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Welcome once again to the Jimbo's Awesome Science Fiction and Fantasy Reviews Memorial Day Event!
This year, I'll be reviewing three books in three days all of which were written by veterans and feature the US Military in action. It's an awesome chance to highlight some of the people who have put their asses on the line to keep mine and read some military science fiction and/or fantasy in the process. And I mean, I love our veterans almost as much as I love a good book and I love a good book almost as much as I love my kids. So this a totes legit thing, right?
But enough about me, let's talk about David Guenther, author of Zombie Airman and a longtime veteran of the United States Air Force. (I may be crazy, but I think that might be why it's Zombie Airman and not Zombie Soldier or Zombie Marine.)David served from 1982 to 2003, retiring at the rank of Master Sergeant (E-7). He was a 1T191 Aircrew Life Support mechanic and was deployed for Display Determination (part of Desert Storm), Desert Storm itself, Operation Southern Watch and Operation Enduring Freedom. Guenther had a part in saving many pilots after they had punched out. He worked on the C141B Air Lifter, C-5 Galaxy, F-16, A-10 (just like my buddy Swen!), OV-10, F-111E, B-52, KC-135, KC-10 and T-37. He sent me a list of places he's been stationed as long as my arm and I'm not going to list them all because I want to get to the review part of the review sometime today, BUT he also served at Eielson AFB, where my grandfather had served as a young man decades earlier, and I think that's really cool. He also, at least if I'm interpreting this right, did some work providing SERE training to our pilots.
Oh, and did I mention that I'm reviewing one of his books today?
Zombie Airman is starts in the right place and it FREAKING STAYS THERE. Seriously folks, how many times have we been "treated" (I'm looking at you TWD) to a story where our hero gets hurt, conks out and wakes up like a month after the whole world has gone to Hell. Not this book. We're there right at the start and the whole book is set in the first few days after things break down. It gets ugly quickly, which makes sense in a zombie story, but we get to see it get bad instead of seeing it after it's already bad. I really like that aspect of it.
Something else that has always driven me crazy (Once again looking at you, TWD) is that writers of zombie stories always seem to assume that the military is going to go tits up in the apocalypse. NEWSFLASH: The military has plans and supplies for when Shit Hits the Fan and the training and knowledge to use both. So not only did Guenther hit on a logical way to start clearing zombies and fixing things, he found probably the only logical way. The military (especially after eighteen years of war) is made up of survivors and people how know how to get things done. If anyone survives the zombie apocalypse it's going to be the military. This is the second series I've seen where the whole world hinges on the reactions of the military. Hopefully this turns into a trend.
A huge part of what makes this book work is not just the military though, it's the characters. One of my favorite characters is named Gloria. She's a smart, tough, woman with some world experience and knowledge of the streets. She's hard when she needs to be, but she's a good person too. She is helpful to those around her that deserve it (yes, I said that) and knows when to clear out to keep herself and those that matter safe. Seriously. Gloria is the kind of person you can trust. She is the kind of person you want at your back whether it's the Zombie Apocalypse or just an average Sunday when you're trying to deal with a situation.
One of the strengths of Zombie Airman is that the characters (that haven't been turned) have a tendency to act in a logical and intelligent manner unless they're in a panic. I like that. We all know the commercial where the people in the horror movie skip past the started car and go hide behind the chainsaws, right? You don't get that here. These are smart people acting in a rational manner doing things to help themselves. And sometimes, they act normal in other places. Something a lot of non-military writers writing military fiction (even the writers who do it well) forget is that normal stuff still matters. It makes sense that a character who has been through a lot and gotten all icky is going to want to eat a meal and take a shower. Guenther puts that in here.
Well, unless it's Caleb. Sort of. I mean, he deals with things in a mostly rational manner except that he seems to be a boy off on a lark. He's the zombie airman in the title. I like the kid despite his brash manner. And I get his sacrifice. I know all about the horrors of letting someone else drive my vehicle. He seems to get through it though. I'm proud of him.
Zombie Airman showcases a new type of zombie that we've not seen before. I don't want to spoil too much but I've definitely never seen zombies do some of the things they do in this book. I really enjoyed that. I mean, there are certain things that zombies have to be, and they're all of those but they're more than just the shambling horde screaming "Braaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiins." Also, at least in one aspect they're kind of reminiscent of vampires, even if they don't suck blood. There is at least one other major difference that I'm not going to spoil because I suck. If you really want to know, buy the book or check it out on Kindle Unlimited. I encourage it. It's worth your time and your loot.
Zombie Airman is also a book that doesn't shy away from political realities. There are some things in here that make sense in a real world context that I wish didn't. The world Guenther builds is based closely on our own in the present day, with all of the warts and foibles that you would expect. Guenther's years as a leader appear to have given him a good working knowledge of human nature as it manifests in legitimate interactions.
Having said that, I do have one minor complaint about Zombie Airman: Guenther uses a lot of military abbreviations. Military people have a tendency to do that. There are a lot of things in the military that need abbreviating. I'm not so sure that something that works perfectly well in an After Action Report works as well in a novel though. I'm thinking that this would be a better book with just a few minutes work using find and replace and either putting "Airman First Class" where it says A1C, or maybe just deleting it in a lot of places. The book would just read more cleanly that way and the story would still be just as awesome since it wouldn't be changing anything there.
And the story itself is awesome. Zombie Airman is action packed and fun. There are definitely some moments that are kind of icky, but it's a freaking ZOMBIE NOVEL. If you want squeaky clean fun, go watch a Disney movie. There is a ton of action-packed hardcore violence of the type that it would take to survive in an environment full of things that want to eat you. Guenther's characters are not bloodthirsty and savage, but they don't waste their time handwringing when they should be fighting. These are the people I'd want at my side if it all went down. Happily though, I'm stuck with only reading about them.
Bottom Line: 4.5 out of 5 Infected Victims
Zombie Airman
David Guenther
Self Published, 2018
Zombie Airman is available for purchase at the following link:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F31TCVB/
Outstanding review! And a great site. I have to hang around more often
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