Afghanistan, are on their way back to Denver after a reunion camping trip in the mountains when they receive word an epidemic is spreading like wildfire.
But this is no ordinary virus. Those infected, dubbed “Eaters,†are reanimated corpses whose lust for rotten food quickly turns to an insatiable desire for human flesh.
When Mark becomes infected, Cheryl is forced to venture into this insane new world on her own. Hoping to find her family still living, she strikes out on a blood-soaked journey that forges her will to survive.
Our Eaters Review
In Eaters, Michelle DePaepe gives us a gruesome look at a world being overrun by the undead. It’s a story of love, loss, survival, and of course zombies.
We follow the story of Mark and Cheryl as Mark, a soldier, has just returned from a tour in Afghanistan. The two lovers have reunited and are taking an extended weekend to enjoy a camping trip where it’s just the two of them alone in a tent getting reacquainted with one another. After an enjoyable weekend they are heading home and the news is of course having vague reports about some kind of flu going around. She ignores the news, head home and Cheryl gets ready to go into work even with Mark protesting that she stay in.
On her way in the tone is continued being set: light traffic, nearly empty office, strange acting man on the way into the office. It only continues from there as one of her fellow employees also appear to be suffering from this strange flu. As readers of the zombie genre though we all know that this flu is aiming to be so much more. It isn’t long until we see our first attack. Though it doesn’t seem as serious as it is quite yet and the group of employees break for an early lunch to cool their heads over whatever had just happened.
As Cheryl breaks away to get her own lunch that is when all hell starts to break loose. As she’s closing in she sees what looks to be a mob of people and they are observing something that is happening.
Enter the zombie outbreak. People suddenly are being attacked by all sides from these flu afflicted people. As the attacks turn to cannibalism it is all that people can do to get inside. Fortunately for Cheryl the author conveniently wrote in that Mark was worried about her after hearing about all of the flu and violence spreading and came to look for her. Whisking her away and into a store for protection.
From here we get a good look at the siege mentality that is often brought up in zombie novels though with the various ways it keeps cropping up is very well done on how many would think. With infection running rampart and there not being any safe places to go how well Cheryl and Mark survive the madness? Will they?
Eaters is a fantastic novel and further goes to prove just how many well crafted zombie novels are out right now. If I had any complaints it would be that the sequel isn’t out. While the ending wasn’t a cliffhanger that’ll make you scream in frustration as you close the last page there is clearly more story to tell and I’m eagerly awaiting to read it!
