Friday, November 29, 2013

Rot


Michele Lee
Skullvines Press
Reviewed by: Nancy
4 out of 5 stars


Summary

So you’ve raised your loved ones from the dead, but had no idea how difficult it would be to care for them.

No problem! Silver Springs is a warm, peaceful facility equipped to handle all your zombie needs. Their friendly staff will ensure they have a safe environment with daily exercise and raw meat.

Rest easy knowing they’re in good hands… as they rot.

In Michele Lee’s Rot, you won’t find an apocalypse or Romero-style flesh-eaters. This is far more disturbing.

In a world where certain people can will others back from death, Silver Springs Specialty Care Community caters to the undead for those who aren’t quite ready to let go (zombie milk available by special arrangement at the home office).

Dean, retired from the military and looking for an easier life, runs security at this zombie herding farm, but he learns that dark injustice is not unique to war. There’s a rotten core to Silver Springs. Now, Dean and a quickly-decaying corpse named Patrick are on the hunt for a woman they both love and lost to a lucrative business that specializes in greed, zombies and never having to say goodbye.


My Review

Rot is definitely not your traditional zombie tale, full of mindless, hungry zombies and lots of gore. Dean is a former military man hired as a security guard by a facility that specializes in caring for those who are raised from the dead by family members who are unable to care for them, yet unwilling to let them go.

Amy and Patrick are newly raised zombies. Amy died from a stroke, her husband no longer willing to care for her, but unable to let her go. Patrick, a gay man, was killed in a car accident and kept alive by his parents who promise to give him a decent burial once he “repents”.

When Amy goes missing, Dean and Patrick set out to find her and in the process, uncover the dark side of the Silver Springs Specialty Care Community.

This is a wonderfully dark, thought-provoking, heart wrenching and imaginative story that explores the greed, corruption, and selfishness that leads to a callous disregard of human life and one man's strength and courage to do the right thing.

Also posted at Goodreads.