Zombie Hunter - Steve Barlow & Steve Skidmore (Orchard Books)

As a rule, I don't normally review children’s/young adult books. Not that I've got anything against them (a book can be badly written whatever age group it's for), it's just that there's a whole load of adult genre fiction that I want to read/review first.

Every so often though something will happen to change my mind. Something like my wife finding a kids zombie book, in the library, whilst looking for books for Hope. Something like said zombie book being a 'choose your own adventure' book; I've never reviewed one of those here and I thought that this might be a good place to start (I've got a few others that I want to review as well). The book pretty much sold itself really :)
It's a bit of a shame then that 'Zombie Hunter' didn't quite live up to its early promise but it was a fun way to while away half an hour.

The premise is simple. You are a zombie hunter called to the South Pacific to help the Nutco Corporation deal with their zombie problem. It's a big problem though and there's more to it than just zombies. You're going to have your work cut out if you want to stay alive...

Like I said 'Zombie Hunter' was a fun way to pass half an hour but not a lot more than that. This was a real shame as any book that features a shotgun toting 'white trash' zombie grandma deserves a lot more...

The story itself isn't too bad with a twist in the tale that is saved until just the right point so it throws the story into a new light (you may have seen it coming already, I just liked where it was placed). There is also bucket loads of gore (both in the text and accompanying illustrations) and the zombies don't stop coming; whether they're flying helicopters or riding motorbikes (I'm cool with zombies doing this but only in moderation). The relentless zombie attacks are balanced just right, adding to the tension without getting repetitive.

Where things fell down for me were in the mechanics of the 'game' side of the book. 'Zombie Hunter' is divided up into a hundred small paragraphs, going through these in the right order will win you the game. Initially, I was impressed at how Barlow and Skidmore were able to tell their story in such a short space but reading into it a bit more... Only having a short space to tell the story really limits the number of choices you can make and this highlights the fact that the plot itself is a little too linear for my tastes. There are no interesting diversions that take you back into the main plot; just right and wrong answers that can leave you feeling like you're reading a flow chart rather than a book. And there are only so many times that I can read the same 'death page' before I start wishing for a little more variety. You can keep things tight but there is such a thing as ‘too tight’ I think…

‘Zombie Hunter’ was a quick fun read but also a story that was hampered by its format when it really shouldn’t have been. To be fair, I would have loved reading this when I was twelve and I'm just not in that market anymore… I’m glad I stuck around for the zombie Grandma but if I’m reading a ‘choose your own adventure’ book then I want a few more choices while I’m reading…

Seven out of Ten