Friday, July 30, 2010

Pariah by Bob Fingerman

Book Details
Pariah by Bob Fingerman
Paperback, 368 Pages
2010, Tor Books
ISBN: 0765326272

Synopsis
The world is in chaos. A zombie plague has devoured every nation on the planet. New York City is no exception. Imagine eight million zombies. Shoulder to shoulder. Walking the streets, looking for their next meal. The residents of one apartment building have bonded to keep themselves safe from the onslaught, but their inevitable demise lurks right outside their window, a constant reminder of the doom that awaits them. Forced to remain in the safety of the building, the tenants find themselves at each others' throats. When they spy a lone teenage girl who walks among the hordes, unattacked by the undead, their world opens up.

Review
Pariah is a book about zombies. I love zombies. Naturally, I expected to enjoy this book, but I was completely unprepared for how amazing Pariah was.

It's the zombie apocalypse and the government has boarded people up in their apartment buildings. As those few humans struggle to survive, they notice a girl who can walk among the zombies. Mona wanders unharmed through streets filled with shambling undead. The zombies see her, they just don't care. While the survivors try to unravel the mystery as to why Mona is immune, psychological aspects start coming into play. Trapped with neighbors for months, hiding from certain bloody death, has caused mental health to deteriorate. Mona's ability pushes some survivors a little closer to the edge.

The thing that made Pariah that much better than other zombie books was the humor. It was biting, very dark and mean at times. It fit with the situation the survivors found themselves in. People are on edge, at their very breaking point and the sarcasm laced dialogue is deep, funny and feels almost too real.

Pariah includes zombie portraits drawn by the author. These were both impressively done and helpful to understanding the state the zombies are in. Pariah is funny and disturbing with terror on many levels both fantastical and realistic. Definitely the cream of the zombie crop.

Rating

Links
Bob Fingerman's website

13 comments :

  1. WOW, this book sounds really great! I'll have to read it, I love Zombies too :) Awesome review!

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  2. +JMJ+

    It sounds great! =D

    I've been wanting to read a good book set in a dystopian future for some time, and I think one with a zombie apocalypse is exactly what I need. ;-)

    As always, thanks for the review, Jennifer. =)

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  3. Sounds awesome, can't wait to get it!

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  4. Thanks for the review!

    I just started my own blog. Please stop by if you can. Thank you

    Misha
    http://books-love-affair.blogspot.com/

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  5. Wow, how unique. I really need to read this one now.

    -lauren

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  6. I got this one at BEA. I haven't gotten a chance to read it yet but my DH just finished it and loved it. Can't wait to get to it!

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  7. Thanks for the review! I added the book to my wishlist. It looks awesome!

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  8. Okay I love zombies and I love this review. Excellent.

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  9. Ah, the good old Zom-pocolypse. I love it. This book looks awesome and I love your review.

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  10. I am going to have to add this one to my list. I am enjoying Blood Oath which is different and a very good read. I think I would like this one for the same reason :)

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  11. @miss cindy - Thanks! It was really great!

    @Enbrethiliel - I don't think you can go wring with a zombie apocalypse. Even a bad zombie apocalypse has it's good points. But, yeah, Pariah was one of the very best I've read.

    @Vampires and Tofu - I hope you love it as much as I did!

    @misha1989 - Welcome to book blogging!

    @Shooting Stars Mag - Definitely unique. The girl's immunity took the book places that I hadn't seen before in other novels, which is always a good thing.

    @Karen - I got my copy at BEA too, and already talked my husband's best friend into reading it.

    @Manga Maniac - Very awesome!

    @christina - Thank you very much!

    @Splendibird - Thanks! The Zom-pocalypse is the best kind of apocalypse one can hope for.

    @Felicia - I LOVED Blood Oath! That too had something we're used to (vampires as opposed to zombies) and twisted it a bit to make something new and great.

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  12. I don't read a lot with zombie, but anything you give this high of a rating to deserves a spot on my TBR.

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  13. @Tara - I think you'll like it, but you may have to keep an open mind. This particular gushing review is coming from a zombie freak.

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