Book Review: The Loving Dead

By Sandy Amazeen Sep 5, 2010, 18:19 GMT

Kate and Michael are roommates living in the Oakland hills, working at the same Trader Joes supermarket. A night of drunken revelry changes their lives forever, but not in the way that anyone would expect. A slow-spreading plague of zombie-ism breaks out at their house party, spreading amongst their circle of friends, and simultaneously through the Bay Area. This zombie plague - an STD of sorts - is spread through ...more

A group of twenty-something coworkers at the local Trader Joes in Oakland, California got together for a typical Saturday night party when one of the guests suddenly morphs into a zombie. Completely out of their depth on how to handle such a problem, the partiers simply leave the woman tied to a bed. As Michael, the party host attempts to cope with the escalating situation, his housemate Kate runs off on an ill-fated date on a Zeppelin. Kate begins suspecting zombiism is the ultimate STD and while hopeful because she hasn’t turned yet, is afraid her tentative homosexual encounter at the party might have put her at risk.

Michael tries to gather supplies and a group of coworkers to join him on Alcatraz while Oakland is becoming overrun with horny, hungry zombies. Of course Michael isn’t the only one to have come to that conclusion so when Kate arrives on the island before him, she finds an unwelcome welcoming committee. Michael and Kate have just enough time to realize what is most important in life before time runs out.

Instead of a deep, dark zombie tale, Beamer opted for a more humorous bent with self-absorbed but basically well-intentioned protagonists who are clearly out of their element. The action is fast though at times, stretches the bounds of believability which is fine with a story like this. Don’t look for a deep read, just sit back, relax and enjoy the lighter if hornier side of zombies.