World War Z

I absolutely loved this book. World War Z was published in 2006 and is by Max Brooks, who also authored The Zombie Survival Guide, which I have not read. The Z, of course, represents the zombie hoards that humans are trying to destroy before the whole race is consumed.

The reason I love this book so much is because it doesn't feel like fiction at all, which makes it all the more terrifying. The narrator is a journalist who travels the world and interviews people on the early days when zombies were first discovered, the war itself, and the aftermath. The book is basically divided into these three sections, and has a very matter-of-fact voice. It is basically told through the eyes of the survivors, and has varying levels of anger and reflection by the interviewees, and almost none by the interviewer.

 

The fact that very few characters are repeated was a little disconcerting at first, since each chapter has a new set of characters, but it works very well. This felt just like a real war, with all the violence, emotion, and language used by people who are fighting for their lives and losing loved ones. The interviewees range from scientists to vigilantes to soldiers and everyone in-between.

This book is not for the faint of heart or people who can't handle bloodshed and violence. I would not recommend it to younger readers. I do recommend it to anyone who like zombies or war stories.