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The Finster Effect
What happens when a malevolent minister, a fast-food manager, a loyal dog, and the son of a kidnapper are forced to navigate an undead apocalypse and swarms of super-intelligent rats? The cannibalistic undead plague a Michigan town, prompting the National Guard to join forces with the Michigan Militia. A group of survivors attempts to make it to the Mackinac Bridge, while the god-fearing take on the godless in a bloody battle that is anything but holy. Just when you think it can't get any worse, there's a cat stuck in a goddamn tree! Will anyone survive, and will their humanity remain intact? The Finster Effect is the latest novel from the author of A Stabbing for Sadie and Kiss Me Like You Love Me, and the creator of the serial killer comic, Stig and the Puppetman.
- GenresFiction
328 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 6, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 9, 2012
Fast-paced, with sharp writing, a tale of the zombie apocalypse told from multiple points of view. I burned through it quickly, and was deliriously sickened by a few scenes of truly shocking and repugnant horror. Good guys are devoured and bad guys get many a well-deserved comeuppance in a novel that explores the perennial question of all zombie fiction, `Just who are the real monsters, anyway?'.
December 3, 2012
An amazingly horrifying story, Friday's "The Finster Effect" is an intricately woven tale, each chapter told from a different character's point of view with each short chapter (including even canine, feline, and burgeoning rat population narration-- if it sounds weird, IT IS... but once the oddity and shock wears off, it WORKS...). Masterfully the story unravels; starting with a toned-down "no drinking the water" alert, the story spirals out of control to apocalyptic proportions, spread out by building super rat numbers(and a slowly but surely building animated undead population).
Besides events and plot twists each character endures, "The Finster Effect" takes on a dark psychological undertone... Which factors of humanity will rise to become heroes? How many will shock the reader--surprisingly become too weak, fold-- give up? What scum will rise to the surface, manipulating others, the situation, and the future as a result? Where does personal sacrifice come into play for the betterment of survival?
Personalities of characters you'd normally scorn, you instead cheer on... Suddenly militia-style wackos seem sane... religious groups turn vigilante and attack even the National Guard, doing their best to control the situation while protecting Michigan's citizens... Society and reason are upended in gruesomely descriptive horror that escapes not even society's tiniest victims...
Horror-- Yes! Suspense-- Yes! Unraveling mystery as to the plague's origin-- Yes! Characters who satisfyingly get what's coming to them? Hell YES!!!
For me, the read didn't stop with the book's finish, however... the effects and horror of the story stay long with you, questioning what you would do personally, given the situation... Loved Friday's "Kiss Me Like You Love Me' and "A Stabbing For Sadie"... but this book takes the proverbial cake.
Besides events and plot twists each character endures, "The Finster Effect" takes on a dark psychological undertone... Which factors of humanity will rise to become heroes? How many will shock the reader--surprisingly become too weak, fold-- give up? What scum will rise to the surface, manipulating others, the situation, and the future as a result? Where does personal sacrifice come into play for the betterment of survival?
Personalities of characters you'd normally scorn, you instead cheer on... Suddenly militia-style wackos seem sane... religious groups turn vigilante and attack even the National Guard, doing their best to control the situation while protecting Michigan's citizens... Society and reason are upended in gruesomely descriptive horror that escapes not even society's tiniest victims...
Horror-- Yes! Suspense-- Yes! Unraveling mystery as to the plague's origin-- Yes! Characters who satisfyingly get what's coming to them? Hell YES!!!
For me, the read didn't stop with the book's finish, however... the effects and horror of the story stay long with you, questioning what you would do personally, given the situation... Loved Friday's "Kiss Me Like You Love Me' and "A Stabbing For Sadie"... but this book takes the proverbial cake.
November 25, 2018
I got to be a beta reader for this zombie thriller by Wednesday Lee Friday. It's her most ambitious novel to date, juggling a big ensemble cast and creating unique voices for each one.
February 4, 2013
I haven't read a lot of zombie books, but the ones that I have read all seem to take place in a world in which the zombie apocalypse has already taken place. The Finster effect was a refreshing change of pace for me. It focuses on the very early stages of a zombie outbreak, and provides a dastardly explanation of just how corporate greed and incompetence could lead to this kind of disaster. The source of the zombie outbreak could just as easily be believed to be the same cause as the kind of gross negligence that rocketed Erin Brockovich to the public consciousness.
