Title: Dead of Night
Series: Dead Of Night #1
Author: Jonathan Maberry
Published: October 2011, St Martins Griffin
Format: Library Borrow
A prison doctor injects a condemned serial killer with a formula designed to keep his consciousness awake while his body rots in the grave. But all drugs have unforeseen side-effects. Before he could be buried, the killer wakes up. Hungry. Infected. Contagious. This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang…but a bite.
Ok, this is my first Jonathan Maberry book, and I am completely blown away. Dead of Night was flipping awesome. I'm glad I listened to Christy @ Christy's Love of Books and got on board with this series - now I just have to find time to read the rest of his books!
Dead of Night is gruesome and gut wrenching.... like seriously, I was reading this, and my innards threatened to become outards. It was fabulously disgusting! It's like Maberry gets zombie guts and puts them under a microscrope for you - repeatedly. Ewwwwww! Those bastards are horrifying!
Everything starts out in small town PA. But the infection spreads quick. At the center of it is an inmate who was sentenced to death, Homer. Seems the good doctor that was in charge of putting him down had some other ideas in mind. Well, those ideas spin beautifully out of control. It's like an infection tornado of monumental aspects.
"You think I'm crazy?"
"Of course you are. You're crazier than a barn owl on meth, and you damn well know it. Look at your lifestyle. There's nothing about your daily habits that doesn't speak of self-loathing. You drink too much. You'll screw anything with even a high school level pickup line and a tight ass. You're a bitch of legendary proportions..."
And who is just one of our heroes? Dez. Desdemona, actually. Tough as nails cop with a tough as nails exterior. This is a woman who is not quite dead on the inside, but she's not exactly living either. She's been hurt so many times, and she just never fought her way out of that. She just exists now, going through the motions. This zombie apocalypse though, it really changes her. Seeing people you know getting eaten alive can do that to ya, ya know.
There's a host of other fabulous characters. But I'm a romance fan, so I'll tell you there is a romantic interest for Dez, even if she hates his guts, and would likely stab him in the neck if given half a chance. But Billy, that's his name, he's not a bad guy. If anything, he's an awesome guy who is in love with a severely damaged woman. He's a man with strong character, and throughout this book he shows his awesomeness over and over.
This is an exciting book. A lot of it takes places in the dusk and ahem, well, the dead of night. It really lends an eerie factor that just gave me the creepy crawlies all over my skin. Something else you only get to see once in a while - inside the mind of a zombie. Oh yeah, it's a doozie. Add in some shady governmental practices (Damn the man!!) and you've got yourself one HELL of a ride. But it's the last couple pages that will really wind you up for the next book.
Yep. I'm a complete and instant fan, and I am thrilled I already have Fall of Night to start reading. Have you read Maberry before? I'm a bit late to the game, but you can bet your ass I'm catching up now!
Jonathan and his wife, Sara Jo, to whom he dedicates all of his published works, and their dog, Rosie, live in Del Mar, California.
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