Category: Zombies

THE DEVIL BY NAME by Keith Rosson

First sentences…

Denis knocks once and steps into her room.

Past her bed and to the window, where he thumbs aside the gauzy curtains.  They’re on the fourth floor next to the stairwell.  Naomi rises, sits there numbly, sleep still crowding her.  She’d been dreaming of her brother.

“Come,” Denis says, without turning from the window.  “We have to go.”

“What’s the matter?”

“Nothing’s the matter,” he says curtly.  A tall wide-shouldered man wearing a black knit cap and a mishmash of scavenged tactical gear.  A black hunting rifle slung over his shoulder.  A week’s worth of bread.  “Just get dressed.”

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Five years ago every cell phone in the world lit up with a call.  Those that answered heard something that changed them into mindless killing machines.  Any person murdered by someone under the influence of the demon message, reanimated with the same sadistic killing urges.

It turns out the message was accidentally sent worldwide tby the President of the United States.  His intention was the call would just go out to phones in enemy nations.  Governments fell.  Terradyne Industries took control in the United States.  The corporation walled in major cities.  They recruited soldiers to control life behind the walls.  Although they claim to be working on a cure — the vaccine they are refining may be for something else.

John Bonner was a US government black ops agent when things went sideways.  His division dealt with the occult.  Bonner was part of the boots on the ground in Portland – a hotspot during the initial days of infection.  Bonner knows the dark secrets behind the apocalyptic call.  He blames himself for not doing more to stop it.

Katherine Moriarty was married to the man who dared dive too deep into the occult.  He became an instrument of doom.  It cost Katherine her marriage, her husband’s life and ultimately killed her son.  Now Katherine wants revenge.

Dean makes do by traveling the wastelands.  Along the way he collects discarded items of worth.  When he can, Dean barters for things he needs survive.

There are whispered rumors that a young girl lives who has the power to cure the infected.  Rationale folks pray the rumors are true.  Those in power at Terradyne Industries know that such a child could bring down their hold on the world.

Now Terradyne has a name: Naomi Laurent. They need to find and bring in Naomi for “study”.

Bonner, Katherine, Dean and others will venture into the apocalyptic wasteland in search of Naomi.  Some want to save her.  Others to do her harm.  The fate of the humanity will be determined by who gets her first… or maybe last.

Rosson has created a worthy follow up to FEVER HOUSE.

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FEVER HOUSE by Keith Rosson

First sentences…

Tim Reed sits in the driver’s seat of his ancient and rust-punched Datsun hatchback, balancing a screwdriver on the tip of his finger.  Hutch and Tim are killing time, waiting for some poor guy to come home so they can terrify him and, if necessary, perform grievous harm to the architecture of the man’s body.  It’s the usual deal: reluctance to pay a debt owed.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Tim and Hutch are leg-breakers for Peach Sorreno.  Although the two are more than willing to throw a beatdown on deadbeats who’ve borrowed from Peach, when Tim and Hutch show up to collect, more often than not they come away with money.  That’s par for the course and the way it’s been working that night.

Until they get to Wesley.

Wesley’s a methhead. He claims he has no money.  When Tim and Hutch search Wesley’s apartment, they find a severed hand in his refrigerator.  Tim and Hutch decide to take Wesley and the hand to Peach’s warehouse.  There they’ll sort out what to do next.

What Tim and Hutch don’t know, but will soon learn is the hand causes anyone near it to get violent, murderous thoughts.  These urges become so strong and persistant that those under the influence lose control and act on them.  They will brutally murder anyone near.  Worse still, the killed by a person under the influence of the demon hand, reanimate as zombies with the same sadistic killing urges.

As the madness spreads two factions work to recover the hand…

• Peach Sorreno knows Tim and Hutch had the hand, but do they still?  Sorreno wants it badly, and brings in Nick Coffin, one of his “fixers” to resolve the issue.

• A US government black ops organization that deals with the occult has been searching for the hand.  Under the direction of David Lundy (who wants the demon hand to weaponize it), two field agents, John Bonner and Samantha Weils are boots on the ground.

With each passing minute, the fevor spreads.  One infected becomes two.  Two become four.  If the hand isn’t recovered and destroyed, it could be the end of the world.

+++

When I started FEVER HOUSE I expected a crime novel with horror overtones.  What I got was an epic, crime/conspiracy/horror/demonic/apocalyptic tale that I absolutely loved.  I’ve already purchased the sequel and it’s nearing the top of my next-to-read pile.

FEVER HOUSE gets my highest recommendation.

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