Graveminder, By Melissa Marr
Putting flesh on the bones of a zombie universe
This novel – the teen fiction author Melissa Marr's first for adult readers – is set in Claysville, a small American town that, as one character puts it, is "unique in the way it mourns its dead". I'll say.
Unless arcane burial rites are observed, Claysville's corpses revivify and start hunting for prey; it falls to "the Graveminder", a sort of zombie whisperer, to persuade them to return to the underworld.
The book seems intended to be the first in a series, and much space is taken up in explaining the rules of its complex fantasy setting. Now that all the exposition is out of the way, future instalments may well be more dramatic, but sadly this opening volume is a little, well, lifeless.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies