I didn't care for 'The Living Dead.' Like the zombies who comprise the subject of the novel, it's ugly, it shambles, and it goes on too long.

Written by Daniel Kraus from the late George Romero's notes, short stories ideas, and partially completed novel, 'The Living Dead' takes nearly half of its total length repeating the same story of the early days of the zombie apocalypse, but in different locales. This is tedious: we get the gist pretty early and are ready to move on. The book takes about 1/6th on a bit of an interlude discussing developments roughly six years in, then skips ahead another 5 years or so to spend its last third in a settlement that appears to be making a go of things.

The first act spends a lot of time on an aircraft carrier, but it's clear that the author didn't take the time to have an actual Sailor read his manuscript. As a guy who has aboard NIMITZ and STENNIS, I found his errors in depicting Navy rank structure, culture, and lingo so jarring that I couldn't maintain my suspension of disbelief. The second act is pretty fun, but the third act is simply painful to read after a Trumplike figure shows up to spoil the progress of the utopian commune humanity has established. I get that science fiction, of which zombie tales are a subset, exists to comment on contemporary society. However, this was too on the nose - right down to the guy's vocal cadences. Again, distracting.

Finally, this is an ugly novel. It assumes the worst of mankind, and it plays out its assumed awfulness time and again. I found that reading this novel tended to put me in a bad mood; after all, there's only so much ugliness A guy can ingest before he starts regurgitating it.

I'm sure Daniel Kraus is a great guy. I loved 'The Shape of Water,' which he co-wrote, and Kraus clearly treated this novel as a passion project. But, hey, not every novel works for every reader. This one didn't work for me.

Recommended for: zombie aficionados.