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A review by 100pagesaday
Spore by Tamara Jones
4.0
“Fear drives most people...Change. Uncertainty. When known rhythms suddenly shift, it knocks a lot of beliefs out of whack and makes people doubt their faith and beliefs. This is a very unusual time. A frightening time.”
Sean Casey is a struggling comic book artist with enough problems of his own including recurring nightmares from an abduction during his childhood and a germaphobe mother who hates his girlfriend. When naked people start coming out of the woods and onto his property, Sean can’t think of anything to do but help them. When the naked people turn out to be people who have all died, including his own Uncle, Sean still attempts to help any way he can. As the media storm gathers, stories of zombies, dangerous chemicals and possible miracles ensue and the fungus that has helped people come back to life is spreading, helping some and hurting others. Sean is trying to help one of the Spore people, Mindy, get back on her feet; but Sean’s nightmares about his childhood abduction worsen and the killer that kidnapped Sean all those years ago seems to have resurfaced.
I really liked that this is not a typical horror story and definitely not a normal zombie story. The dead are rising, yes, but the method behind the reanimation is discriminatory. The people reanimated by the spores are also not out for your brains, they are just confused and scared. Most of the horror comes from the living who wanted their dead to stay dead and their secrets to stay buried with them. I really liked the spores as a method of the reanimation, adding a science fiction aspect and a bit of a mystery. The addition of the kidnapper’s reappearance adds another dimension. The characters were all well done and I’m glad that the focus was only on a few as opposed to all of the reanimated characters. Sean’s mother Helene was great, although I had guessed one of her secrets a little early. Sean’s girlfriend Mare and Helene’s interactions were awesome. There were a variety of reactions to the Spore people showcased by each character; also the social media coverage was really interesting. Overall, a unique genre-bending horror/science-fiction/mystery read that displays all facets of human nature.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
Sean Casey is a struggling comic book artist with enough problems of his own including recurring nightmares from an abduction during his childhood and a germaphobe mother who hates his girlfriend. When naked people start coming out of the woods and onto his property, Sean can’t think of anything to do but help them. When the naked people turn out to be people who have all died, including his own Uncle, Sean still attempts to help any way he can. As the media storm gathers, stories of zombies, dangerous chemicals and possible miracles ensue and the fungus that has helped people come back to life is spreading, helping some and hurting others. Sean is trying to help one of the Spore people, Mindy, get back on her feet; but Sean’s nightmares about his childhood abduction worsen and the killer that kidnapped Sean all those years ago seems to have resurfaced.
I really liked that this is not a typical horror story and definitely not a normal zombie story. The dead are rising, yes, but the method behind the reanimation is discriminatory. The people reanimated by the spores are also not out for your brains, they are just confused and scared. Most of the horror comes from the living who wanted their dead to stay dead and their secrets to stay buried with them. I really liked the spores as a method of the reanimation, adding a science fiction aspect and a bit of a mystery. The addition of the kidnapper’s reappearance adds another dimension. The characters were all well done and I’m glad that the focus was only on a few as opposed to all of the reanimated characters. Sean’s mother Helene was great, although I had guessed one of her secrets a little early. Sean’s girlfriend Mare and Helene’s interactions were awesome. There were a variety of reactions to the Spore people showcased by each character; also the social media coverage was really interesting. Overall, a unique genre-bending horror/science-fiction/mystery read that displays all facets of human nature.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.