The Caldecott Chronicles, Issue #1
By R.G. Bullet
Publisher: SilverHouse Books, Inc.
Publish Date: November 10, 2011
Format: Paperback, pp 120
Age Demographic: Young Adult
b&n // amazon
Although the word zombie is never used in the Caldecott Chronicles the undead, the ungodly, the beef squad, and stumblers certainly are. The bizarre and gruesome details are narrated in a journal by a very Aristocratic British gent. Get a first hand look on how the Victorian upper class deal with stumbling trespassers and see how one draws ones inspiration from a teenage girl born to kill.
*Summary taken from Goodreads.
R.G. Bullet's The Caldecott Chronicles, Issue #1 is the perfect horror novel for any zombie officianado out there. It's great start to a wonderfully grotesque world of zombies featured in an English estate. The illustrations are a great accompaniment to the horror story being told, which was very well developed and equal parts interesting and hilarious. It's quite the unique take on zombies in general, that I think any fan of horror fiction and zombies would enjoy it. I'm not usually the biggest zombie fan out there, but I actually found myself really enjoying this novel. The character's are interesting and colorful, the historical accuracy was a plus, and the imagery brought to life through wonderful prose was amazing.
The character's in this short novel, are wonderfully written and definitely memorable. Saffy, who is a plucky village girl, who later becomes Rothchild's better half in a sense, is not only extremely likeable but also strong and full of attitude and courage befitting her. Together, these two, make such a wonderful pair of hero and herione. It is incredibly fun how a bit on the odd side of things, these two fall, but how extremely well they work when paired together. Their chemistry just has this crackle and simmer feel to it, that leaves the reader wanting to follow along with them even more.
As much as I would have particularly preferred a bit more dialouge and intereaction between the character's, I cannot deny that the world R.G. Bullet has created was about as crazy and hysterically fun as the Simmons twins were. I would have also liked to have a bit more background brought to light on the zombie infestation as to the why's it finds itself residing at Caldecott. Yet, I feel as if these are questions that R.G. Bulter left us to ponder for ourselves, until the next installment which is The Caldecott Chronicles: Issue #2. In any case, I am definitely looking forward to discovering the rest of what the story has left to uncover.
The Caldecott Chronicles is a cleverly written, suspenseful fast paced, action packed story told in a small package with promises of more to come. I was impressed with how well the illustration accompaniments were spaced out, because I originally thought I would be reading a complete graphic novel from the looks of it. It goes to show you, that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys horror fiction, particularly zombies, as it's such a fun read.
{ This ARC was provided by SilverHouse Books, Inc., in exchange for an honest review which I have provided. No money exchanged hands, I review books for fun because I love to read. I am not interested in monetary gain. Any piece of this ARC that was/wasn't quoted, is not part of the finished product and should not be perceived as such.}
