Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

I have been terrified of zombies ever since 1968 when I first saw George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead on the big screen. Now it appears that moaning, hungry zombies are everywhere! They have definitely captured our collective imagination. And, in this particular action-packed novel, they have seemingly taken over the entire world since First Night when the dead reanimated for some unknown reason and began to attack the living. Benny Imura, who was just a toddler when he lost his parents on First Night, lives with his older brother Tom in Mountainside, a zombie-proof California compound.

Benny has been content to spend his spare time hanging out with his buddies and trading zombie cards. But now he is almost fifteen years old, and must find a job so that his share of rations won’t be reduced. After halfheartedly (and unsuccessfully) searching for easy work inside the town fences, Benny decides to bite the bullet and accept an apprenticeship with Tom, a renowned and respected zombie hunter. Benny despises his big brother. He thinks of Tom as a coward who left their parents to be devoured by walkers on First Night, and he is less than enthusiastic about leaving the safety of Mountainside to roam around the Ruin with his brother searching for zoms to “quiet.” But, as Benny soon learns, things are not always what they seem. The undead are not necessarily evil, the living are not always good, and Tom Imura is far from being a coward.

If you are a fan of The Walking Dead and post-apocalyptic fiction, you will love the thrilling adventure, danger, revenge and even romance that take place in the vast Rot & Ruin. But is the Ruin really all that’s left? Find out in Maberry’s sequel, Dust & Decay. And, in case zombies really do take over, it might be smart to brush up on them by checking out Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Zombies by Matt Mogk. Can You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse? Max Brallier will tell you how it’s done.

The Dead Boys by Royce Buckingham

Twelve-year-old Teddy Matthews is feeling more than a little apprehensive. His mom has landed a job at a nuclear power plant in the middle of the Washington State desert. Their new home is Richland, a tiny nowhere town filled with heat, dust devils and very strange people, as Teddy soon discovers when he ventures out to find some friends. He meets a few boys his own age, all of whom seem weirdly retro. And the property next door makes Teddy extremely uneasy, especially the gigantic, ancient sycamore tree which seems to stand guard over the empty house.

On the first night in his new bedroom, Teddy hears eerie scratching sounds. Is the sycamore actually trying to creep in through his window, or is he dreaming? Even worse, Teddy begins to suspect that the tree has undergone a mutation that causes it to lure twelve-year-old boys into its clutches and sap their energy in order to stay alive. How long has this been going on? And where are all those boys? Teddy bravely embarks on a surreal, spine-tingling rescue mission in an attempt to save his new pals.

Buckingham’s novel is a terrific adventure book for boys. Suspenseful, campy and just the right amount of scary, adults will also find The Dead Boys very entertaining! I consider myself a tree hugger of sorts, but after reading this novel I plan to keep my distance from the big ones for quite a while… especially if there's a chance that they may have been affected by radiation. If the idea of fearsome flora appeals to you, don’t forget the film Little Shop of Horrors. For a more intense experience involving killer plants, try The Ruins by Scott Smith. I guarantee that your houseplants be outside by the time you finish Smith’s novel, even if it’s only March!

Crimson Tide directed by Tony Scott

We’ll end this week with a revisit of a recent classic film Crimson Tide. We just added a bunch of new copies to our library catalog (which means no scratches!).

The world is on the brink of a nuclear war. The Russians have lost control of one of their nuclear missile sites and the threats to the United States are real and immediate. The U.S.S. Alabama, a nuclear-armed submarine, is heading across the Pacific Ocean to get into strike range of the hijacked Russian base. The sub is put on high alert when an emergency message comes through that the launch codes for the Russian missiles have been decoded and the Alabama is to respond with the launch of their nuclear weapons.

While they are preparing for a response, the Alabama gets a second emergency message that is cut off when they lose radio contact. This is where it gets good. The stress levels rise and with it, the superb acting performances of the captain, Gene Hackman, and the XO (second-in-charge) Denzel Washington are on full display. Hackman’s character is old school: by the book, lead from the front, no questions asked. Washington’s character uses more discernment when making decisions and connects with the crew by forming personal relationships.

These two leadership styles go head-to-head when the order comes through to launch the submarine’s nuclear missiles. Besides the great acting of the two leads, you also get solid performances from two supporting actors before they became leads: Viggo Mortensen and James Gandolfini.

Take a plunge and check out Crimson Tide.

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley

A woman awakes in the pouring rain, a circle of human bodies around her that appear to be dead. She has no memory of how she got there, in fact she has no memories at all. In her coat pocket she finds two letters, opening the one addressed “To You”. She reads the words that start a great adventure—words from the previous inhabitant of this body.

