Wellington, David. Monster nation. New York: Thunder Mouth Press, 2006. 282pp.

This is the prequel to David Wellington's novel Monster Island I reviewed a little while ago. This one, though published later, fills in a lot of the back story on how the world came to be populated by zombies. Like it predecessor/successor it's full of over-the-top horror and some very dark humour and is completely enjoyable. I can't recommend it enough.

It follows the "lives" of various characters at the beginning of the zombie outbreak in the US, including an army officer who's trying to contain the plague. It also follows a newly created zombie who, due to a bit of oxygen-supplied luck, has kept most of her human intelligence. Both are interesting, in that the officer tries to be brave in the face of unspeakable horror and the new zombie starts by trying not to eat any humans, but soon gives in to her hungers. We also get insight into how the whole plague came about, as a kind of horrific science experiment/supernatural accident.

Wellington has been publishing all his novels online in blog form before the print version. Here's a listing of all Wellington's online serializations. Enjoy.

• Monster Island
  
• Monster Nation
  
• Monster Planet
  
• Thirteen Bullets (vampire novel)
  
• Frostbite (werewolves, currently in progress)