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Praise the Dead: A Zombie Novel
Young Andrew Perry has what he calls "The Power of Resurrection," and he wields it like a toy wand, reanimating animals and people as he sees fit, primarily for his own amusement. But when this strange power begins to amplify, he decides he must be destined for more than merely roadside parlor tricks. In another part of the country, a girl named Lindy possesses a power of her own, a power that threatens both her health and her sanity. The ability to hear and speak to birds, at first terrifying, soon gives birth to insight that suggests there is more going on than she perceives. Day by day and year by year, each child becomes more aware of the other and the inevitable confrontation that is fast approaching. Each must build their own army and prepare for the final showdown between Good and Evil. Caught in the middle, the rest of humanity must choose a side, especially when the dead begin to walk. Who will honor the living . . . and who will Praise the Dead?
188 pages, Paperback
First published July 25, 2010
3 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
About the author
Gina Ranalli
46 books97 followersGina Ranalli is the author of several novels, including Mothman Emerged, Rumors of My Death, Praise the Dead, House of Fallen Trees, Suicide Girls in the Afterlife, Chemical Gardens, Wall of Kiss, and Mother Puncher. Her collection, 13 Thorns (with Gus Fink) won the Wonderland Book Award for Best Story Collection of 2007. Her short stories have appeared in numerous publications including Bits of the Dead, The Beast Within, Horror Library Volume 3, and Dead Science, among others.
Gina lives in Washington state where she is working on her next novel. You can communicate with her online at www.ginaranalli.com and on twitter at http://twitter.com/GinaRanalli
Gina lives in Washington state where she is working on her next novel. You can communicate with her online at www.ginaranalli.com and on twitter at http://twitter.com/GinaRanalli
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 27, 2012
I was initially attracted to this because a) It is written by a woman, and I am still on the lookout for more female authors who kick my ass; and b) It is a short zombie tale (<200 pages) with positive reviews. Finally, a title like "Praise the Dead" deserves some notice, maybe because it's one of those puns that seems obvious, yet has never before come up.
I enjoyed this read. Ranalli moves things along at an admirably fast clip. Zombies show up, zombies eat humans, and the world starts to go the way of the Dodo. Twists to the genre include a young boy who can control the dead through sheer will, and his analog, a young girl who knows that, for whatever reason, only she can stop this spoiled little terror.
I was hoping that Ranalli had big plans for the eventual confrontation between the boy and girl; something in the vein of a cataclysmic change or a massive fight between deities wrapped up in mortal coils. Alas, the story ends in the same tone that it begins, and most of the questions that I set aside during the read were left unanswered. At least zombies still got to run amok and feast on the living.
I enjoyed this read. Ranalli moves things along at an admirably fast clip. Zombies show up, zombies eat humans, and the world starts to go the way of the Dodo. Twists to the genre include a young boy who can control the dead through sheer will, and his analog, a young girl who knows that, for whatever reason, only she can stop this spoiled little terror.
I was hoping that Ranalli had big plans for the eventual confrontation between the boy and girl; something in the vein of a cataclysmic change or a massive fight between deities wrapped up in mortal coils. Alas, the story ends in the same tone that it begins, and most of the questions that I set aside during the read were left unanswered. At least zombies still got to run amok and feast on the living.
March 5, 2011
I liked this book a lot! Very strong characters, great writing style, etc...I am definitely interested in checking out some more of Ms. Ranalli's work based on the strength of this one. It didn't seem like your regular zombie novel fiction, which was refreshing. I'd love to see a sequel!
July 13, 2011
Gina Ranalli, Praise the Dead (Coscom Entertainment, 2010)
I read Ranalli's Wall of Kiss last year, and while I was amused by it, it didn't really blow me away as I'd expected from much of what I'd read about her. But I did note when I bought it that she'd written a zombie novel. I'm a sucker for zombie novels, so picking this up was a given. And once again, I wasn't blown away, but I think I got a better sense of what Gina Ranalli is capable of from this book than I did with the last one. It's got a much wider scope to it, a larger cast of characters in the center rather than on the perimeter, and Ranalli handles that well, most of the time.
Plot: two children are born with special gifts on opposite sides of the country. Andrew has the power to raise the dead. He starts experimenting with local pets, and then, as so often happens, moves on to humans. But he's frustrated by his inability to bring them back exactly the way the were before they died... far, far away, Lindy has the ability to understand the language of birds. And the birds are telling her about Andrew, and that she's the only one who can stop him...
