The Kill Crew
Joseph D’Lacey
Publisher: Stone Garden
Format: Novella 80 pages
Release date is August 10th from www.stonegarden.net
ISBN: 1-60076-141-0
This is Joseph’s first US release and it is a kicker. Usually I am not fond of first person, and present tense makes me feel like an observer, but Joseph has executed this piece of writing artistically and with grace. It didn’t read like most first person accounts and being character driven the story moved at a quick pace.
The kill crew are a group of survivors who search the city at night killing Commuters, a term given to those who didn’t survive but are still alive in a way. They are not zombies, they don’t eat flesh, and they weep as they reach for you.
Sherri is a member of the crew and she loves it, going out almost every night. And the one who narrates this story.
No one knows what happened to the world, there are theories but no one has any concrete evidence or knowledge, most just speculate. The number of survivors has dwindled to roughly two hundred and those numbers are going down but not in a way you’d expect, Joseph touches on subjects I haven’t read in most other books of this nature.
Sherri has a boyfriend, Ike, she doesn’t really like him. He was the in-between guy, the guy she was with until someone else came along. Only no one is coming anymore. Never. Sherri also has a young charge Trixie who is damaged and Sherri is trying to help fix.
In this new world, nothing works: computers, electricity, cars, watches, anything with a battery died. Then, one day out in the city (daylight is safe) looking for games for Trixie, Ike sees a Hi-Ace and for the hell of it, he climbs in…and it starts up.
This evolution of the story comes across so smoothly it seems almost natural. Joseph is an excellent story creator. I wanted to say ‘story teller’ but nothing is told in this book, everything is created around the characters, thoughts, emotions and needs.
Joseph’s style will sit well with everyone and the 80 pages will just fly by.