The new being inhabits the body of Myfanwy Thomas, a top administrator in England’s supernatural secret service, the Checquey. She has a host of obstacles to navigate in this new body and is guided only by the letters and notes left behind by the previous inhabitant who knew that her identity would be lost. Thomas must scramble to act like she knows what she is doing while coming to terms with the supernatural powers that come with the body. On top of that, somebody high up in the Checquey is trying to kill her.

The Rook is a fun romp through the political intrigues of a bizarre government agency. The letters from the original Myfanwy Thomas to her successor give you two different characters to root for in the same body while the adventures they have battling the evil forces of the supernatural will have you laughing and gasping each in turn.

Mix in a little of Robert Ludlum’s amnesia-plagued Jason Bourne and Charles Stross’ supernatural Laundry novels and you have the recipe for an entertaining read.

Check the VBPL catalog today for The Rook.

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

Aomame is an assassin hired to take out powerful men who have a history of abusing women. On the way to a job, she is stuck in traffic and exits her taxi to take a stairway down from the highway. When she gets to the street level she notices changes in the world around her. The policemen wear different uniforms and, most notably, two moons are in the nighttime sky.

Tengo is a part-time writer who has yet to get anything published. When an editor approaches him about rewriting the novel of a teenage girl he is skeptical but agrees to read the work. The novel is obviously written by an amateur, and yet, it contains a certain power that convinces Tengo to take on the project. Before he can start he must meet with the startlingly strange and beautiful author Fuka-Eri, whose clipped speech and unknown intentions further intrigue Tengo. When the book becomes an instant bestseller, forces behind the scenes move to investigate the creators of the book, stopping at nothing to cease its spread.

Murakami spins many threads throughout this involved novel. Clocking in at nearly a thousand pages, the story provides ample opportunity to get inside the character’s heads and inhabit their bizarre universe that includes cults, extra celestial bodies and the cool strangeness typical of a Murakami novel.

If you’ve got the time and want to be immersed in a new world, let 1Q84 take you there.

For another twist of the realistic and fantastic try out Neil Gaiman’s American Gods.

49 Up directed by Michael Apted

If you’ve seen from my previous posts here I am a big fan of documentaries. More than anything I love the “slice of life” you get when the camera is turned on and you get to peer into the lives of others. 49 Up, directed by Michael Apted, fulfills the voyeur in me by tracking the lives of fourteen people from the age of 7. Every seven years, since 1964, a new documentary comes out that shows the life progression of these individuals. As you might guess from the title, this particular incarnation of the series catches up with the group at the age of 49.

 Before you pick up a copy of this film, don’t feel like you need to go and hunt down the previous movies. 49 Up moves from one person to the next, with clips of them from the previous films when they were 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 and 42 years of age. You can watch them develop and change (or not) as they move through the different stages of their lives. Marriage, divorce, success and failure are all on display in these penetrating interviews.

An aspect of this film of particular interest is the continued relationship between the interviewer, Robert Apted, and the “stars” of the film. Apted has been interviewing them on this seven year schedule since they were children so their interactions come with a long history that shows on the screen through both familiarity and antagonism.

 The lives of these fourteen people are irrevocably tied to their participation in these films. They are minor celebrities in England and the intimate details of their lives are aired and expanded upon with each documentary in the series. As you might imagine, an extended reality tv episode of your life may have unintended consequences.

56 Up is set to be released in May of this year so now is your chance to get acquainted with the people who define this most unusual of documentaries. Check our catalog for 49 Up.

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

You hear about the imminent demise of the print newspaper, a time-honored source of information that is rapidly being replaced by 24-hour news channels and limitless sources of online news websites. What you don’t hear about are the stories of those behind the scenes who write the stories, edit the copy and ensure the daily delivery of news from around the world while on a tight deadline. The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman, a fictional account of a Rome-based English language newspaper, tells that story through the many narratives of its staff and, in one case, a reader.

This interconnected series of short stories pulsates with vivid characters who orbit the world of the newspaper. Meet the obituary writer who must face a death in his family and in the process reinvents himself. Step into the shoes of the corrections editor, a feared bastion of grammar and punctuation, who has an unlimited patience for an old friend from back home. Laugh at the naiveté of the Cairo stringer who doesn’t have the gall needed for front-line reporting and is out-maneuvered by a more experienced reporter. Cringe along with the chief financial officer when she takes a seat on an airplane next to a copyeditor she was instrumental in getting fired. These stories might happen in somewhat exotic locales but the human experiences are easily translatable when in the hands of Rachman. Loneliness, fear, love—the fabric of our lives comes to bear in these irresistible characters. Check our library catalog today to get your hands on The Imperfectionists. If you like engaging characters in a novel of interrelated short stories I woud also recommend Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad.