Book Review: Those Poor, Poor Bastards by Tim Marquitz , J.M. Martin, Kenny Soward

Those Poor, Poor Bastards by Tim Marquitz, J.M. Martin, Kenny Soward

Genre: Horror, Western

Series: Book 1 of Dead West

Publisher: Ragnarok Publications (February 19, 2014) 

Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

I didn’t think I was going to enjoy this book at first. Thank goodness I was wrong! Still, can you really blame me for having my doubts? After being inundated in recent years with the dozens upon dozens of movies, TV shows, video games etc. all featuring the same mindless gory battles against the shambling, moaning hordes of the undead, my initial thought was: been there, done that, now what more can this zombie book offer?

Well, this is the review where I happily eat my words! I should have known better anyway, because Ragnarok Publications has never let me down. As it turned out, Those Poor, Poor Bastards had a lot more to offer than I’d anticipated, in addition to that charming little title. The book did contain some of the usual trappings you’ll find in a lot of zombie stories, but there were some twists as well, and I loved how the authors took the familiar and created something new. Also, while I haven’t read enough of the Weird West sub-genre to consider myself a fan, a description like “Zombie Western” wasn’t really something I could resist.

It is 1868, in the Sierra Nevada. The book begins with Nina Weaver and her father Lincoln riding into Coburn Station only to find that everything has gone to hell in a chuckwagon. The “Deaduns” have arisen and are sowing bloody carnage all over town, forcing the living to band together in order to survive. In typical fashion, you end up with a large, diverse ensemble cast. And like watching The Walking Dead, you just know before you even begin that many of them are going to end up zombie food before this whole thing is over.

Put a big group of people with disparate personalities into a stressful situation and you’ll also inevitably get your clashes and alliances within the ranks. There are the good folks like Nina and her pa, the priest Father Mathias as well as the charming James Manning. On the other side of the fence you have the less savory types and troublemakers like the Daggett brothers or the scummy Mister Strobridge. Then there are those caught in the middle who just aren’t sure. With tensions this high and a swarm of Deaduns at the door, it’s the perfect set up for explosive conflict. Emphasis on explosive.

So far, with the exception of the western setting, things might be sounding rather familiar. But then, the authors work their magic and you suddenly realize there is way more to this story. Bucking tradition, we’re actually given an explanation into the Deaduns and how they came to be. Their origins and motives, not to mention the actual reveal itself, were so unique that it completely threw me for a loop — in a good way! I have to say this ended up being a delightfully fun read, in all its blood-splattered glory.

Those Poor, Poor Bastards also taught me something important about myself — that I will never be too old or too jaded for a good ol’ zombie story! What a fast-paced, crazy wild book. I think I’ll just end this review with a suggestion to the potential reader: there are a lot of characters, so definitely try to tackle this novel all in one go if you can, ensuring that the dozen or so identities will always remain fresh in your mind. Besides, it shouldn’t be too difficult — because once you start reading, you just might find it hard to stop!