The strong points: Ranalli has a pretty awesome hook here, and she carries through with it without things being too predictable. I'm sure you already have an idea in your head given the synopsis above of Hitchcock vs. Romero; I certainly did when I first read the Amazon product description. Ranalli, however, is not going to take the cheap route, and that is a wonderful thing. Also, as I mentioned, give her a cast of characters who are forced to interact for a hundred-odd pages, and their personalities develop a great deal more than did the nameless protagonist of Wall of Kiss.
The weak point is the book's brevity, which leads to some odd elisions I would have liked to see more fully explored. When we first meet Lindy, for example, she considers her gift a curse, and the incessant chattering of the birds almost drives her to a nervous breakdown. By the third or fourth time we see her, when she's approaching adolescence, we're simply told that she's learned to deal with it. Come on, I want to see that! Also, at least one formerly-important plot point simply vanishes into thin air (can't tell you what without spoilers, but again it involves Lindy).
In short: there's a lot to like about this book, and a lot that will leave you wondering what happened during the editing process and/or wanting this book to be a great deal longer than it is so you can fill in the gaps. It's strong stuff, and quite likable. I just wanted more of it. ***
I read Ranalli's Wall of Kiss last year, and while I was amused by it, it didn't really blow me away as I'd expected from much of what I'd read about her. But I did note when I bought it that she'd written a zombie novel. I'm a sucker for zombie novels, so picking this up was a given. And once again, I wasn't blown away, but I think I got a better sense of what Gina Ranalli is capable of from this book than I did with the last one. It's got a much wider scope to it, a larger cast of characters in the center rather than on the perimeter, and Ranalli handles that well, most of the time.
Plot: two children are born with special gifts on opposite sides of the country. Andrew has the power to raise the dead. He starts experimenting with local pets, and then, as so often happens, moves on to humans. But he's frustrated by his inability to bring them back exactly the way the were before they died... far, far away, Lindy has the ability to understand the language of birds. And the birds are telling her about Andrew, and that she's the only one who can stop him...
The strong points: Ranalli has a pretty awesome hook here, and she carries through with it without things being too predictable. I'm sure you already have an idea in your head given the synopsis above of Hitchcock vs. Romero; I certainly did when I first read the Amazon product description. Ranalli, however, is not going to take the cheap route, and that is a wonderful thing. Also, as I mentioned, give her a cast of characters who are forced to interact for a hundred-odd pages, and their personalities develop a great deal more than did the nameless protagonist of Wall of Kiss.
The weak point is the book's brevity, which leads to some odd elisions I would have liked to see more fully explored. When we first meet Lindy, for example, she considers her gift a curse, and the incessant chattering of the birds almost drives her to a nervous breakdown. By the third or fourth time we see her, when she's approaching adolescence, we're simply told that she's learned to deal with it. Come on, I want to see that! Also, at least one formerly-important plot point simply vanishes into thin air (can't tell you what without spoilers, but again it involves Lindy).
In short: there's a lot to like about this book, and a lot that will leave you wondering what happened during the editing process and/or wanting this book to be a great deal longer than it is so you can fill in the gaps. It's strong stuff, and quite likable. I just wanted more of it. ***
November 19, 2010
Very different from the usual Ginalli offering, lovers of more purist apocalyptic tales will love this one.
Young Andrew Perry has what he calls "The Power of Resurrection," and he wields it like a toy wand, reanimating animals and people as he sees fit, primarily for his own amusement. But when this strange power begins to amplify, he decides he must be destined for more than merely roadside parlor tricks. In another part of the country, a girl named Lindy possesses a power of her own, a power that threatens both her health and her sanity. The ability to hear and speak to birds, at first terrifying, soon gives birth to insight that suggests there is more going on than she perceives. Day by day and year by year, each child becomes more aware of the other and the inevitable confrontation that is fast approaching. Each must build their own army and prepare for the final showdown between Good and Evil. Caught in the middle, the rest of humanity must choose a side, especially when the dead begin to walk. Who will honor the living . . . and who will Praise the Dead?
# # #
This ain't the first Ranalli book I've read, and it certainly won't be the last.
A pre-apocalyptic tale, this is a very unusual zombie novel, but really, the whole shambling corpse thing is getting a bit over-run with Brian Keene wanna-be's anyway.
