What if you threw an apocalypse and no one came?

I have enjoyed Peter Clines’ novels of superheroes vs. zombies, so I jumped at the chance to review the fourth in the series. Like the past novels, this is very, very plot driven and atmospheric. The superheroes are the standard archetypal heroes, and the zombies are standard for the walking dead. Somehow, by bringing these together, you wind up with something new and cool.

This novel builds quite heavily on the last three and doesn’t really offer much in the way of “the story so far,” but the others are worth picking up anyway, so I don’t know how much of an issue this really is. As far as the story goes, it is a good one. The writing is clear and the characters and situations are novel versions of familiar sci-fi tropes.

The story begins four years after the zombie apocalypse, but something is wrong. St. George, the super strong, invulnerable, flying, and fire-breathing leader of the heroes, is just George, and no outbreak seems to have happened. With no superpowers and no zombies, everything seems to be fine and boring, but as I learned watching sci-fi, there is no such thing as fine and boring. Things only appear to be perfect and normal. Slowly, the cracks start to show, and the story takes off.

With nods to some of the greats in sci-fi and horror, the book is full of pop-culture references. This novel knows where it fits on your bookshelf and lets you know, too. One of the characters even compares the plot to an episode of a popular TV show that clearly inspired part of the book. This is plot-driven sci-fi at its best.

Four Unsettling Absences of Horrible, Flesh-Eating Zombies out of Five