The Horror Bookshelf

BOOK INFO

Publisher: Self-published

Length: 78 pages

The End is the debut short story from author Adam M. Booth and is the first person account of Zoe, a thirty-something single mother who unwittingly becomes caught in the outbreak of the zombie apocalypse when she goes to pick up her daughter at the train station. As she is driving toward the bus station, she sees a man sprawled out in the street, dragging himself across the pavement and covered in blood. When Zoe calls for an ambulance and is only greeted by a gurgling sound, that one line of dialogue serves as a bone chilling indication of the events to come.

The End features plenty of traditional zombie thrills, complete with shambling hordes that are hellbent on nothing more than feasting on humans, but the real highlight of the story is in the author’s choice of point of view. Focusing on Zoe, who eventually becomes one of the living dead herself, allows Booth an opportunity to examine zombie mythology in a fresh way. Often times when I am reading a zombie novel, I find myself asking the same questions every single time. Are these things still considered human? Are they aware of what they are or are they just mindless killing machines that are only driven by the biological impulse to feed? Booth answers these questions in The End and rather than ruining the story by giving too much away, it makes the story even better by raising a host of other questions.

I don’t want to spoil the story by posting too many details here as The End is a brisk read at 78 pages, but Booth does an excellent job weaving in bits and pieces of Zoe’s human life with her journey as a zombie to show she was capable of just as much evil before her transformation. The ending gives a pretty unique explanation for the cause of the outbreak along with Zoe’s fate and made me wish that The End was a full-length novel so that Booth would have been able to flesh out these sections a little bit more.

Booth’s writing style is very poetic and makes for some particularly gripping scenes when he describes Zoe’s transformation and her bodies slow degradation throughout the course of the novel. However, his occasional use of quick sentences and poetry inspired structure may not be for everyone. There are also a few minor errors in The End, but none that significantly impacted my enjoyment of the story.

Booth is currently working on Alison, a gothic horror story about an isolated woman and her descent into madness. After reading and enjoying The End, I can’t wait to see what other novels Booth has in store!

Rating: 4/5

Adam M. Booth’s Official website

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