I've never seen myself as a zombie fiction fan but Timothy Bowden's "Undead Kelly" might just change my mind. Stylistically, it lies somewhere between Bram Stoker and Arthur Conan-Doyle, elegantly recreating the colony of Victoria of the late 19th century on one hand and delivering visceral descriptions of zombie carnage on the other. The characters are artfully drawn. In many ways the characterisation outshines the gut-wrenching plot in all its zombie glory. Nevertheless, the story moves at a cracking pace without compromising the integrity of the writing and the depth of the characterisation. The author skillfully balances fevered action with moments sombre, delicate and poignant. Historically, it is of course, fantasy, but the scholarship involved in the background research into the time and the Ned Kelly story is obvious. Zombie fans will not be disappointed and those readers, like me, who are not zombie orientated, will be more than surprised at the quality of the writing and the inventiveness of the tale. Undead Kelly