Z-Boat

by Suzanne Robb

The story of a group of people aboard a submarine that have been engaged to find a submarine that sank and find the undead waiting for them amongst the wreckage.

Once in awhile I read something that leaves a great impression on me.  "Z-Boat" is just such a story that left a very, very positive impression on me.    It was one of those gems that had many twists and each one of them a more wonderful surprise than the one before it.  The aspect that I liked most about this novel is that it could go in many directions.  It was a sci-fi thriller that further evolves into a very fine zombie novel. It reminded me of the best of Michael Crichton.  The characters were equally spectacular.  Each one of them had me guessing if they were evil or not.  These characters gave me tons of surprises and readers may want to make assumptions about them only to be proven, well, dead wrong.  The author gives the readers a chance to watch each of them develop and get to know them more personally.   The way the events unfold and the characters' mysterious motives was another excellent aspect that enhanced the quality of the writing.  The setting, a submarine, was claustrophobic and the close quarters made it more difficult to escape the zombies. In addition,  most of the action takes place underwater adding an excellent sense of foreboding and inevitable doom.  Escape and survival weren't going to be easy at all.  It almost gave the feeling that no one was going to survive the story.   The zombies weren't your average shambling dead.  They were smart, often acted in a coordinated fashion and were even more terrifying than the usual undead.


"Z-Boat" was a great tale told by Ms. Robb. It was one of the most unconventional and brilliant horror novels that I've had the pleasure of reading.  It's engrossing, exciting and had an amazing speed to it.  Readers will be glad that they had read it.