Eden by Tony Monchinski was exactly the book I was looking for – an action packed, zombie bashing thriller that tells how the world falls apart in the space of a few days as the dead rise up, feed on the living and create more zombies. Set in New York City, the story does jump around quite a bit, following different people, but it didn’t take long before the reader sees that the story-lines are painting a vivid and surreal picture of how the dead overcome the living.

Among various characters, there are two, Harris and Buddy, who I would deemed the main characters. Harris is a school principal who is separated from his wife, he was working in Queens while she was in Manhattan. He meets up and becomes close friends with Buddy, who we know, has recently been in prison on death row. Buddy and Harris try to reach Manhattan but it is impossible, so they eventually find refuge in Eden, a small area that has been fenced to keep the dead out. Things aren’t perfect here either as it is being run by a bully and his minions, but Harris and Buddy soon deal with that issue. Buddy leaves on an exploratory mission, trying to find a better place. While Harris settles into Eden, meets Julie and forms a new relationship. But someone wants Harris out of the way, and lets zombies into the compound and into Harris' house. This puts Harris on a manhunt to find out who was trying to eliminate him.

I can see from the mixed reviews of this book that many people could not get past the timeline jumps and I admit I spent the first third of the book feeling confused. I am not sure why the author presented his story in this manner. But if you are a fan of zombie thrillers, Eden has the goods with masses of various types of zombies – slow ones, fast ones, smart ones, loud ones, along with plenty of action and a character or two to bond with. I have had Eden on my shelf for a long time, but luckily somewhere along the way, I also picked up the other two books in the trilogy. ( )

MY THOUGHTS
REALLY LIKED IT

The earth has been devastated by a disease that turns humans into zombies that crave human flesh and a core group of characters, some neighbors, some traveling from safe site to site across the North East of the United States try to band together to form a community in order to exist. The story centers around Harris who dreams of a zombie free life once again and reminisces about the past with the new citizens of a walled in area that protects them from the invading hoards. The story focuses on the small day to day interactions and the horror that has become their survival.

When Harris finds himself bitten he knows he is infected with the disease that will soon turn him zombie. I found it fascinating that he goes through all of the grief stages, much like a terminal cancer patient. He also refers to three types of zombies: walkers, sprinters and thinkers. The thinkers are few, while the sprinters are the scariest. Most of the action in the story is trying to get away from the invading zombies and killing them with a shot to the head. Overall, this is a psychological horror tale that should please most zombie lovers! ( )