Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy.
allthingsuf.com

Zombies fiction can be either too grim to stomach or too far from mythology to seem anything like the walking dead. Petrucha’s Hessius Mann series manages to skirt that middle ground between immutable realism and fascinating possibility to create one of my favorite zombie series of all time.

This series is a departure from what I normally read, with the male protagonist, limited romance, and pretty grim reality of our hero’s life. But I love the biological mechanics of the chakz, using bleach, super glue, and thread to hold themselves together, and Mann’s dogged detecting never fails to keep the story moving. I love how the chakz have physiological issues long before “going feral” and munching on the living. And I love how Petrucha mixes science, human nature, and social commentary to create a world that is endlessly fascinating. DEAD MANN RUNNING changes Mann’s world in hopeful increments, without sacrificing the gritty reality that makes Petrucha’s world building so impressive.

And it is just that mix of hope and heartbreak that makes DEAD MANN RUNNING so powerful. While the mechanics of the plot once again got a little over the top by book’s end, the underlying emotion is undeniably powerful. Hessius Mann tugs at my heartstrings even as his world and the issue of quality of life after death fascinates me. I’ll definitely be back for more.

Sexual Content: References to sex and pedophilia, kissing. ( )