by Robert R. Best
Library of the Living Dead Press
ISBN: 978-1448644193
Review by: Terry Morgan
Review posted 06/14/2011
Lakewood Memorial is the first book in Robert R. Best's trilogy.
We start the story with Angie Land, a nurse aide at Lakewood Memorial. She does her job, sometimes hates it with certain doctors and has two kids with very different attitude problems. On this particular night's shift, she feels something is off. Her two kids get a babysitter, even though her daughter objects, and Angie walks around in a haze wondering why she feels something is off.
Then it starts. The strange injuries that start to come in; gashes, bloody bites and several other wounds Angie can't figure out where they came from. Soon afterwards, the monsters come, the people who were bitten, chewed or dead from one of these wounds, sprouting up and attacking. Angie, along with Park, Kristen and Kristen's cranky father who is in a wheelchair, fight for survival in the hospital against these awful things.
What was different about this story was not a typical zombie story. In most cases there is blood, guts and gore, a bit of shooting and wham zombies down. However, this book has depth, feeling for the characters. I caught myself several times as if I was watching a horror movie and yelling at the characters in there not to do something or why did you do that?
The book was a short account of what I assume to be a longer zombie outbreak. But what's wrong with that? In the first few moments of a zombie breakout what would you do? Perhaps, worry about your kids or fight your way through the mess or maybe just sit there and complain like Kristen's father in the book always does. Either way, Best has done an amazing job of showing all sides of fear, anger and just plain being fed up.
You never know what lurks in a hospital. I know I will be looking around more if I ever have to go to a hospital again.
