Darlene Bobich: Zombie Killer (Dying Days) [Kindle Edition]

If you're a fan of zombies, Armand Rosamilla has got you covered. Darlene Bobich Zombie Killer is one of his many zombie themed offerings.

Basically, Darlene Bobich is a woman who had the unfortunate luck of surviving an ongoing zombie apocalypse and this book chronicles her journeys through a world crawling with undead and just as deadly un-undead (living) through a series of connected stories. Throughout her journeys in a post apocalyptic America she meets up with a few other survivors, some good, some downright horrible and a whole lot of hungry flesh eaters. Horror ensues.

I look forward to reading some more of Armand's large selection of writings.

I was genuinely impressed with Darlene Bobich: Zombie Killer by Armand Rosamilia, far exceeding my expectations going into it.

The strongest aspect of this book is Rosamilia's portrayal of the character Darlene Bobich. I love the author's choice of a female character for his protagonist against the undead. But I will be quite honest: when I first saw her name, I thought she would be some cheesy, over-the-top, gun-toting action here type; in other words a character who was both unrealistic and unbelievable. I couldn't have been more pleasantly wrong. She is a well-developed character who grabs a hold of you with her guts, fears, pain, uncertainty, and determination to keep going.

Another thing that made this book stand out for me was the dangers that Darlene encounters, the worst of which are not necessarily zombies. Rosamilia presents real humans in the world of a zombie apocalypse, and some of these humans are just as ferocious, cruel, and threatening as they would be in a non-zombie world. A cold hard fact is that a zombie apocalypse isn't going to turn all the bad guys into good guys as they fight to survive against the undead. They remain, or even become, murderers and rapists. And Rosamilia also portrays the harsh reality that you shouldn't trust someone just because their human and not a zombie.

Rosamilia also has a strong and developed writing style. There are minor proof-reading issues, but these are not extreme enough to distract from reading and enjoying this book. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to read a real and human, but also fun and kick-ass, zombie novella. I look forward to reading Darlene Bobich's further adventures as well as more from Armand Rosamilia.

There is no doubt that the author really like his heroine, Darlene Bobich. But even so, he exposes her to a lot of atrocities in this novella that is a prequel to the book Dying Days. Here we learn about some of the events that affect Darlene at the beginning of the post-apocalypse. Already in the book's first pages, she is forced to shoot her own father, and after that everything goes further downhill.

Rosamilia never slows down the tempo and let neither the reader nor Darlene to catch their breath between the action scenes. Armed with a Desert Eagle, Darlene heads out into the chaos that has replaced the previous world order. When she vexatious shows a group of people some trust, to get to sleep one night in safety, she soon finds herself caught between a rock and a hard place. A gang of villains who has barricaded themselves inside a nightclub entertains themselves with a group of powerless women, and Darlene Bobich gets her share of abuse and rape.

This is a hard-boiled story. The author skilfully depicts the post-apocalyptic world in which everyone is an island. It is easy to like the main character and the high pace prevents it from never getting boring. Certainly, it is somewhat lacking at times in realism. For example, our heroine shakes of the violence and abuse in a way that probably is not quite real. But this is not in all respects a realistic drama. The action is emphasized and one can easily imagine this as a movie flick.

Darlene encounters other groups of survivors and the text contains several minor stories in the story. Perhaps the best part is when she meets a man and initiates a sort of desperate love story that ends in sudden death. Here, the narrative is also shows a greater psychological depth. Several of the chapters have been previously published as separate short stories and it shows, in a positive way. It's probably one of the reasons that Darlene Bobich: Zombie Killer is always an exciting read. When a drama is finished another one starts. The novella ends a bit abruptly, but because it's a prequel, but just continue with Dying Days. It's probably the best way to read these two books.

Armand Rosamilia is one of the really interesting authors of the Hardboiled School in the zombie genre. If you like your post-apocalypse populated by maniacs, hungry zombies, and a strong women who do not hesitate to retaliate by emptying the magazine of her gun in a offender or undead, this is certainly something I recommend.

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