State of Decay (Revivors)

by James Knapp

Book Overview

View our feature on James Knapp’s State of Decay. Just because you're dead doesn't mean you're useless... A thrilling debut novel of a dystopian future populated by a new breed of zombie They call... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451463102
• Release Date: February 2010
• Publisher: Ace
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 1.0" x 4.1"

Customer Reviews

Dystopian Moral Ambiguity and Big Surprises

In a grimy future world where it's always cold and usually snowing, some people are willing to sign over the use of their reanimated dead body after their demises to a corporation in exchange for a better lifestyle. The corporation then uses it for - well, whatever anyone with the money to purchase one wants to use it for -- and as you can guess, it's usually not pretty. A mechanically-augmented special agent with a troubled past is on the trail of some illegally imported shambling corpses, and accidentally stumbles on to a conspiracy that's way bigger than it looks. The story rotates through the perspectives of four very different characters in each chapter and reveals a segment of its secrets to each of them a little at a time - so in a nifty trick, you know more about what's going on than any of the characters. I found myself flipping back a chapter or two several times when a clue was dropped to rediscover a seemingly-innocuous plot thread that had become more important due to a new revelation. There's a lot of "splatter" - people get offed in some spectacular ways, and the offing is described in specific and loving detail. If you're faint of heart, pass on by - although I suspect you wouldn't be reading a book of this title if you are! The author not only delivers a compelling yarn that moves quickly and compellingly, he also delves into some pretty Deep Stuff thematically, like ruminations the nature of capitalism taken to its most extreme, classism, the ethics of war and terrorism, and nothing short of the meaning of being "alive." Not only that, but he delivers some shocking revelations towards the end of the book that make you question all of your assumptions up until the final chapter - at the same time as you realize that he'd been laying a solid foundations for those shocking revelations right under your nose throughout the whole book. In short, it's crafted like a Swiss watch. Apparently it's a trilogy. I'm looking forward to numbers two and three!

I'll take more

I like this story. I picked up the book in the bookstore yesterday and it caught me immediately. I bought it right then instead of going home and ordering it like usual. I didn't want to wait to learn more about the world the characters live in. Good action, good scifi, I liked all the characters and felt for them. I liked the tech the FBI agent had, and the comparison to the crude world the fighter lives in. I want to know more about the revivors, especially the mechanics (science) behind them. Two things set me back slightly. One was the poor editing. There are completely misplaced words in sentences. It's like the author started to type one sentence, backspace, backspace, backspace over a phrase, finished with a different meaning, except somehow both phrases ended up in the book jammed together. The other thing wasn't bad at all - just unexpected. Despite this being a "zombie" book I thought it was going to be pure scifi with emphasis on "science" but one of the characters has psychic abilities. No big deal, lots of scifi has that, it just caught me by surprise - even though it happens in the first few pages. As soon as I said "okay, got it" I was happy. I'll be watching for more books in this series and from this author.

Science Fiction-not Zombie fiction

State of Decay is an impressive debut novel with interesting concepts and some good hard science fiction. I expected a Modern Gothic novel. What I got was a different kind of science fiction justification for using "revivors". Revivors are people who have, mostly, volunteered to be brought back to improve their standing in life. If you volunteer as a revivor it gets you a shot at moving up in class. Revivors get used for a lot of different things, but mostly as biological robot soldiers to serve in a series of unending wars. The author uses the point of view of four different first person narratives to tell the story. I was expecting Zombies and instead I got Science Fiction, and that was a good thing.

Impressive Debut

Nico Wachalowski is a FBI agent investigating a conspiracy where zombie-like revivors are being programmed to murder. Revivors are reanimated corpses, typically used in battle. An old flame, an alcoholic psychic, and a tough cage fighter all become involved in Wachalowski's investigation. With their help, he must uncover his dangerous plot before all the evidence is erased. The story is told from each of the four main characters' point of view, in first person. At first, these complex characters seem random, but it isn't long before their paths connect in different ways. Knapp has created a strange and eerie world where quality of life is determined by whether or not you serve in the military or donate your body to become a revivor after death - how much you are willing to give of yourself to the government to live a comfortable life. This impressive debut incorporates a futuristic technology, fantasy, zombie-like creatures, mystery, danger, and intrigue. It's a dark and gritty, complex story, full of intense excitement and suspense. With the creepy feeling of zombie horror, this fantastic mystery thriller will satisfy any genre fan.