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Kilgore and Co.
After the virus swept over the world, humanity has dealt with the zombies left in its wake as best it could, containing the teeming horde inside of newly-walled cities, holding them there until armies can be organized to eradicate the plague from the face of the Earth once and for all.
In the meantime, in cities all over the world, ex-soldiers like Darian Kilgore and his company of reclamation engineers have licenses to legally go inside the walls and retrieve anything from within for the survivors who are willing and able to pay their price.
But on this mission something has gone wrong.
The brain-deads inside the City of Toronto have suddenly become more violent and dangerous than usual. It's as if someone has changed the rules and gotten the brain-deads to think.
Now, Kilgore and his rag-tag group won’t just be looking for property to reclaim, they will be struggling to get out of the city alive.
In the meantime, in cities all over the world, ex-soldiers like Darian Kilgore and his company of reclamation engineers have licenses to legally go inside the walls and retrieve anything from within for the survivors who are willing and able to pay their price.
But on this mission something has gone wrong.
The brain-deads inside the City of Toronto have suddenly become more violent and dangerous than usual. It's as if someone has changed the rules and gotten the brain-deads to think.
Now, Kilgore and his rag-tag group won’t just be looking for property to reclaim, they will be struggling to get out of the city alive.
Audio CD
Published June 8, 2021
1 person is currently reading
3 people want to read
About the author
Edo Van Belkom
72 books55 followersBram Stoker and Aurora Award-winner Edo van Belkom is the author of over 200 stories of horror, science fiction, fantasy, and mystery. As an editor, he has four anthologies to his credit that include two books for young adults, Be Afraid! (A Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book of the Year finalist) and Be Very Afraid! (An Aurora Award winner — Best Work in English). Born in Toronto, van Belkom graduated from York University, then worked as a daily newspaper sports and police reporter before becoming a full-time writer. Edo van Belkom lives in Brampton, Ontario, with his wife Roberta and son Luke.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 25, 2022
I didn't really care about anyone in this story outside of Kilgore, and I didn't feel super strongly about anyone, but it was decent fun. Enjoyed reading it in one day.
The thing I found most interesting was that a lot of the zombies are harmless, just doing what they were doing before in their life.
The thing I found most interesting was that a lot of the zombies are harmless, just doing what they were doing before in their life.
December 23, 2021
Produkcija mi je za četiri zvjezdice, ali pisanje za dvije. Tako da neka zlatna sredina.
July 27, 2023
This is almost an interesting take on zombies. Almost.
These aren’t typical zombies, but instead are “braindeads”, people who lost higher brain function. So they’re not ravenous dead people. They still do the things they did in life, just murderously. And that’s where this story collapses.
These not-zombies can talk, they can fight, they can pitch baseballs… in one instance a not-zombie truck driver continues driving his big rig, constantly pursued by a not-zombie cop. It would be amusing if it weren’t so stupid. And the explanation by one character doesn’t help as she theorizes that they’re just doing things because that’s what they did in real life. The trucker drives because he associated the sun coming up with going to work. Oookay. Except that driving is a complicated skill that requires, you know, higher brain function. (Not to mention the fact that he’d have to constantly refuel the vehicle.) Supposedly she’s a doctor out to save the human race. If that’s so then we’re doomed.
You know what would’ve been *actually* funny? A skeletal zombie trucker diligently attempting to drive his wrecked truck, with an equally skeletal zombie cop “chasing” him in his wrecked cruiser. But that can’t happen here because these not-zombies aren’t actually dead, they’re basically just sleepwalkers. Sleepwalkers who sometimes eat people. Because that’s what’s expected of a zombie book. But if these people aren’t actually the reanimated dead, then this problem solves itself in 3 to 7 days. They will fall over dead from dehydration.
He wants to have his cake and eat it, too.
In 1978 George Romero released Dawn of the Dead, the zombie flick set in a shopping mall. This was satirical social commentary about zombies driven by the blind consumerism of their living years, compelling them to go to the mall. Van Belkom took this idea and ran with it, but he based his book on Zack Snyder’s remake, and Snyder famously doesn’t understand subtext or satire. That’s why we get the weirdness of talking zombies forever waiting for a subway that will never come. Again, almost humorous.
And then there are the zombies using guns, a mystery that’s never resolved, because he’s saving it for the sequel.
The other thing that became grating after a while was the turn-by-turn street details given about the characters’ progress through Toronto. It really felt less like he was evoking the unique flavor of the city and more like he was plotting the story with Google maps open on his phone. I’ve been to Toronto and it made no difference hearing each street called out by name. That kind of thing isn’t impressive. It feels mechanical.
Another strike against this is the gratuitous “killed the dog” scene. Part of his have-cake-and-also-eat-it nonsense.
I got this because I enjoyed the other Graphic Audio adaptations, but this just made me wonder what the hell they were thinking.
These aren’t typical zombies, but instead are “braindeads”, people who lost higher brain function. So they’re not ravenous dead people. They still do the things they did in life, just murderously. And that’s where this story collapses.
These not-zombies can talk, they can fight, they can pitch baseballs… in one instance a not-zombie truck driver continues driving his big rig, constantly pursued by a not-zombie cop. It would be amusing if it weren’t so stupid. And the explanation by one character doesn’t help as she theorizes that they’re just doing things because that’s what they did in real life. The trucker drives because he associated the sun coming up with going to work. Oookay. Except that driving is a complicated skill that requires, you know, higher brain function. (Not to mention the fact that he’d have to constantly refuel the vehicle.) Supposedly she’s a doctor out to save the human race. If that’s so then we’re doomed.
You know what would’ve been *actually* funny? A skeletal zombie trucker diligently attempting to drive his wrecked truck, with an equally skeletal zombie cop “chasing” him in his wrecked cruiser. But that can’t happen here because these not-zombies aren’t actually dead, they’re basically just sleepwalkers. Sleepwalkers who sometimes eat people. Because that’s what’s expected of a zombie book. But if these people aren’t actually the reanimated dead, then this problem solves itself in 3 to 7 days. They will fall over dead from dehydration.
He wants to have his cake and eat it, too.
In 1978 George Romero released Dawn of the Dead, the zombie flick set in a shopping mall. This was satirical social commentary about zombies driven by the blind consumerism of their living years, compelling them to go to the mall. Van Belkom took this idea and ran with it, but he based his book on Zack Snyder’s remake, and Snyder famously doesn’t understand subtext or satire. That’s why we get the weirdness of talking zombies forever waiting for a subway that will never come. Again, almost humorous.
And then there are the zombies using guns, a mystery that’s never resolved, because he’s saving it for the sequel.
The other thing that became grating after a while was the turn-by-turn street details given about the characters’ progress through Toronto. It really felt less like he was evoking the unique flavor of the city and more like he was plotting the story with Google maps open on his phone. I’ve been to Toronto and it made no difference hearing each street called out by name. That kind of thing isn’t impressive. It feels mechanical.
Another strike against this is the gratuitous “killed the dog” scene. Part of his have-cake-and-also-eat-it nonsense.
I got this because I enjoyed the other Graphic Audio adaptations, but this just made me wonder what the hell they were thinking.
August 3, 2021
Not bad, not great. Interesting take on "zombies".
August 11, 2021
Fun and easy to listen to.
September 22, 2024
I very much enjoyed listening to this book via Audible. I am looking forward to reading more from this author.
Highly recommend ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Highly recommend ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews