Overview
A frightening, darkly comedic look at people surviving a zombie onslaught, from award-winning comics sensation and novelist Bob Fingerman.
A global plague has nearly vanquished mankind; the citizenry of New York City is no exception. Eight million zombies. Shoulder to shoulder. Walking the streets, looking for their next meal of human flesh. The residents of an Upper East Side walkup have joined forces to keep themselves safe, the pageant of walking rot outside their windows a constant reminder of the their foreseeable fate. Trapped in the safety of their building, the tenants find themselves at each others’ throats. When they spy a lone teenage girl who walks unharmed among the undead, impervious, their world opens up.
Synopsis
A frightening, darkly comedic look at people surviving a zombie onslaught, from award-winning comics sensation and novelist Bob Fingerman.
A global plague has nearly vanquished mankind; the citizenry of New York City is no exception. Eight million zombies. Shoulder to shoulder. Walking the streets, looking for their next meal of human flesh. The residents of an Upper East Side walkup have joined forces to keep themselves safe, the pageant of walking rot outside their windows a constant reminder of the their foreseeable fate. Trapped in the safety of their building, the tenants find themselves at each others’ throats. When they spy a lone teenage girl who walks unharmed among the undead, impervious, their world opens up.
Publishers Weekly
Starred Review.
When a zombie pandemic sweeps the land, a group of survivors hide out in an Upper East Side apartment building. As food supplies dwindle tensions rise, and their only salvation appears in the form of Mona, a mysterious girl who repels the zombies. Though Mona brings food to the survivors and a new sense of possibility, they wonder why she's impervious to the zombie hordes and endeavor to discover her secret. But their decision to put it to the test could shatter the safe, careful world they've built for themselves. Fingerman's latest is a spectacular entre in the zombie genre, largely due to his focus not on the undead but on the living, investigating our humanity and how easily we can turn on each other. But what truly distinguishes Pariah from other worthwhile entries is its humor in the face of bleak and extremely disturbing events (the sociopathic jock, Eddie, for instance, enjoys fishing for zombies in a manner that will turn readers' stomachs). The lack of resolution is unsettling, but what could be resolved in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by the undead? Readers should shamble to the store for this one.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Editorials
Library Journal
Survivors trapped in a New York apartment building by zombie hordes are slowly starving to death when Mona appears, walking down the avenue, a ten-foot circle of empty space between herself and the undead. Her addition to the community turns privation into excess, since she can travel unmolested to get whatever the tenants want. Unfortunately, how the characters change, while interesting, is not enough to sustain the whole book. One character's armored trek to rescue Mona provides the only frightening moment, and that doesn't come until near the end. Fingerman is a noted author of graphic novels (From the Ashes) and prose fiction (Bottomfeeder). BZG The concept of someone immune to zombie attack is distinctive in the genre.Publishers Weekly
Starred Review.When a zombie pandemic sweeps the land, a group of survivors hide out in an Upper East Side apartment building. As food supplies dwindle tensions rise, and their only salvation appears in the form of Mona, a mysterious girl who repels the zombies. Though Mona brings food to the survivors and a new sense of possibility, they wonder why she's impervious to the zombie hordes and endeavor to discover her secret. But their decision to put it to the test could shatter the safe, careful world they've built for themselves. Fingerman's latest is a spectacular entre in the zombie genre, largely due to his focus not on the undead but on the living, investigating our humanity and how easily we can turn on each other. But what truly distinguishes Pariah from other worthwhile entries is its humor in the face of bleak and extremely disturbing events (the sociopathic jock, Eddie, for instance, enjoys fishing for zombies in a manner that will turn readers' stomachs). The lack of resolution is unsettling, but what could be resolved in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by the undead? Readers should shamble to the store for this one.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From the Publisher
“Fingerman is a brilliant satirist, artist and mind.” — Trey Parker, co-creator of South Park“It doesn’t seem fair that Bob Fingerman gets to be such a funny, savvy, cool and smart writer who can also draw. It gives him an advantage and I may need to have him assassinated.” — Augusten Burroughs, New York Times bestselling author of Running with Scissors
“Mr. Fingerman is a deeply talent, creative, and disturbed man.” — Max Brooks, New York Times bestselling author of World War Z
“The thinking man’s zombie novel.” — Mike Mignola, creator of Hellboy
“If you’re thinking: ‘Not another zombie novel,’ this is definitely the book for you. Bob Fingerman’s Pariah is a testament to the versatility of zombie fiction. It is, quite simply, a work that will remind you why you fell in love with the genre in the first place.” — Robert Kirkman, author of The Walking Dead
“If you think there are no original twists left in the zombie genre, think again. With Pariah, Bob Fingerman crafts an exciting, fresh take on it, breathing much-needed new life into the undead. Pariah is a clever, compelling read.” — Brian Keene, The Rising
“As grim as it gets. Zombie fans looking for unrelenting grue and apocalyptic mayhem need look no further. But there’s a heart to this story, too, in the immaculately crafted characters—the survivors, the last of the human race, pushing themselves well past where the struggle for survival ends and there’s nothing left but to hold on and hope. A masterpiece of the zombie genre, for its realism and its courage to embrace the darkness.” — David Wellington, author of Monster Island and Vampire Zero