While not the first zombie novel I ever read, Plague of the Dead is the first zombie novel I read because it was a zombie novel.  Understand?  Probably not, so let me explain.  I read like crazy and have many favorite authors. Some of these authors have occasionally written

movie where people are barricaded in a building fighting off the armies of the dead, but have never really sought out books like that until now), the only reason I have sought out these books is because of the growing zombie genera that seems to be filling the horror section shelves in the bookstores.  Now I know many people will say I shouldn’t read something just because it is popular, but they can go preach to someone else because I don’t give a damn.  Also, in the process of reading these books I have actually become a fan, which is why I have put a section up for zombie books and movies on my webpage.  

Now, Plague of the Dead doesn’t really offer a new premise for the zombie apocalypse, which isn’t uncommon for these books, but it does offer a new story.  In this one the zombies are created from a mysterious virus that pops up in Africa, but unlike most zombie books, this one has a few different types of zombies: those that are infected with the virus but aren’t dead, and those that are dead and are reanimated from the virus.  Those that aren’t dead are able to sprint, those that are dead just walk around in the traditional ‘slow moving, arms outstretched, mouths wide open’ manner, looking for human flesh (I have never understood why zombies crave human flesh, but they always do it seems).  

Also, zombie fans will be happy to know that this book offers a really intense standoff between the military and the zombie armies, which seems to be another ‘must have’ when it comes to a zombie story, and like most zombie stories the military is not fully prepared for this attack even though they think they are, but puts up one hell of a good fight.  More battles follow, none of them as big as the first battle, but all of them intense and brutal.  Another interesting thing about this book is the battle between different ideas on how to handle this zombie threat, one that creates intense fights between humans, fights that they can’t really afford to fight given the growing power of the zombies, but do anyway, because, let’s face it, that’s what humans do.  

Plague of the Dead was a good read and fans of it will be happy to know that it is only the first in a saga of books called The Morningstar Strain, the second of which is already out in bookstores and is titled Thunder and Ashes.  

.zombie novels, so, being a fan of their work, I read the novels.  However, I’ve never really been a fan of zombie stories (I do like the occasional