Intermission Part Two

Reviews Of Unusual Size  
Books

  PATIENT ZERO
  by Jonathan Maberry
2009, 421 pages, paperback
 

Re: A zombie book by the new modern master of the undead.  Jonathan Maberry has written a few books on zombies now, including a "nonfiction" examination of them, this military style thriller and a young adult novel. He must like the staggering suckers, and he does a great job writing about them.

Outstanding: Last time I reviewed Patient Zero, about a year ago, I praised it for its lighting pace and the twist on zombies. Re reading it, I also found myself really liking the characters themselves, especially Joe's buddy, Rudy. 

Unacceptable: Not much to dislike here. I'm not big on drawn out descriptions of weapons and military specs, but Maberry adds just enough to keep it legit without feeling bogged down. The first time around, I found myself mildly annoyed with two of the villains, Gault and Toys, and assumed it would be the same this time, but even they were more enjoyable this read through.

Summary: An entertaining, well-written novel. I do have to say though, it's more of a thriller than a horror novel. Great for the zombie lover that also digs a good shootout, but if you're looking for a creepy book to read in the shadows, try his Pine Deep trilogy instead. 

5/5     

 

Weighty Matters - 
  My Current Weight - 299 lbs
Progress Thus Far -   

This is a new addition to ROUS, and something I debated a long time about doing. I initally started this blog for three reasons - To record and share my families challenges and triumphs as we roll through life, to keep up with family and friends and to review books, movies and other things that entertain me.

Since that day, the blog's become a bit more, a place where I challenge myself to keep trying at things like my writing, a place to publicly remind myself to keep trying. SO I've decided to add this update to the ends of my posts, and attempt to start posting more regularly, likely every Monday and Thursday. As a motivation for myself. Once it's posted here, regardless of how many people read my blog, there's no going back.

I am overweight. Not that this is a recent thing, I've been heavy most of my life. It got bad when I had a rough time in Jr. High and High School and since then, I've always been about the same. It's not that I feel unhealthy, I carry a good chunk of muscle under the skin, and I think Big-boned is a pretty accurate description of my frame, but there's too much fat under there too, to the tune of 300 pounds of weight, total. It was getting better for a while, I was riding my bike to work, doing some weights and push-ups until December of last year, when I got into a car accident and shattered my right arm in six places. The splint they placed on it, by some miracle, managed to cradle the pieces of bone just right - they wouldn't have to operate, which was fortunate, as nerve damage was highly likely if they did, but it meant I had to be exceedingly careful with it. For six months I was required to stay pretty much immobile as my bones healed and the rest of my body went to pot. 

When they removed the wrappings, my muscles had atrophied. Skin hung off of my upper arms like a loose wet suit and I could barely use it. I'd also put on a lot of extra pounds. At the same time, we had moved to Maine and I'd started a new phase in my career at work, which keeps me really busy. But things are getting a bit more stable now, we've found a kind of rhythm out here and, inspired by my wife's recent 25lb weight loss and my friend Sherry's incredible drive to work out, I think it's time to dive headlong into losing the weight again and packing some muscle back on. 

I could do it silently, but I don't think it would be as successful as my posting it on here for the world to see. I've got no choice now. So wish me luck.

Writing - 

Progress, actually! I wrote another chapter in Graves, bringing my total word count up to over 71k, with only about 9,000 words left in my plotting, I think. My hope is to have this completed by Halloween and start editing it.

 

The Last Sentence - 
The infected are filing into the Double-U Drug through the shattered doors. There is no more time. 

From - "Graves" (WIP)