Zombie Author Profile: Jessica Robinson

What was the inspiration behind Undead Obsessed?

I’ve always wanted to write about zombies, but I was never sure what I wanted to say. After watching World War Z, it hit me: science in zombie films. From there, the journey started, and I looked for ways in which science had failed society and how it could be the cause of zombies taking over the world.

What was the most important thing you learned from writing this book?

People were so nice and willing to talk to me about their professions—even if they thought what I was doing was slightly insane. Most of the people I interviewed weren’t zombie fans, but they were incredibly helpful, knowledgeable, and had great ideas of what could possibly create zombies. They were amazing to talk to, and I couldn’t have finished the book without them.

What would you do to survive the zombie apocalypse?

I’m pretty lucky in that I live in Wyoming. Our population is fairly low, and we have terrain that most zombies would find difficult to navigate. We also get really cold winters. So, to survive, I would fortify my house, wait for winter to roll around, then pick off the zombie popsicles at will.

If you had to battle a horde of zombies who would be a part of your zombie fighting dream team?

Since you said “dream team,” I’m going to assume they can be fictional characters. I would have: the Predator because of his cloaking ability; some Terminators because zombies wouldn’t go after them; some Jaegers from Pacific Rim because they can just step on the rotting corpses; and Ripley because if she can fight an Alien Queen, zombies will be no problem for her.

What other zombie books have you written?

I’ve written some young adult zombie novels—Life After the Undead and Death to the Undead—and a religious zombie novella, Finding Eden. I also have plans to write more in the future.

What are you working on now?

At the moment, I am finished up the third book in my young adult series called The Road to Salvation, which includes The Appeal of Evil and Dealing with Devils. When that is finished, that’s when I plan on working on my next zombie novel.

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Review: The Dark Times

In the opening of The Dark Times by Dane Hatchell and P.A. Douglas there is an author’s note saying that some people think the apocalypse is a chance to start over and be part of a new utopia. The sad truth is that people don’t always change and a disaster can bring you closer to who you really are and for some that’s a scary thing. This note sold me on the book and it gives you a great idea of what to expect while reading it. People have an idea of how they would change when society collapses, but what they think they will become is not reality.

The main character in The Dark Times is an overweight cop named Rico who is down on his luck and drowning his sorrows in whiskey when the first wave of zombies arrive. Rico handles himself well, he kills some zombies and manages to save people and decides to turn his life around. He leaves his old life behind and hops on his Harley in search of a new beginning. He ends up in a small town in Texas and meets a junkie named Angie. Rico fights the urge to help her but when things go bad, Angie may be the only one that can help him.

Everyone thought that the first wave of zombies was a one time thing caused by a mysterious illness but six months later it starts again and this time its the end. Civilization collapses quickly and Rico and Angie have to work together to survive. Being a heroin addict, Angie is not the most reliable person but Rico has demons of his own and the only way they can both survive the zombies is to put their past lives in the past.

The Dark Times is a very dark book and not just because it’s the zombie apocalypse and the end of civilization as we know it. This book is dark because it takes a look at human nature and asks the question: can a person get past their personal demons in order to survive? Every character in The Dark Times has a dark side and they have to confront that dark side to survive in the zombie apocalypse. The characters are what makes this book good, they are all complex and it was interesting to see how they change during the apocalypse. What really distinguishes this book from other zombie books is the depth to the characters, I found myself rooting for even the bad guys in this story.

There were some things that I didn’t like about this book, for instance there were a few scenes with a group of soldiers that seemed random and took away from the story. There was also an African-American character named Quinn that was so stereotypical it annoyed me. All in all though this is a good book and worth your time, it was interesting how some of the characters didn’t change at all as their world collapses. The Dark Times is a good look at how people change or don’t change when faced with the end of the world. There are a lot of books out there on the zombie apocalypse but few of them have as good  of characters as this one.