Black Static

For our next review we have another famous monster getting loose in Ye Old West. Written by John L. Lansdale, brother of the more famous Joe, Zombie Gold was released in hardcover by SST back in August 2016.

Chris, the adopted son of rancher Jim Goodman, gets on the wrong side of Flying G foreman Sully. With summer guest Will he is sent to repair fencing in a remote corner of the ranch. Seldom visited, the area round Kaman Mountain has a bad reputation. The mountain is named after the leader of a gang of Civil War deserters who stole a large sum of gold and disappeared somewhere in the area. People claim to have seen Kaman's ghost. Chris and Will pursue a figure dressed in Civil War uniform into a hidden cave, where they encounter a group of flesh eating zombies. Passing through a strange mist they find themselves back in 1863, just days before the Battle of Gettysburg. Things get complicated.

I'm not sure how I feel about this novel. The back story involving a deal with the Devil all sounds a bit hokey, and the plan Chris and Will come up with to get back to their own time is built on uncertain ground. The strange mist seems like a simple plot convenience, a way to let them have adventures in the past and then bring them back to the present. The writing isn't especially vivid, with the emphasis more on pace than description, and I have to admit being slightly gobsmacked at the blasé attitudes of both Chris and Will, who seem to take everything in their stride, with zombies and time travel barely phasing them. I'd have expected a bit more incredulity, if not outright shock and trauma. On the plus side, taken at the level of pure pulp adventure it works tolerably well. While the two leads come across as archetypal All American Boys and just too good to be the least bit interesting, there are some slightly more engaging characters in the supporting cast. To that add plenty of gun play and the full set of alarums and excursions. A particular strength of the book is the way in which events leading up to Gettysburg and other historical details, such as meetings with Generals Meade and Custer, are incorporated into the text, throwing a light on the perils of the time and rewarding those of us with an interest in the period. Reading it I kept thinking about the American Civil War bubble gum cards I used to collect as a callow youth and afterwards checked their availability as collectors' items on eBay (the perils of nostalgia). Overall it was a pass the time story and worked well enough on that level, but there was little of any moment for the reader seeking something more substantial.