Cemetery Club by JG Faherty

This was supposed to be yesterday's post but I fell behind and didn't get it written. Cemetery Club started off rather slow. I did not like the beginning. The first few segments were snapshots of the history of Rocky Pointe but I wasn't connecting to the town. The modern day story started with Todd. Todd had just been released from Wood Hill Sanitarium after serving 20 years for killing several people in his teens. Todd is looking forward to spending his time reconnecting with his mother and continuing his research on what really happened to those people. He suspects he raised a demon. Meanwhile, whatever it was has risen again. John Boyd witnesses the aliens take over a cemetery maintenance man who kills another man before dragging his body into a neighboring crypt. Todd is beaten by police before they even explain why they are arresting him. It's at this point that I am convinced I can no longer read this book. I was so angry. So far the book had failed to grasp my attention and here, in this modern day, this man was completely violated by the men who are sworn to protect. I nearly quit. I nearly wrote a terrible review because I had had it. But I wanted to give the book a chance and I'm glad I did. Once Cody Miles, Todd's lawyer, entered the scene the story took on a completely different feel for me. I was sucked in and I couldn't stop. The fun thing about this book was the debate about what exactly had invaded the community - was it demons or was it aliens? There were good arguments for both and I wasn't disappointed when I learned what the truth was. The beings turn their victims into zombies and that was fun. I hadn't read a zombie book yet so it was great. I loved the characters. I loved how they were real and how they were really struggling with what was the right thing to do. There was even a human villain who I thought could have been used a little better but I could totally picture him in the movie. I didn't like the ending but then I liked the characters a lot and the ending hurt. I won't spoil it for you but I was disappointed. I wanted them to be my heroes and I wanted a happily ever after. The fact that the ending made me feel made it a great ending. I could completely see this movie. It's a small book so it may never happen but I would love to see that movie. There were some editing issues with the book - I won't lie. One character's name changed from Hank to Frank for a few pages and then back to Hank. It was a little off putting but I didn't care. I chalked it up to the quaintness of the publishing. It wasn't well formatted for a nook so there was some fun font issues but I ignored them and stuck with the story. If you like horror, especially Stephen King, I recommend this book. It reminded me a bit of IT but with zombies instead of clowns.

Infestation: Outbreak by Chris Ryall

One thing I want to get out right away – I prefer graphic novels to single issues. This was a single issue but a complete one. The galley description had this as a first issue, in a way it is. This is the first issue of a new plot line for an existing series.
The story and the characters were not difficult to connect with but I kept feeling like I was missing something. It does make me want to go back and find the start of this series and hope I can find it in novel form.
The story is interesting – CVO is an organization that defends the world against supernatural enemies such as vampires and zombies. The story contained demons and ended with an alien invasion. I couldn’t help but feel like there was a little BPRD rip-off especially since their demon advisor was bright red with horns that came out of his forehead.
Infestation is well drawn and easy to follow which makes the story so much better when starting in the middle. I had no difficulty determining which character was which.
I was impressed that this series is done by the same publisher that does Joe Hill’s Locke and Key. I love that series and it made me feel connected to this series. Who knows where it’s going to go but if they make an Infestation movie – I’ll be there.

The Night of the Living Dead by John Russo

This is one of those graphic novels that a parent must read before allowing their child to read it. It is not appropriate for children. It's not overly violent but there is a lot of drawn nudity and sex. I was a little shocked at how graphic that was.
This graphic novel is based on the original Night of the Living Dead movie. It jumps around various characters and scenes as the first wave of zombies happen. There is some interesting insight to some of the characters that wasn't in the original movie.
It's an okay story. I think I would have preferred if it stayed with just the original characters or excluded them completely. It just felt like something was missing. Granted it's going to be a series so that may account for some of the missing something but I can't say for certain.
I can't really say I liked this either. It's not the worst I have read but it won't be the best either. It's entertaining enough.

The Laughing Corpse - Executioner by Laurell K Hamilton

This volume wraps up the Laughing Corpse series of the Anita Blake graphic novels. I rather liked this series (now that I understand how the books go). The story starts with a horrible murder caused by a rogue zombie. In this volume, Anita finds and destroys the zombie. The story behind the zombie's creation causes Anita to question her ability as a necromancer. More importantly, it asks the question what would we do for money and/or power.
I was a little disappointed that the vampire didn't come to her rescue but I suppose it's better for her to kick butt on her own.

Walking Dead Vol 2

As the graphic novels continue, I like them less and less. The plots are good but the black and white design confuses me. Characters come and go and I can't figure out who is who. There are random images and I can't determine what their significance is.
The plot is already different from the tv show which is nice because I don't know what to expect. In this volume, the group arrives on a farm after a shooting accident. The farm is a strange experience. There are a lot of themes here - in a disaster like this one can we demand help from those who can offer it? Are we allowed to judge those who do give us help? And when is it time to move on?
I can understand both sides of the arguement. The group is lost and desperately wants a "home" that is safe. They are looking for something resembling the life they had before the zombies.
The family on the farm wants to protect themselves. They want to be good people and do the right thing. There is a terrible price to pay for helping strangers sometimes and it wasn't anyone's fault.
Like I said I really like the plot but the design/layout of the graphics make it difficult for me to read the story.

The Walking Dead Vol 1 - Days Gone By

I picked up the first three books of this graphic novel series because I enjoyed the television show so much. I knew the show deviated from the books because the writers and creators wanted to offer something new - other possibilities.
The start of this book was quite similar - Rick wakes in the hospital to find that everything and everyone he knew had changed. The area was over run by zombies and his family was gone. He goes to Atlanta to find the city is a waste land. He is saved by a young man, Glenn, who takes him back to a camp where Rick's family happens to be with Rick's best friend Shane.
The graphic novel moved much faster and had far fewer plot details than the series. Most of the series is book 1 which is not that big of a book. There were some differences - there's no plot about the brothers (one of them is left handcuffed to a pipe in the city in the show) and at the end of book 1 Shane is killed. That shocked me the most (and sorry for the spoiler but what's more interesting is who kills him).
Other than those two the book and the show are neck and neck.
I enjoyed this book and have already started book 2. My only complaint would be that the book is drawn in black and white which makes details a little difficult sometimes. It's not as distracting to have it in black and white but I think I would have liked some color - some dramatic art to go with the plot (but then maybe that's why we have the tv show).