This is not one of those...
I do think it could have been longer, as there was room for more development of plot and characters. Still a very enjoyable and satisfying read.
The two central characters are both children, and each bears an unusual power. The antagonist wields the power to raise the dead, while the female protagonist has the ability to communicate with birds.
For a zombie novel, there are plenty of undead, but the zombies are not as central to the tale as you would expect. There is an over-riding theme of good vs. evil, of the manipulation of mankind towards its own self-destruction.
The characters are well-written, if a bit under-worked, the pace is steady, and Ranalli once again exhibits her unique voice and narrative style.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and highly recommend it to anyone interested in an unusual but very good read.
4.5/5
Young Andrew Perry has what he calls "The Power of Resurrection," and he wields it like a toy wand, reanimating animals and people as he sees fit, primarily for his own amusement. But when this strange power begins to amplify, he decides he must be destined for more than merely roadside parlor tricks. In another part of the country, a girl named Lindy possesses a power of her own, a power that threatens both her health and her sanity. The ability to hear and speak to birds, at first terrifying, soon gives birth to insight that suggests there is more going on than she perceives. Day by day and year by year, each child becomes more aware of the other and the inevitable confrontation that is fast approaching. Each must build their own army and prepare for the final showdown between Good and Evil. Caught in the middle, the rest of humanity must choose a side, especially when the dead begin to walk. Who will honor the living . . . and who will Praise the Dead?
# # #
This ain't the first Ranalli book I've read, and it certainly won't be the last.
A pre-apocalyptic tale, this is a very unusual zombie novel, but really, the whole shambling corpse thing is getting a bit over-run with Brian Keene wanna-be's anyway.
This is not one of those...
I do think it could have been longer, as there was room for more development of plot and characters. Still a very enjoyable and satisfying read.
The two central characters are both children, and each bears an unusual power. The antagonist wields the power to raise the dead, while the female protagonist has the ability to communicate with birds.
For a zombie novel, there are plenty of undead, but the zombies are not as central to the tale as you would expect. There is an over-riding theme of good vs. evil, of the manipulation of mankind towards its own self-destruction.
The characters are well-written, if a bit under-worked, the pace is steady, and Ranalli once again exhibits her unique voice and narrative style.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and highly recommend it to anyone interested in an unusual but very good read.
4.5/5
January 31, 2011
Anyone who has followed my blog knows I love Gina Ranalli and her wide range of horror and bizarro books. House of Falling Trees to me is her at her horror best and Suicide girls in the Afterlife is her bizarre best. Gina returns with a unique spin on the zombie tale, see I’m not the only vegan with a zombie novel out.
Gina plays it serious with a mini-epic written in minimalist style. She tells a story in 170 pages that would take Stephen King a bible thick 1,000 pages or more to tell. At times it does feel like we are reading the final chapter of a bigger story but Gina has said we have not seen the last of some of the interesting characters in this novel.
Praise the dead is the tale of two gifted kids born in other parts of the country each with strange talents. Lindy talks to birds and they tell her important things from a young age. Andrew has the power of resurrection, he starts with small animals and before long he is killing and returning humans.The forces of good and evil are taking sides behind Andrew and Lindy, with a great battle coming Andrew builds his army.
Ranalli has done a good job of finding a interesting hook to update the zombie story. This one doesn’t focus on seige or survival and in that sense it is different. It has more in common with the second half of the stand than it does Night of the Living Dead. I don’t think it’s as good of introduction to her work as House of Fallen trees but it is hint of the trilogy it is meant to kick off. Can’t wait to read the next two.
December 28, 2011
This book had so much potential and started out strong. In the end, the story seemed rushed, like trying to fit Stephen King's The Stand into a short-story format. The story tried to be epic, but it feels almost as if a large part of the journey was left on the editing room floor. In particular, the story hinted that the main female protagonist would have to learn something from each of her companions, but in the end most were pointless and those that weren't were nothing more than glorified human shields to stand between her and the enemy until she could get to the epic battle that was neither epic nor really a battle. I wouldn't feel as let down if the story hadn't started out strong with so much potential. If it were fleshed out, this could have been a fantastic book, so it gets two stars for the beginning and the possibilities.
September 8, 2010
Gina rules. Even in a genre as overdone as zombies, the story is original. It helps that it's not really about the zombies.
January 13, 2012
Zombies really aren't my thing.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews