Author: Alden Bell
Series: Reapers #1
Published: 2 September 2011 by Toe
Length: 304 pages
Warnings: attempted
rape, violence
Source: won 2011
from Nocturnal
Book Reviews
Summary : For
twenty-five years, civilization has survived in meager enclaves, guarded
against a plague of the dead. Temple wanders this blighted landscape, keeping
to herself and keeping her demons inside her heart. She can't remember a time
before the zombies, but she does remember an old man who took her in and the
younger brother she cared for until the tragedy that set her on a personal
journey toward redemption. Moving back and forth between the insulated remnants
of society and the brutal frontier beyond, Temple must decide where ultimately
to make a home and find the salvation she seeks.
Review: Temple is
simply trying to survive in this world where zombies, slugs, whatever you want
to call them, roam. She wanders from place to place, meeting people then moving
on. We find her coming in to a small community. After one of the men there
tries to rape her, Temple kills him and runs from his brother, Moses. Further
on in her travels, she picks up Maury, a man she must take care of, and plans
to help him get back to his family. They carry on travelling, running, from a
man who wants revenge.
I like the fact that the zombies weren’t the focus of The
Reapers are the Angels. Instead, they’re the world builders, providing a reason
for Temple to keep moving and the occasional big action sequence.
Here, the horror
comes from the characters. Abraham, who thinks he’s entitled to have the new
young girl have sex with him. The mutants. Even Temple, in the way that she detaches
herself so easily.
I like the range of characters. There’s people who remember
times before the undead started rising and there’s people who don’t know
anything else. Everyone deals with the undead in different ways.
I couldn’t really connect with Temple, despite being given access to her thoughts and method of thinking.
The events in this book seem quite disjointed. Once we met a
character, for the most, we don’t see them again. This is perfectly in keeping
with Temple’s lifestyle, but as a reader, I didn’t really enjoy it.
It’s all written in third person, closely following Temple
and her decisions. There’s simple punctuation, and a distinct lack of speech
marks. This and Temple’s strong accent do well in showing her upbringing and
lack of education. I did miss the speech marks. A lot.
The relationship between Moses and Temple is the most
interesting one in the novel. There’s the whole wanting to kill each other, but
when their meetings become more and more frequent, they start to understand each other, understand
their difference, and similarities.
Overall: Strength 3 tea to a character driven post-apocalyptic
novel.
