The Great Indoors

 'Bunker: Building for the End Times' by Dr. Bradley Garrett

Some books are lucky enough to be published at just the right moment.  'Bunker: Building for the End Times' by Bradley Garrett, released near the start of the Covid-19 global pandemic, is just such a book.

Apocalypse Now?

At the height of the Cold War, US citizens were told to prepare for nuclear attack, ensuring they could first survive then rebuild.  Though the threat faded, the general sense of dread remained, and many people continue to believe an extinction-level event is just around the corner.  Some expect disease, some climate disaster, others an attack from abroad, but all 'preppers' stockpile and plan in order to survive the inevitable collapse of society and state.  Somewhere to go and a way to get there are essential.  In 'Bunker', Dr. Garrett explores both the prepper subculture and the modern-day bunkers that preppers hope to survive in.  From the buried tubular descendents of Anderson Shelters, to converted 1960s government installations, repurposed military vehicles to luxury, inverted tower blocks, it seems everyone thinks they know how to survive the end of the world.

Night of the Loving Dead

Until relatively recently, I'd always wanted to write a story from a monster's perspective, like a vampire or a mummy or something like that.  Having read Isaac Marion's 'Warm Bodies', I think that the idea's been done very well already.

'Warm Bodies' is the story of R, a zombie with a difference.  While he can't remember his name, how long he's been dead or how the world ended, he's still has human curiosity.  He longs to be able to know these things and more, although he's not entirely sure why.  Trapped in his own head, he chases the same thoughts every day while instinctively following the same mindless routines.  Then while on a feeding expedition in the nearby city, he meets Julie and everything changes.  Rather than eating her, R brings Julie back to his airport home.  All he wants to do is keep her safe and this sudden and perplexing change marks the beginning of something quite extraordinary.

'Warm Bodies'
by Isaac Marion
(Vintage, 2013)

I saw a review of the film based on this novel and thought it sounded like an interesting story.  Being a bit squeamish, I decided to read the book first rather than plunging right in with the movie and I'm really glad I did.  I was a bit worried that it would be squarely aimed at the teen market and a bit twee, but it isn't that simple.  R is after all a monster, something that hunts and eats humans while bits of him gradually rot and fall off. Not the most obvious of romantic heroes!  But then neither are the manipulative and obsessive Heathcliff and bullying wife-jailer Mr Rochester.

Marion sucks the reader into R's mind from the very first line and from the moment I read it I was hooked.  This is not a book about romantic love per se, rather a story themed around the things the writer loves about humanity, the characteristics that take us beyond our animal instincts and basic desires for shelter, food and flesh. As such, it's themes are more universal and thought provoking and the fragile first love that develops between R and Julie is one of just a number of human-esque features that set you thinking about what it means to be alive.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, particularly because it doesn't answer all the questions it raises.  Although it's hinted at, we never firmly find out how the zombie plague came about or when it happened, for example.  But I think that's what sets it apart from other apocalyptic stories.  This isn't a tale about how the old world ended but how a new one began.  And surely that's far more interesting and optimistic, don't you think?

Boxing Clever

Last month, the lovely people at Waterstones made a bit of a boo-boo and sent me two books through their Read and Review system just a couple of days apart.  One was 'The Devil in the Marshalsea', the other 'Bird Box' by Josh Malerman.  On the one hand, I was delighted to have two new interesting books to read.  On the other, I knew that I'd never get through both of them in the requested time frame.  So, with humble apologies, here are my thoughts on 'Bird Box'.  Sorry they're late.

'Bird Box' by Josh Malerman
(HarperVoyager 2013)

Malorie hasn't looked outside in over four years.  Human society has disintegrated as an unnamed and unknown horror has swept across the globe, bringing instant madness to anyone who sees it.  Before long, even the most ardent sceptics have boarded up their windows and locked themselves away.  Now, years later, Malorie is trapped in a house with two small children, Girl and Boy, remembering the past and nervously waiting for the right moment to escape.  But escape into what?

This is a fantastic book.  I really wish I could say something cleverer or more entertaining about it, but this really sums it up.  'Bird Box' is the first book I've read in a long time that I've found impossible to put down - a definite case of 'just one more page before bed'.  From the beginning, I was gripped by the story, intrigued and unnerved by the frightening reality our world had warped into.  The build to the terrifying climax is expertly paced, but the journey is not one for the faint hearted.

Although I thought this was a great read, it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea.  It's very dark and violent, claustrophobic and horrifying, with key themes of madness, suicide and being trapped by circumstances beyond the characters' control.  In a way, it's very, very stressful, but it's also got a number of glimmers of hope.  Readers are kept guessing right to the very end, however, and it's not until then we know for sure whether this is a tale of survival or disaster.  Even then, after everything that's gone before, it's hard to believe that everything will be entirely OK.

Overall, if you enjoy science fiction/horror along the lines of 'I Am Legend' or 'The Year of the Flood', you will probably enjoy (if that's the right word!) this book too.  I look forward to seeing more from this author.