David’s Haunted Library: Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator

Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator by Karina Fabian . The title alone made me want to read this book. The main character is a woman named Neeta Lyffe and she’s a zombie hunter, that right there tells you what to expect and to someone like me who wants some comedy with their horror, it screams buy me. Another thing the title of this book does is give you a hint of what to expect from the story.

In the 2040’s zombies have become a problem and the world needs zombie exterminators. One of the best zombie exterminators around is Neeta Lyffe but things aren’t going well for her. The government and special interest groups are making her follow the most environmentally friendly procedure to kill zombies. In addition to that Neeta is being sued because she set a zombie on fire that walked into a lawyer’s back yard. In desperate need of money, Neeta decides to train zombie exterminators as part of a reality TV show that’s more violent than any other show out there. As if dealing with the government and ungrateful people wasn’t enough, she now has to deal with the paparazzi, a production staff that doesn’t understand what she is trying to accomplish and a group of exterminator recruits who have no idea what they’re getting into.

Just when I thought that there were no more original zombie stories left, this one comes along. Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator is more of a satirical parody of real life then an average zombie novel. The funny thing is though while reading this book I found myself thinking that this is probably how a real zombie apocalypse will be.

In Neeta’s world no one takes zombies seriously, they might see them as a threat but it doesn’t stop people from being people. You still have people walking into graveyards and playing tag with zombies, some people let their deceased loved ones walk back into their home despite the fact that they could get eaten and even though household cleaners put a stop to zombies, the government still limits their use.   The only one who takes zombies seriously is Neeta, but getting others to see things her way isn’t easy.

One of the funniest moments in this book was getting to read the internet bulletin boards for Neeta’s reality show, complete with misspellings. I also enjoyed how the crew for Neeta’s  show acts, while Neeta is trying to educate people on the dangers of zombies, the crew is just worried about getting the highest ratings possible. This book has some serious moments that I enjoyed as well, like when Neeta points out  that she has to act strong all the time because that’s what keeps the demons at bay.

I have to admit the story in this book is a little weak, at about half way through the book I was thinking to myself that I got the joke and was wanting a little more action and suspense. That being said the story makes a great point of showing how ridiculous society can be and it does it in a hysterical way. Neeta is a great character and I liked the range of emotion that she has. Keep in mind when you read this book that it’s not your normal zombie book, its much smarter and you can probably teach a class on the deeper meanings in Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator.  If I was to describe this book in one word it would be clever.