Dead Of Night

by Jonathan Maberry

A doctor in a Pennsylvania prison injects a convicted serial killer, Homer Gibbon, with a substance that will render him conscious while he rots in his grave. The killer escapes from a funeral home and spreads a disease like no other. It kills and re-animates those persons bitten by anyone infected with the disease. The “Zombie Apocalypse” begins!

At first glance one would think that this would be a regular zombie novel, but it's not. It's a novel that's carefully spun, woven and made into high quality fabric. Mr. Maberry gives readers food for thought in the banquet that is this novel. "Dead of Night" is beyond frightening, it's a plausible and realistic scenario for a zombie outbreak. Readers will be drawn to each page and will be kept extremely interested to the very end. It has a pace that has very few equals and has a faster than light velocity. The story contains an aspect about the zombies deviates a little from your "run of the mill" living dead. A few of them are aware but still pursue the living anyway. They're driven by the most basic of instincts, but express loathing for their condition and eagerly seek to be destroyed. They are driven to kill and conscious of it, but being helpless to change it presents an excellent concept and deviates from the usual stuff. Mr. Maberry writes some of the best horror novels that I've ever read. He creates stories that are without a doubt, superb and "Dead of Night" is no exception. Every page of this brilliant novel was chillingly fun.

The characters that have been created for this novel are some of the best written for a zombie novel. The main characters are heroic and at every turn try to save the day even at unimaginable cost. Three characters that stand out prominently are Dez Fox, a local police officer, Billy Trout, a valiant journalist, and Dr. Volker, a misguided vengeful physician. To say that these characters are multidimensional and intelligent is an understatement. Dr. Volker was a great vehicle for the one who veritably opens a "can of worms" and is not wholly a villain.. He's a character that has experienced a great deal of tragedy in his life and understandably wants payback. His method of revenge is very questionable,though. He's, arguably,  the most complex character of the novel. Dez Fox is tough and a person who does the right thing consistently. She's one of the toughest female leads in a novel to come along.  She's  very much the "Ellen Ripley" of the zombie genre. I enjoyed reading about these persons and the bravery that they exhibit along with some very unpredictable undead. The other characters also shine in this story and every one of them brought something unique to the story. I think that other readers will absolutely love the people in this book and the story that they tell.