Zone One

Always interesting, always brilliant, Colson Whitehead returns. Having done coming-of-age, surreal noir, history and corporate satire, his only option left was to write a literary zombie novel, an allegory for gentrification and the end of the world (the world here being capitalism, consumerism, the American Dream).

Zone One is literary and it is horror, it traverses genre successfully, never allowing itself to be pinned down, moving between slow-burning poignant memories of the survivors of a zombie holocaust, and insane action set pieces. Manhatten is Zone One, the first section of New City to be swept for skels and stragglers (zombies) before it can be rebuilt and the world can restart. Mark Spitz leads a team through the brownstones, walk ups, restaurants and officer blocks, taking zombies out, staying alive and trying to hold on to his humanity.

His memories, of his last night, of his life before Patient X, of his first movements within the team, unfold slowly as his team works through an intense three days, feeling the impending beginning of something, feeling like they are winning the war against the zombies.

Whitehead's book is full of sly wry political satire. It talks about urban gentrification, socio-economic gentrification and the world cannot survive or rebuild itself in its own image. It's, simply put, brilliant, a wonderful exercise in controlled emotion and tone, fractured story and allegory.