BOOK REVIEW: The Breeze Horror by Candace Caponegro

Bloodshot Books 2017 edition

When a space shuttle carrying toxic waste collides with a meteor, contaminated rain pours down, infecting everyone it touches, causing their bodies to decompose, but leaving their minds intact. The frightened residents of Sea Breeze Island quarantine the infected on the beach. The "beachers" come to resent the "norms" and plan their revenge, becoming more sadistic as their bodies become more decayed.

A different kind of zombie book, these zombies—or beachers—aren't interested in eating brains. They prefer inflicting pain and torturing the norms. The beachers aren't brain-dead monsters. Their anger and hatred of friends and family is because of how they were treated after they became infected.

It's refreshing to read a book that lets you get inside the head of a zombie. They had motivations and personalities, just like the rest of the characters. It's always more interesting when a villain isn't just inherently evil. I even felt sorry for a few of them. Are the monsters the unlucky ones caught in the rain, or the ones who refused to help the infected?

Onyx 1988 edition

But I don't think what the beachers do to the norms by the end of the book is justified by any means. It gets pretty gory and definitely isn't for the faint of heart.

Although I could empathize with the beachers, the norms were even more compelling characters. I was rooting for the main character, Sandy, and her young son, to get off the island and escape the beachers.

The Breeze Horror was originally published in 1988 and recently republished by Bloodshot Books. Contrary to the original cover (pictured on the right), no killer curtains make an appearance. Highly recommended for zombie fans looking for something different.

Rating: 4/5