Liz Loves Books.Com.

Publication Date: Available Now from Jo Fletcher Books.

Source: Publisher Review Copy

Thomas is thirty-two. He comes from the small town of Barkley. He has a wife there, Sarah, and a child, Mary; good solid names from the Good Book. And he is on his way home from the war, where he has been serving as a conscripted soldier.
Thomas is also dead – he is one of the Walkin’.
And Barkley does not suffer the wicked to live.

Really enjoyed this one - a fresh take on a "zombie" story as we meet the inhabitants of Barkley - in a world where not all the dead  stay dead. These "zombies" are not shuffling human eating beings however, they are simply people who do not lie still when they die. Enter Thomas, newly awakened "Walkin" who would very much like to be reunited with his family. However Barkley is not a place where he will still be welcome - their belief system views the undead as wicked and they "show mercy" by ensuring a destruction that you do not come back from.

Part road trip and part family drama, this was beautifully written, with a deep seated moral dilemma at the core of it, using an intriguing plot twist to explore themes of isolation and bigotry, where a section of society is viewed as less than worthy by some and treated accordingly. Thomas himself questions his existence and back in Barkley the belief system they have does not allow for a being such as Thomas and the author takes this idea and runs with it..

For all the violent parts that there are in this story, it is kind of a gentle rolling tale. If you want flesh eating undead cutting a swathe through hapless humans this one is not for you - in this case the lines are blurred between good and evil, it is a character driven piece entirely but it is endlessly fascinating and completely addictive.

Intelligent plotting and terrific storytelling throughout, I found this utterly gripping and am very much looking forward to getting onto the next book in the trilogy - Your Servants and Your People - watch this space!

Happy Reading Folks!