"Zombie, Ohio" by Scott Kenemore

"Zombie, Ohio"
by Scott Kenemore
Published 2011 by Skyhorse
304 pages

Every zombie Apocalypse movie or book talks about how people work to either escape from or destroy the zombies, but very few take you into the mind of a zombie. Yeah I know zombies are supposed to be mindless but what if they could think. Scott Kenemore takes that what if and explores the mind of a zombie in his latest book "Zombie, Ohio." Scott can pretty much be called an expert in Zombie-ology especially after looking at the books he's written. He's pretty much explored all you can do with zombies with titles such as; "The Zen of Zombie: Better Living Through the Undead" (2007), "Z.E.O", (2009),"The Art of Zombie Warfare" (2010),and "The Code of the Zombie Pirate" (2010). This time around he explores a Zombie Apocalypse through the mind of one certain Zombie.

Peter Mellor regains consciousness after having an automobile accident. He's having trouble remembering who he is but after checking his driver's license he finds out he's Peter Mellor and lives near Kenton College in Ohio. He finds his hat and begins to walk away from the accident to find his home. When he arrives at his house he finds stacks and stacks of books and empty bottles of scotch. He turns on the television and the only thing on TV is coverage of the Zombie Apocalypse hitting america. Zombies attacking and eating people, the government setting up safe zones and speculation as to how this occurred. Not remembering there was a zombie apocalypse just adds to his misery of not knowing anything.

Soon his friend (only friend he finds out), Sam, finds Peter in the house and is surprised to see Peter. Peter explains the accident and the memory loss. Sam in turn explains who Peter was. As it turns out he wasn't a great guy. A womanizer, a drunk and a philosphy professor at the college. Not too bright of a future, but Peter finds out also from Sam that his life recently turned around afer he met a woman that captivated him, in fact that was where he was headed before the accident, the woman's home which is one of those green homes where it is off the grid, possibly a great place to survive the zombie apocalypse. Sam offers to take Peter out to the house but after he stops and sees the doctor at the college.

Kenton College professors have stuck around defending the college from the zombies and seem to be doing a good job. Peter and Sam arrive at one of the watch points where the doctor is assisting in keeping watch over the cemetery killing zombies as they rise from the grave. Just as the doc is about examine Peter and check for a concussion, a zombie comes out of a grave and the shooting commences. Peter is splattered with zombie gore and goes in to wash himself off. In the restroom Peter removes his cap and sees his brain exposed on the top of his head. To Peter's horror he realizes he is a zombie and wonders what happens next. Being a philosophy professor he begins at first to contemplate his being. Sam comes in and Peter quickly puts the cap back on and hides his zombieness.

Sam takes Peter to his girlfriend, Vanessa's hide out and here Peter has to decide whether or not to expose his zombieness or to keep hiding. When Vanessa's neice goes missing Peter goes out to find the girl and discovers a biker that is trying to abduct the young girl, Peter attacks with all his zombie powers and eats the dead biker's brains...and oooh they taste sooo good! Peter jumps on a 4-wheeler and heads off to contemplate his future as a zombie. When he returns he finds the home destroyed and a few dead bikers in the yard, with Vanessa dead he has no reason to "live" and embraces his zombiness and begins to walk and eat brains.

Along this walk he attracts other zombies and forms a zombie army of sorts, making sure not to eat women or children (I guess even a zombie can have scruples), they soon become 400 strong and a force to be reckoned with. The army learns of his non-zombieness because of helicopters photographing him flipping them the bird and carrying and shooting guns. This makes him a target of interest to the military. Peter also accidentally discovers his death was not accidental and wants to find who killed him.

Written in first person, from Peter the Zombie's aspect, this book gives the reader a "film noir" feel while solving the mystery and experiencing exploits. Enjoy the gore, the killing and of course the brain eating while at the same time enjoying a mystery-love story adventure. This book is full of fun, from the funny to the whole end of the world via zombies. I hope Scott Kenemore will write more novels because his talent in telling a story is superb. While this book may not be on Oprah's list (unless she becomes undead sometime soon) it should be on any zombie lover's list.