Review:
This review was written for Reedsy Discovery
A new addition to post-apocalyptic zombie horror for fans of The Walking Dead and The Last of Us
The zombie apocalypse hits suddenly, destroying most of the population in the United States. As the zombies run out of humans to consume, they slow down and slowly die…again.
Burial follows Eli and Niece on their journey of survival. Having both lost their families to zombie attacks, the two decide to travel together. Eli has a mission to fulfill in order to honor his little boy, taking them across the country where they encounter ruthless survivors with twisted agendas who threaten their lives.
Reminiscent of
The Walking Dead and
The Last of Us,
Burial by Oliver Edlin is a solid addition to post-apocalyptic zombie horror. The trials that Eli and Niece face are at times graphic and difficult to read, but given the setting, they are entirely realistic. In particular, readers who are sensitive to reading about on-page child death in books will want to steer away from
Burial. While some scenes are unsettling, Oliver Edlin takes care to highlight the good in humanity alongside the evil. I especially appreciated Eli’s six-year-old son’s resilience and fortitude and Niece’s unbreakable spirit.
Told from multiple points of view, I found the beginning of
Burial somewhat hard to follow. Once I established that the primary characters are Eli and Niece, it became more clear how the other character narrations fit into the plot. The story also jumps between the past and present to gradually reveal certain elements to the reader, but eventually, it all comes together. Overall, I enjoyed the book and the overarching quest Eli must fulfill to find closure. However, it was a struggle to get into the narrative in the beginning due to the multiple points of view. In addition, the book is written by a British author, so certain terms (such as “torch” rather than “flashlight”) and phrasing did not fit the American setting or characters. As a US Army Veteran, I also was shocked that the author referred to a “Humvee” as a “behemoth” that required soldiers to “step up high” to enter it, despite the fact that HMMWVs ride very low to the ground. Perhaps he meant to describe an MRAP or LMTV? Since the author chose to use the United States as the setting for
Burial, it would behoove him to find an American editor to clean up problematic areas such as these.
Audience: adult
Trigger warnings: rape, death, murder, gore, murder of a baby (on page)
Recommended for fans of: horror, post-apocalyptic, zombies
Publisher's Synopsis:
When the living dead were hungry, they began falling apart like a fast-food burger put together by a greasy teen on their first day at the job.
The living dead, the gray things, the organ takers: first they ran, then they walked, then they liquefied into the cement as they starved…
Elijah faces threats from all sides: the red-eyed zombies ravenous for blood; the trigger-happy survivors killing for sport; a long, slow death from struggle and starvation. But maybe worst of all are the inescapable nightmares of the family he left behind on the other side of the country. As he travels across the ravaged United States with a young girl who has seen too much but still yearns for kinship, their survival skills and faith are tested to the limits. In a world where the dead have risen again, there is one last thing he needs to lay to rest.
Source:
Reedsy Discovery
©Oliver Edlin: August 19, 2024
Edition: ebook, read on KU
218 pages
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