Dead Sea

I read this book on the recommendation of some zombie lovers I know. The key words to getting me to try this one were : “zombie” and “whale”. Unfortunately the zombie whale only took up about 5 sentences of the book. Fortunately the rest of the book was pretty good.

The way the author writes zombies is fairly gruesome and he spares no effort in describing the horrific states in which we find most of the walking dead. Keene clearly loves zombies and it shows.

I found the choice of protagonist to be particularly interesting. A gay, black man. I haven’t seen that very often and it made for some situations and exchanges that you don’t normally see in horror books. At any rate, I really liked the main character and that was a large part of what drove me to finish the book.

Keene is an author who likes to explore the zombie situation in interesting ways. He focuses on questions like, “What would happen if animals could become zombies?”. I found that really refreshing and it made for some great description and scenery.

Oh zombie whale, I can only hope you get more ink devoted to you next time.

Life on a Rock

I wasn’t sure if this book was fiction or not when I started reading it but it eventually became clear that it was, indeed, non-fiction. Some of the stuff that happens initially is somewhat shocking and graphic and it had me starting to think that maybe I was witnessing plot points that would be returned to later in the book but I was pleasantly surprised to find that that was not the case.

The book takes place on a Bahamian island called Highborne Cay (interesting side note: “cay” is pronounced “key” in the Bahamas). A couple from the mainland answers an ad in the paper to manage a resort on the island and are shocked when they actually get the job! From there the book chronicles their life on the island and the challenges they faced day to day. It’s enjoyable to read about the friends they make and everything that happens, good and bad, on the island.

I admit some bias in reviewing this book as I bought it in anticipation of Sandra and I taking a trip to the Bahamas. I read it on the plane on the way down, on the plane on the way home, and finished it up here in North Carolina. It was great to read about things and then actually see them. For example, early in the book the author talks about the Mailboat that comes around once a month or so and delivers supplies. As Sandra and I were heading out for a snorkeling trip we passed a big boat with yellow letters on the side: “Mailboat”. It was a nice moment to have that connection with the book and it really made me want to get back to it and continue reading.

With or without a corresponding trip to the islands, I would recommend this book as it’s written well and contains a lot of great imagery and details about life on the island to keep you interested. As a bonus, the stories change often enough that if you find the current anecdote a little slow you know that it’ll be changing to something else in a page or two.

Recommended!