Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Well, they've gone and done it. They Twilight-ified zombies. At least Isaac Marion had the decency to not sparkle the true undead up. Instead, he does something a little more bold–he gives them thoughts! Gasp! Oh my! What a novel idea! Like that has never occurred to any other writer before.

Still, Isaac Marion's writing capabilities out does his Mormon vampire counterpart. He also flexes his literary muscle by making allusions to Romeo & Juliet. And by allusions, I mean he's drilling hammering the tragedy like an eighth grade English teacher. Don't believe me? Well, the stories about R, a zombie who falls in love with a living girl named Julie. His best friend's name is M. He knows the consequences about falling in love with Julie, and that no one in his family or hers will accept them as a couple. Not enough? I kid you not, there's a balcony scene in which Julie states the following: "I mean, isn't "zombie" just a silly name we came up with for a state of being we don't understand? What's in a name, right? If we were...If there was some kind of..." Seriously, Isaac? Couldn't you just state what's in a zombie? and get it over with?

I will give it the benefit of the doubt. The book isn't horrible. I just hope that Issac Marion doesn't get the bright idea and turn it into a series. Goddamnit! He does have a way with words when he isn't paraphrasing Shakespeare. And his story structure is thought out. He doesn't ignore the importance of character development, at least.

So pick up Warm Bodies before the movie hits theaters this February. Copies are available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, for Kindle and Nook. Until next time, happy huntin'.