Coburn's been dead now for close to a century, but seeing as how he's a vampire and all, it doesn t much bother him. Or at least it didn't, not until he awoke from a forced five-year slumber to discover that most of human civilization was now dead but not dead like him, oh no. See, Coburn likes blood. The rest of the walking dead, they like brains. He's smart. Them, not so much. But they outnumber him by about a million to one. And the clotted blood of the walking dead cannot sustain him. Now he's starving. And nocturnal. And more hacked-off than a bee-stung rattlesnake. The vampire not only has to find human survivors (with their sweet, sweet blood), but now he has to transition from predator to protector after all, a man has to look after his food supply.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By John Milton
Format:Kindle Edition
I found myself Double Dead: a 2011 vampire/ zombie novel from self-described "freelance penmonkey", Chuck Wendig.
Double Dead draws from different genres to create an engaging tale of action-horror that feels something like Mad Max with a vampire in the titular role, dealing with all sorts of problems that the Road Warrior would never have dreamt of having to encounter.
Speaking of dreams, Wendig must have some pretty twisted ones judging by the imagery he conjures up within this novel, which is at times nightmarish and bleak; at others, downright vivid and disturbing. I feel no shame in admitting that during one particular description of a zombie's phsyical condition, I felt a little queasy... and I'm not exactly new to the genre!
Wendig's antihero of the story: Coburn, is the most enjoyable character I have come across in fiction for quite some time. A sardonic vampire who spits out pop culture references and who makes for quite the refreshing change to the sparkly angsty vamps that seem to be so popular of late. Coburn feeds off of a lot of unsavoury characters, paedophiles and the like. I feel that this was a bit of an effort on the part of Wendig to make his anti-hero a bit more likeable but was maybe a bit blunt for me. One particular element of the story (which I will not reveal) felt a little twee to me and in Wendig's world overrun with zombies, cannibals, religious zealots, paedophiles and drug addicts, it didn't quite sit right for me initially.
Reading Double Dead was by no stretch of the imagination a chore to read. Wendig's work is well-crafted, enjoyable, compelling and (I mean this as a compliment) a good pulpy adventure! I couldn't help but think that this would transfer very well into graphic novel format and beautifully to the big screen.
Double Dead draws from different genres to create an engaging tale of action-horror that feels something like Mad Max with a vampire in the titular role, dealing with all sorts of problems that the Road Warrior would never have dreamt of having to encounter.
Speaking of dreams, Wendig must have some pretty twisted ones judging by the imagery he conjures up within this novel, which is at times nightmarish and bleak; at others, downright vivid and disturbing. I feel no shame in admitting that during one particular description of a zombie's phsyical condition, I felt a little queasy... and I'm not exactly new to the genre!
Wendig's antihero of the story: Coburn, is the most enjoyable character I have come across in fiction for quite some time. A sardonic vampire who spits out pop culture references and who makes for quite the refreshing change to the sparkly angsty vamps that seem to be so popular of late. Coburn feeds off of a lot of unsavoury characters, paedophiles and the like. I feel that this was a bit of an effort on the part of Wendig to make his anti-hero a bit more likeable but was maybe a bit blunt for me. One particular element of the story (which I will not reveal) felt a little twee to me and in Wendig's world overrun with zombies, cannibals, religious zealots, paedophiles and drug addicts, it didn't quite sit right for me initially.
Reading Double Dead was by no stretch of the imagination a chore to read. Wendig's work is well-crafted, enjoyable, compelling and (I mean this as a compliment) a good pulpy adventure! I couldn't help but think that this would transfer very well into graphic novel format and beautifully to the big screen.
By Stephen Emm
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Another solid horse from the Wendig stable. Double Dead charts the voyage of Coburn (a recently revived vampire) and his food supply (a small band of human survivors) as they travel through the ravaged wasteland of post-zombie-apocalypse America.
There were a few things that stood out for me in this novel:
1. The concept of a vampire having a severely limited food supply (he can't suck zombie blood) and thus needs to effectively manage his human herd to maintain a steady supply.
2. The vampire being limited physically by the amount of blood he's drunk. Blood is a sort of "nitro injection" for him; he can store it in his body and use it on-demand to move fast and hit hard - but it's not unlimited and he can be surprised. In essence, he is a lot more vulnerable than vampires are in most other fiction.
3. The protagonist is essentially a vicious b@stard. Really, he's not very nice, and most readers will probably hate his guts - cheering at every arse-kicking that comes his way.
