Review of AP Fuchs “Possession of the Dead”

Possession of the Dead is the second book in the Undead World Trilogy. Blood of the Dead, the first book, started out as a fairly traditional zombie apocalypse tale, with four main characters coping with the fact that they live in an Undead world.  A gray rain came down and turned the living into zombies, with few being immune, and along with them, those who stayed inside avoiding whatever it was that caused this to happen.  Animals too were affected, and for the majority of the first story, we see the main characters struggle to survive as the primary objective.  Then, toward the end of that story, an intervention by an angel, a journey through time, and an alternate world (or so it seems) opens up to the characters and in it, there are giant sized zombies that are fifteen stories tall, demons, and of course, as mentioned before, angels.  Possession of the Dead goes a long way toward explaining this rather stunning change of scenery at the very end of the first book.  Without attempting to spoil anything, the reader discovers that some of the living are actually able to turn into zombies at will, this is a battle for the remaining souls of humanity, and our main characters, because of what they have witnessed, are primary targets of the underworld.
This book changes things up, but is still a zombie novel at heart.  I was somewhat reminded of both Brian Keene’s The Rising/City of the Dead and Ben Roger’s Faith and Undead in the fact that the zombies here are used as a tool of the demons of the underworld and the devil himself in an effort to usurp God’s power, or better yet, to bring him to his knees.  Still, this tale has some unique elements, including the transformational power of some of the zombies, as well as the giant zombies that roam the city streets and scoop up the living by the handful.  We still get a lot of straight up zombie action as the undead chase the main characters from start to finish.
The action is nonstop and between this book and the last, I’ve grown attached to the characters, and like the new ones introduced in this book.  The author once again leaves us hanging at the end of the book, but not as dramatically and shockingly as he did after the first.  There are still plenty of questions to answer with the finale, and I will be very interested to find out what happens to characters like Joe, April, and the world as a whole when the end comes.  Naturally, the biggest battle is yet to take place, and hopefully more of an explanation of our character’s part in all of it will be revealed.
The story keeps the tempo moving at a fast clip and the action is good.  I am still a little bit confused by the giant zombies, since there was a minimal explanation as to their existence here, but they do make for an interesting part of the story as the characters are challenged to avoid them.  I will be interested to see if there is more discussion of their particular nature in the third book, as well as the animal undead, which are not mentioned too often, but are clearly a part of this world.  Even with these minor critiques of mine, I did enjoy this book and it certainly will keep me waiting anxiously for the third book.  This is a fun and unique look at the zombie apocalypse, and I am sure AP Fuchs has a few more surprises up his sleeve for the end of his trilogy.

Possession of the Dead can be found here:  http://www.amazon.com/Possession-Dead-Zombie-Undead-Trilogy/dp/1926712536/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1295284411&sr=8-1