
Flesh Eaters by Joe McKinney
Was 2011 a bad year for the horror novel? I’ve yet to read any of the nominees for the 2012 Bram Stoker Award for best novel except Flesh Eaters by Joe McKinney, the winner, and I find myself puzzled. Was this really the best the year had to offer? It’s a competent enough zombie novel, but nothing special.
Flesh Eaters tells the story of the loss of Houston, Texas, to a close series of tropical storms, one after another hitting the city until it has essentially become part of the Gulf of Mexico. As was the case with Hurricane Katrina and the tragedy of New Orleans in 2005, Houston is not effectively evacuated, and is largely cut off from the rest of civilization in the aftermath of the storms. This isolation becomes considerably more pronounced when the combination of filthy conditions, flooding by heavily polluted water, and the... Read More