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A review by lincolncreadsbooks
Rot by Michele Lee
4.0
Rot tells an entirely different sort of zombie tale. There’s no zombie apocalypse, and the streets aren’t awash with the flesh and blood of humanity. Instead, the type of society Lee describes kind of makes you wish it would be consumed: people raise their dead loved ones because they can’t stand the thought of them being dead, and then foist them off on what’s basically a nursing home for the undead. Dean, hired by the company that runs the nursing home to re-kill zombies when they inevitably lapse into savagery, falls in love with one of the residents, a zombie lass named Amy. Another zombie, a dead gay man named Patrick resurrected by his parents in order to save his soul from Hell, also has a special place in his heart for Amy. When she goes missing, Dean and Patrick team up to find her, and in the process uncover a hideous plot that further condemns the already damned and unwanted living dead.
I was really enthusiastic about Michele’s approach when I first heard about the book; I’m a big fan of Brian Keene, so I already have my zombie apocalypse fix covered. Instead, she uses the classic monster to tell a different type of story. My biggest gripe about Rot is that it’s too short; I definitely think Michele could have delved deeper into the various pits of depravity created when mankind raises it’s dead to live among them again. She only scratches the surface slightly with an offhand mention of a woman brought back to life to provide milk for the baby she died birthing and the merest hint of the horrors of a zombie escort service. I definitely think she should shoot for a novel-length adaptation of Rot; the small taste she gives us with the novella is executed so well, it’s hard to be satisfied with fifty pages knowing the untapped potential that’s out there. I also wish there had been more of the relationship between Amy and Dean; yeah, falling in love with a zombie is kinda disgusting, but the way Michele describes her it doesn’t sound outside the realm of possibility.
Bottom line: pick up a copy of Rot and then hound Michele en masse to finish what she started. And tell her Lincoln sent you. 8.5/10
I was really enthusiastic about Michele’s approach when I first heard about the book; I’m a big fan of Brian Keene, so I already have my zombie apocalypse fix covered. Instead, she uses the classic monster to tell a different type of story. My biggest gripe about Rot is that it’s too short; I definitely think Michele could have delved deeper into the various pits of depravity created when mankind raises it’s dead to live among them again. She only scratches the surface slightly with an offhand mention of a woman brought back to life to provide milk for the baby she died birthing and the merest hint of the horrors of a zombie escort service. I definitely think she should shoot for a novel-length adaptation of Rot; the small taste she gives us with the novella is executed so well, it’s hard to be satisfied with fifty pages knowing the untapped potential that’s out there. I also wish there had been more of the relationship between Amy and Dean; yeah, falling in love with a zombie is kinda disgusting, but the way Michele describes her it doesn’t sound outside the realm of possibility.
Bottom line: pick up a copy of Rot and then hound Michele en masse to finish what she started. And tell her Lincoln sent you. 8.5/10