Book Review: THE ZOMBIES ARE COMING.

 The Zombies Are Coming.

Author: N. A. Storey

"But why do the zombies have to kill everybody?" - Adrian

"Because kiddo, this is Gods plan...and everybody has to die one day." - Sarah

"The Zombies Are Coming" is a collection of short stories all based on and around a zombie apocalypse in the UK, specifically around the city of Manchester. This in itself appeals to me as there are very few regionalised zombie stories based this close to me so it already feels familiar. Author, N. A. Storey is Lancashire born and proud, with all things apocalyptic and zombie being very dear to him so it makes a lot of sense to combine his two loves in an area familiar to him. It seems to help bring a certain realism to it all. 

"The Zombies Are Coming" is his debut novel. The collection consists of 8 short stories with some bonus material in the form of a poem and a zombified take on a familiar fable. Each story is taken from different points of view from everyday people coming to terms with a deadly virus outbreak. The first story, aptly named "Bad Day" follows a couple of students as the virus hits Manchester Metropolitan University. Second story "The Zombies Are Coming" is a similar take as a city worker witnesses the outbreak first hand and now has to tell his loved ones. "Brad To The Bone" is a personal tale from Manchesters gift to all women, Michael Bradshaw. A humorous tale from a gym rat who experiences an unfortunate accident at a thoroughly inconvenient time. "Revelation" throws a curve ball as a priest tries to warn his flock, with interesting consequences. The fifth story and one of the lengthier tales, and for me by far the top story from the collection is "Bonnie, I'm Coming Now Honey". It follows a small fractured family unit and introduces us to some real heroes. Whereas, "Colourless" gives us glimpse into the weird psyche of Stevie as he observes the virus and panic from Manchester Piccadilly train station. Slightly more formulaic is "Fallen Kingdom" as a journalist interviews the Chief Of Defense with regards to the outbreak. The book concludes with a confession called "Terminal Illness". This is a very brief over view of the individual stories, I do not want to give too much away here as you do really need to pick this up and read it yourself. The stories are very detailed and in depth with their progression and different perspectives building up the bigger picture of the shear scale and hopelessness a cannibalistic zombie virus of this scale would bring. This has been really well thought out in terms of the stories and how they follow on from each other as they are all so different.

Zombies are the main point of the book and throughout the stories you get a great mental picture of the type of zombie this virus brings. Their appearance is described well with lots of gruesome detail and plenty of gore. A few of the stories contain some great action and survival sequences whilst others remain more reflective and surreal. The fact that this is based in the UK and a city that many will recognise, does help to make it more familiar.

I rarely get the time to sit and read these days, but I do love the opportunity when it arises so I was more than happy to check out "The Zombies Are Coming" and I was thankful that it was set out into bite size pieces as large novels do tend to put me off. Zombie books are ten a penny and for the most part do a great job on tried and tested scenarios but Storey has been successful in carving out his own little slice here as it is very personable and through a lot of the stories the sense of dread feels very real. The fact that it is based in the UK is relatable to us Brits but it does not isolate itself making it easy for overseas readers to relate as well. It's heart is in the North of the country but Storey does not ram it down your throat in an uncomfortable way.

By the sounds of things "The Zombies Are Coming " has been a labour of love as Storey has not only written these stories and poems but is responsible for the artwork and tireless promotional work so he certainly deserves recognition for all his efforts. I score "The Zombies Are Coming" 4 brains out of 5,  for the content and quality of the stories, the great zombie action and his passion for the genre  which outweigh  a spattering of grammatical slip ups and the fact that I have never been one for poetry, but that is purely a personal thing. 

"The Zombies Are Coming" is available in paperback through Amazon and whilst you are thinking about it check out N. A. Storey on his socials!!!