The Sickness Monte's Story by Jeannie Rae is a delicious and devilish
tale about Monte, a young girl stuck in a piss of a life. Her troubles, small
house, no air conditioning, chunder of a dad and a mother who won’t fight back,
all in the stereotypical horrible teenage life handbook - with one exception. Her
family (and that is not all) are zombies.
I am not a huge zombie fiction fan. I do like the horror and
sometimes suspense build-up related to the book or cinema. That admitted, I do
find quite a bit of the zombie culture to be fascinating and the related art displayed
inspiring. The Sickness is a well crafted, descriptive tale of the zombie
universe. The same suspense build up – struggles and survival.
That is what makes this ride so amazing, the voice. Monte is
a fantastic female protagonist. She is in many ways the classic teenager but
she is also strong and has convictions that rule the pages as she does what she
needs to survive. There isn’t much in the way of surprises in such story-lines
but what sets them apart or makes them endearing to readers is the writer’s
skill in creating characters, scenes and moving the plot that keeps the reader online.
The Sickness is not an epic tale of grandeur or zombie (sickness)
“Oh, Shit-ness” but it is certainly a good read by a writer that has shown she
is going places. She is one to watch, follow, or stagger aimlessly behind with
mouth dropped open, pale hands extended and vacant eyes staring off in the
distance waiting for the next word to drop … so we can feast.
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