Bloodtype Online

    Zombie novels are a funny old thing, they either keep me gripped until the very end or I end up giving up on them for whatever reason. Dead City was a strange cat in that I didn't give up on it, but then it didn't keep my entirely gripped; I enjoyed it, I enjoyed it a hell of a lot but felt there was a little something missing. More on that later though. 

    The book is set in San Antonio and follows the exploits of Police Officer Eddie Hudson one night, on what should have been a routine shift for him. It should have been, aside from the fact that Houston has been playing host to survivors of five shocking hurricanes that have battered the Gulf Coast. The survivors it seems have brought something with them that turns them into zombies. Nothing is ever straightforward is it? 

    Dead City gets straight into the action with Eddie being called out to investigate a disturbance, only to be mobbed with the undead. As things esculate he realizes that he is fighting a lost cause and decides he needs to get back to find his wife and child. Not an easy journey as he soon discovers that the city is being overrun by the undead and help is few and far between. 

    This is for the most part an enjoyable and incredibly quick read (it is just under 300 pages) as we follow Eddie on his mission. Where it let me down though was that it followed many of the traits of other zombie novels I have read; travel a little, fight zombies, travel, fight and so on. Now Dead City isn't alone in falling into this routine, so it is down the to author to keep the reader entertained whilst this is happening. I'm glad to say that McKinney does do a good job of this; the pages kept turning and I was eager to find out how this would end. I would have liked there to have been a little more depth to the events as they played out, but in terms of one man's journey to find his loved ones it worked quite well. The level of authenticity to San Antonio and police procedures was refreshing too; McKinney himself being a Detective in San Antonio. 

    Plenty of action, loads of zombies and a decent array of characters helped lift this book above many lesser undead novels. If you want a fast paced novel you might want to check this one out. 

    I will also mention that McKinney also wrote a short novella that continues a few months after this novel. Now, I never want to spoil the ending of a book or a movie, so I'll just say that I recommend reading this once you have finished Dead City. You can find it here http://www.theharrow.com/journal/index.php/journal/article/view/2119/587 

Rating - ***

- Jude Felton