The story starts out innocuously enough, and with a simply brilliant way of introducing the main characters for the tale. A preacher inveighs a fast food worker, who goes home and catches a cab from her house to her father's house, where she finds her father and stepmother dead in the bedroom. The cabbie that took her there heads back to his own property, where he meets an insurance man who needs to look at one of the structures on the property, conveniently next to a bear preserve guarded by a dog. The dog watches his master and mistress die, and not understanding, tries to defend their young boy when people come to clean up. This strange path of introduction is not unlike a single continuous take from a film, like the opening to The Player, and serves as an extremely clever introduction to important players in the story.
Each chapter is told from the perspective of one of these characters, so the opening introductions are cleverly connected one after the other. Once the key players are introduced, the story rotates through the perspectives of people we already know, with an occasional new character's perspective thrown in as needed.
In addition to the separate character perspectives, we are also provided with perspective of certain animals. Dogs, cats and rats all have their own voice in this story. It's quite amusing to see the intelligence hierarchy of these three animals, evident in the way their narratives read. It is especially amusing to read the capricious cat thoughts given voice. We even get to briefly see the perspective of zombies themselves.
Friday sprinkles key clues casually throughout the story, subtly informing the reader with key pieces of information so that we can start to weave the various characters and their histories together into a cohesive plot.
As I mentioned, this is not a post-apocalyptic world. This is a normal town, which also unfortunately contains sociopaths, murderers, misfits and freaks. Not everyone in this story is a survivor in the traditional zombie story sense. There are people who just want to get back to their dysfunctional lives - because and in spite of the rapid decline of everything around them.
I enjoyed the beginning of this book a bit more than the ending. I'm not sure I understood everything that was happening at the end of the book, but there are some very thought-provoking bits regarding how individual survivors, cut off from communication, fret and wonder just how bad things are outside their hot zone.
The Finster Effect is a wonderfully entertaining story of damage control, isolation, desperation and a fairly unique interpretation of how a simple mistake can escalate beyond any company's ability to control the situation. It's an outrageous collision of worst-case scenarios, sprinkled with sad moments of discovery, futility and revelation.
The story starts out innocuously enough, and with a simply brilliant way of introducing the main characters for the tale. A preacher inveighs a fast food worker, who goes home and catches a cab from her house to her father's house, where she finds her father and stepmother dead in the bedroom. The cabbie that took her there heads back to his own property, where he meets an insurance man who needs to look at one of the structures on the property, conveniently next to a bear preserve guarded by a dog. The dog watches his master and mistress die, and not understanding, tries to defend their young boy when people come to clean up. This strange path of introduction is not unlike a single continuous take from a film, like the opening to The Player, and serves as an extremely clever introduction to important players in the story.
Each chapter is told from the perspective of one of these characters, so the opening introductions are cleverly connected one after the other. Once the key players are introduced, the story rotates through the perspectives of people we already know, with an occasional new character's perspective thrown in as needed.
In addition to the separate character perspectives, we are also provided with perspective of certain animals. Dogs, cats and rats all have their own voice in this story. It's quite amusing to see the intelligence hierarchy of these three animals, evident in the way their narratives read. It is especially amusing to read the capricious cat thoughts given voice. We even get to briefly see the perspective of zombies themselves.
Friday sprinkles key clues casually throughout the story, subtly informing the reader with key pieces of information so that we can start to weave the various characters and their histories together into a cohesive plot.
As I mentioned, this is not a post-apocalyptic world. This is a normal town, which also unfortunately contains sociopaths, murderers, misfits and freaks. Not everyone in this story is a survivor in the traditional zombie story sense. There are people who just want to get back to their dysfunctional lives - because and in spite of the rapid decline of everything around them.
I enjoyed the beginning of this book a bit more than the ending. I'm not sure I understood everything that was happening at the end of the book, but there are some very thought-provoking bits regarding how individual survivors, cut off from communication, fret and wonder just how bad things are outside their hot zone.
The Finster Effect is a wonderfully entertaining story of damage control, isolation, desperation and a fairly unique interpretation of how a simple mistake can escalate beyond any company's ability to control the situation. It's an outrageous collision of worst-case scenarios, sprinkled with sad moments of discovery, futility and revelation.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews