Shane Gregory

Okay. I've given this 4.5 stars out of 5 because, for a zombie novel, it's actually very well written. The characters behave normally and respond believably and, while there are the typical post-apocalyptic "bad guys" who use the ZA to feed their personal egos (and I'm not convinced such asshats would be this numerous post-apocalypse)... for the most part the characters seem realistic.

There was one scene where an otherwise strong and capable woman throws a hissy-fit because her "man" of 5 show more whole days might or might not be looking at the only other female survivor "in that way" - this stereotypical behaviour felt extremely out of place in this novel. Dunno why he felt the need to make her come across as so petty, but... the novel in general is still way less misogynistic than nearly every other zombie book I've read.

The other little issue is how most of the book was written as if the characters had never heard of the nature of zombies before - for example, there are many many scenes where they are "baffled" as to where the "people" they shot went, or how they didn't "die" from a gunshot wound or two. The main character plays video games, and was aware of the existence of zombie movies, so why this hesitance to acknowledge that the people they "killed" got back up because, I dunno, they were zombies?

If it looks like a duck...

So, why did I give this 4.5 stars? Well, because the characters are well-written, the ZA is a little different from the typical one, the main character is not some super hero, there is no gun porn or herding/raping of women...and those people who do "bad things", like try to herd women for reproduction, are actually shown to be "bad guys", not the norm in a ZA world. And, probably most importantly, I didn't want to put the book down until I finished it... show less

Our main character, let's call him Mr. X for the sake of the review, begins shortly after book 2 leaves off. Mr. X is alone, having lost Jen early on (thank god...I still think she was a whiny bitch) and now Sara. In his efforts to clear out Clayfield, he comes across a disturbing amount of decapitated heads and a collection of yellow cars. And then, by sheer luck, he finds Sara, returned from Biloxi to find him. But Sara isn't alone...she's got a new boyfriend (WTF?! Apparently two months show more in an apocalypse is longer than real time) and another couple with her. So, we've got ourselves quite the love triangle. Grant, Sara's new beau, is a loose cannon. His immaturity and failure to accept losing Sara to Mr. X causes a chain of events that lead to the death of some of their own.

Mr. X goes from a one man show to quite the collection of wackos. I don't know what it is about Shane Gregory, but he has a knack for writing women that I hate from a visceral level. Sara, once an innocent, likable character, transformed into quite the skank while on sabbatical from Mr. X.

No King of Clayfield book would be complete without a major psycho, and Bruce Lee delivers on a grand scale. His Bipolar personality had me laughing, then cringing, then laughing again. What's a little cos-play among crazies, right? Caring less about people and more about Star Trek memorabilia, I thought to myself "Man, Mr. X should blow that mother-effer up with his little toys."

I enjoyed the double entendre of the title "Fire Birds". Whether intentional or purely accidental, it worked for me. It's always fun to find little Easter eggs. I also really appreciated that Shane brought back a character we had seen early on. And, surprisingly enough, I actually LIKE Cheryl! Hopefully she doesn't go into full skank mode and tear that first impression from me.

To sum things up, I was excited to get my hands on Fire Birds. It had been a good chunk of time since reading the first two installments, but I didn't need any refreshers. Shane has written some really unique tidbits into his version of the apocalypse that make The King of Clayfield stand out among others in the genre. His work evokes a strong opinion in me and invites me into it's pages in such a way that I feel a connection to it's characters. I adore it's originality and will definitely stalk him for more. Five stars to Fire Birds from The Bookie Monster. In hindsight, I wonder if I had read the books in order (I read book two before book one) if I would have awarded them five stars as well. I get it now. Shane Gregory's books have earned their place in my heart and obviously, my blog.

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All That I See continues the saga of 'he who shall not be named' and friends. Instead of running for the hills to find safety and infection free zones, survivors decide to make a stand in Clayfield, Kentucky. Having the foresight that most would not, they try to become sustainable on their own as opposed to looting the local Wal-Mart. This saga really portrays the old adage of 'Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime'.

The devil is in show more the details; and there is no shortage of exquisite description in this series. I love when I can get lost in a book, close my eyes and see a scene play out like a movie. To me, that is the sign of a talented writer. Gregory's writing is so fantastically detailed that I can nearly feel the loss of characters, the pain of a bite, the sting of deception, and the disgust of the horrible acts man has the capacity to carry out.

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The King of Clayfield begins after an outbreak of the Canton B virus. Told from the perspective of a museum director (I spent over an hour going back through the books trying to track down the main protagonists name and finally searched the web and discovered Gregory never named him, sneaky little bugger!), The King of Clayfield chronicals the survival of a small group faced with numerous obstacles. Once again, I'm not disappointed by the number of idiots and deviants an apocalypse gives show more rise to.

Gregory's writing has unexpected and inventive twists and turns the likes zombie fans have not yet seen. It's got to be hard to (successfully) set yourself apart in such a niche genre. Fans have clear opinions and expectations of what items they need to see in zombie fiction. So my hats off to Shane Gregory for creating some new gems to surprise readers. While I'd love to talk about them here, I'd hate to deprive future readers of their own discovery.

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