Review of Tim Curran’s “Cannibal Corpse, M/C”

Tim Curran’s Cannibal Corpse, M/C is a wild ride into a post-apocalyptic wasteland with John Slaughter, Pittsburgh Chapter President of the Devil’s Disciples, leading the way.  He is the last of the free members of his motorcycle club, one of the 1%ers that commits everything they have and everything they will ever be to the patch they wear on their sleeve and what it represents.  The world has ended, or so it seems, and the dead have risen from the grave.  Strange rains filled with mysterious red worms have infected much of the population, turning them into something that resembles zombies, though this crop of the undead are pretty unique.  They crave human flesh, but they continue to have some semblance of the minds they once had.  They are evil, semi-demonic puppets that not only devour but gleefully torture the living.  The western half of the U.S. is a wasteland of the dead now, with what remains of the country under government control a sliver of what it once was.  The dead rule, along with the barbaric living militias like the Red Hand and the mutants that were created after nukes were dropped to stem the tide of the dead.  Into this wasteland heads John, who has too many people chasing him and too much desire for the freedom of the open road to remain in civilized territories.  At least until members of the military catch up with him and put him on a mission he can’t refuse.  They’ll free some members of his club that are in prison to ride with him into the wastelands where they need to save a biologist who may have a cure for the plague that has caused the rain of worms to fall. 

Cannibal Corpse, M/C is definitely not your typical apocalyptic zombie tale.  The author seems to know quite a bit about biking culture and John’s rough demeanor and loyalty to his friends kept this one entertaining from start to finish.  John is almost fearless, almost ruthless, almost like his club’s name would hint at: a disciple of the devil.  He kills without remorse, he is brutal, and he is vicious, but there are hints of his humanity as well that sneak through during this story that made him an interesting character and someone who you can find just palatable enough to root for when he is dealing with the hell on earth that surrounds him.  While the story starts out as more or less an adventure tale that takes place on the open road, it becomes something more dark and sinister with every page.  I didn’t expect the twists and turns that came about, especially in the second half of the story, but found them intriguing nonetheless. 

Where things bogged down for me with this saga was in the hyperbole the author uses to describe things, especially in the latter half of the book.  Not only is the gore in Technicolor 3D, which is in and of itself not a bad thing (in fact, for the gore hounds out there it is probably a big plus), but many of the details of the story are over described in lurid detail, distracting from the narrative in some ways.  I don’t consider this to be a major issue with the story, because it still read fast and easy and I was compelled to finish this intriguing story, it just felt like the descriptions went further than necessary in several instances. 

Despite this minor gripe, this was a fun, entertaining apocalyptic tale.  If you like your zombies traditional, this one probably is probably going to be hard to swallow, but it is worth checking out even for the zombie “purists” out there, because Slaughter is a fascinating and entertaining anti-hero and a one bad mutha.   

Cannibal Corpse, M/C can be found here:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1618680587/ref=cm_cr_thx_view