Tackling Tankbread


Ladies and gentleman, I give you Tankbread!



Ten years ago humanity lost the war for survival against a spreading plague that brought the dead back to life as flesh eating monsters.
Now intelligent zombies rule the world. Feeding the undead a steady diet of cloned people called Tankbread, the survivors live in a dangerous world on the brink of final extinction.
One outlaw courier must go on a journey through the post-apocalyptic wasteland of Australia. Fighting his way into the very heart of the apocalypse in the desperate search for a way to save the last humans and destroy the undead threat.
His only companion is a girl with an extraordinary secret. Her name is Else and she's Tankbread

I enjoy a good zombie tale as much as the next lady, but this book isn't just another zombie tale. Mannering has created a post apocalyptic world not only believable, but very, very different from the average offering. Perhaps it's because he set it in Australia instead of the good old US of A. Perhaps it's because his prose goes down like a glass of fine wine. Perhaps it's because some of his zombies talk.
Oh yeah, you heard me right. Talking zombies. Nice!
Some don’t care for sentient zombies, but I am a huge fan of the concept. Mannering pulls it off with spectacular results. In Tankbread, he bends the usual zombie conventions, warps the normal undead laws and breaks every revenant rule. The story is one of discovery and redemption, not just for the main characters involved, but for the entire human race. Along the way the author weaves a hell of a tale of survival and passion, driving his characters like so much fictional cattle halfway across the land of OZ and back again, all to the tune of a thousand undead groans.
If you are looking for something a little bit different in the zombie vein, then I cannot recommend this book enough to you. If you don’t care for sentient zombies, I still cannot recommend this book enough to you. If you totally hate the idea of talking zombies and want to punch me in the throat for liking them, then I am proud to say that I cannot recommend this book enough to you most of all.
Tankbread. Read it. Love it. Too right!

You can find out more about Paul and his work at his blog. Check him out. His work is awesome!

*****ADDENDUM*****

I made a little picture for Paul and because I really loved the book. Here is a fan art piece I call "Escaping to Elsewhere." It is in oil pastels. I usually work in crayon but I couldn't find 'em. So, there we are.
 

Later taters,
Tonia