The plot is nothing outrageous for the genre: survivors have to get from here to there (no spoilers as to why!), battle zombies on the way, zombies are bad - but look at what the humans are now doing to each other blah blah blah. All good fun. The human characters are what you'd expect - a rag-tag mix of personalities just trying to get by. There's plenty of gore, plenty of violence and the usual word-filth you'd expect from the mind of Chuck W.
Loved it from page 1.
There were a few things that stood out for me in this novel:
1. The concept of a vampire having a severely limited food supply (he can't suck zombie blood) and thus needs to effectively manage his human herd to maintain a steady supply.
2. The vampire being limited physically by the amount of blood he's drunk. Blood is a sort of "nitro injection" for him; he can store it in his body and use it on-demand to move fast and hit hard - but it's not unlimited and he can be surprised. In essence, he is a lot more vulnerable than vampires are in most other fiction.
3. The protagonist is essentially a vicious b@stard. Really, he's not very nice, and most readers will probably hate his guts - cheering at every arse-kicking that comes his way.
The plot is nothing outrageous for the genre: survivors have to get from here to there (no spoilers as to why!), battle zombies on the way, zombies are bad - but look at what the humans are now doing to each other blah blah blah. All good fun. The human characters are what you'd expect - a rag-tag mix of personalities just trying to get by. There's plenty of gore, plenty of violence and the usual word-filth you'd expect from the mind of Chuck W.
Loved it from page 1.
By Tim Stevens
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
How does a vampire survive after his prey have been turned into zombies? Wendig kicks off his riproaring novel with this great premise. Coburn, a vampire for fifty years and trapped underground for the last two or so, 'awakes' into a NYC overrun by marauding 'rotters'. Seeking fresh human blood, he joins a rag-tag bunch of human survivors, lured by the promise of a steady supply of sustenance in a world gone to hell.
The style is smart, sardonic, and utterly hilarious. Coburn is a terrific creation, a nasty, self-absorbed bloodsucker who manages to be as cool as any Tarantino character even after he's been burned to a crisp by the morning sun. The action is relentless, horrifying, utterly mesmerising.
Best of all, though - and the acid test of every novel - is the story. Wendig tells a tale that grips from start to finish, with no digressions, no pointless meanderings, no wasted words. The last chapter had me almost in tears, big horror-loving softie that I am.
Chuck Wendig is a storyteller of the highest order, precisely because he's grasped that telling a story is the most important thing a writer can aspire to do.
Buy this. Read it. Then - oh my god - buy Blackbirds.
The style is smart, sardonic, and utterly hilarious. Coburn is a terrific creation, a nasty, self-absorbed bloodsucker who manages to be as cool as any Tarantino character even after he's been burned to a crisp by the morning sun. The action is relentless, horrifying, utterly mesmerising.
Best of all, though - and the acid test of every novel - is the story. Wendig tells a tale that grips from start to finish, with no digressions, no pointless meanderings, no wasted words. The last chapter had me almost in tears, big horror-loving softie that I am.
Chuck Wendig is a storyteller of the highest order, precisely because he's grasped that telling a story is the most important thing a writer can aspire to do.
Buy this. Read it. Then - oh my god - buy Blackbirds.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Feel-bad undead book of the year.
I've never been much taken with the zombie apocalypse genre. There just doesn't really seem like there's very much one can actually do with it that hasn't been done in film,... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Stefan
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderfully crazy ride through the zombie apocalypse
I enjoyed this a lot. The premise - a cruel, utterly selfish vampire forced by apocalyptic zombie circumstances to fight against his own evil nature and protect his prey - is... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Peter J Allen
3.0 out of 5 stars
Could have been so much better
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Superb post-apocalypse page-turner!
A vampire wakes up after the end of the world, to battle zombies, cannibals, and religious lunatics...oh, and stoners.
A great story, with a suitably cynical anti-hero. Read more
A great story, with a suitably cynical anti-hero. Read more
Published 16 months ago by M. Middleton
2.0 out of 5 stars
Worth a read
Aw I so wanted to love this book, the idea is pure brilliance however the story just didn't cut it for me (to be fair I had huge expectations). Read more
Published 17 months ago by Lainy
4.0 out of 5 stars
Zombie Apocalypse with an amoral Vampire lead = Winner
I like the writing of Chuck Wendig. I regularly read his blog and have read all of his writing advice and short stories that I have been able to buy. Read more
Published 18 months ago by IuchiAtesoro
2.0 out of 5 stars
Solid concept not enough likeability however
I love a good horror story that takes an established convention and then turns it on its head so when I heard about this story from Abaddon where you had a Vampire fighting Zombies... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Gareth Wilson - Falcata Times Blog
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