Book Review: The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks

The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks
Release Date: 16th September 2003

Publisher: Baker and Taylor
Format: eBook
Pages: 288
Rating: 3.5/5.0

This book was read as part of the 2013 OTS, 2013 ODY and 2013 EBC 

Summary from Amazon:
"The Zombie Survival Guide is your key to survival against the hordes of undead who may be stalking you right now. Fully illustrated and exhaustively comprehensive, this book covers everything you need to know, including how to understand zombie physiology and behavior, the most effective defense tactics and weaponry, ways to outfit your home for a long siege, and how to survive and adapt in any territory or terrain.

Top 10 Lessons for Surviving a Zombie Attack 

1. Organize before they rise! 
2. They feel no fear, why should you?
3. Use your head: cut off theirs.
4. Blades don’t need reloading.
5. Ideal protection = tight clothes, short hair.
6. Get up the staircase, then destroy it. 
7. Get out of the car, get onto the bike.
8. Keep moving, keep low, keep quiet, keep alert!
9. No place is safe, only safer. 
10. The zombie may be gone, but the threat lives on. 

Don’t be carefree and foolish with your most precious asset—life. This book is your key to survival against the hordes of undead who may be stalking you right now without your even knowing it. The Zombie Survival Guide offers complete protection through trusted, proven tips for safeguarding yourself and your loved ones against the living dead. It is a book that can save your life."

Review:
This was interesting to read. It messed with my head a little bit, because it's set out like a non-fiction book, under the guise of being completely factual, that aims to help you prepare for the impending zombie apocalypse. In fact, many parts of this book are actually completely factual - descriptions of weapons, transport, and dwellings are all factual, but their descriptions are just zombified - ideal weapons for fighting zombies, ideal transport for getting away from zombies, and ideal buildings to shack up in during a zombie attack.

At first, it was a little hard for me to get into this book. Because it is written in the style of a non-fiction guide, its kinda boring at the beginning. When we started getting into detailed descriptions of different weapons and how they can be used, and then the same thing for transport, and dwellings, and areas that you might want to live or hunt in; it was just a tad boring. If you take out the minimal zombie reference, its just a description of loads of different weapons, and transport, and dwellings, etc - not the most enthalling stuff to read about.

But, I got more interested towards the end with the 'documented zombie attacks'. It was interesting, and funny, to read about all these different times in history where zombies could plausibly be added to the picture. I have to say, a lot of research must have gone into this book, and for that I have to give it props. Overall, it took a while for me to get into it, but I did enjoy it.