Kim Paffenroth, Dying To Live

Dying To Live

Kim Paffenroth

Permuted Press, Apr 2007, $12.95

ISBN: 097897073X

As far as he knows, which he admits to himself during his lonely muses as very little, Jonah Caine wonders if he is the last human alive? Wherever he travels he finds zombies whom he tries to avoid not always successfully. Jonah feels the solitude eating away at him at time though he is a loner by nature. This is compounded by survivor's guilt and he wonders if staying alive is worse than letting the zombies go at him.

After months of finding no one, Jonah miraculously meets a small commune of humans hiding in a museum. After telling his tale of woe, Jonah is accepted without a second thought by the leaders Jack, Tanya, Popcorn and Milton, but first he must undergo a religious rite of initiation involving a pilgrimage into the realm of the Undead.

This is an interesting tale of survival in which those who still live establish new rites of passage in a post-apocalyptic world owned by the living dead. The fascinating storyline focuses on the rituals that include risking one's life while proving one's worth by a willingness to slice off the heads of the undead. Although the museum encampment seems filled with too much rapport and positive vibes especially in the situation they find themselves in, fans of zombie thrillers will appreciate this deep look at a small group of humans simply DYING TO LIVE in a world gone to hell.

Harriet Klausner