Greetings and Salutations, Blog Readers

Today, we are talking about a book series I didn’t expect to love, and now hold dearly to my heart: “I’m Tired of Zombies” by James Murphy.

First, the title, something I could never do is be tired of zombies. Second, this book series could definitely be classified as Christian literature, despite also being zombie apocalyptic fiction, which, many people would think I wouldn’t enjoy.

Thirdly, this book series is self-published, and like many self-published books, has many grammatical errors.

And yet, here I am, telling you all I loved the first book so much I tore through the rest of the four-book series, and truly enjoyed it. I laughed, I cried, I made notes of things I was pleased to see…Overall, the grammatical errors did slowly improve, the writer gaining more skills in his editing as the series went on, and that was the only real issue with the book series.

The Christian elements were actually not bad, and certainly weren’t “hit you over the head” annoying, like some books can be, instead, this showed a really nice display of what a good Christian rancher cowboy could be, without being pious and off-putting. Entirely too often, you’ll see those who claim to be Christian, but don’t walk the life of being one, and in the case of the characters in “I’m tired of Zombies” the characters were all actually upstanding people, who were trying their best to survive despite insurmountable odds. They prayed before eating, read the bible for answers, and appreciated the landscape before them, giving thanks for what God had bestowed on them…and yet when a Muslim man was introduced in the fourth book, the group of Christians all welcomed him warmly. So, I will say that even agnostic or atheist readers could enjoy the characters, because it is refreshing to see people who lean on their faith in times of zombies, without letting it become and excuse to be a raging lunatic, seeing the zombies as a form of Gods wrath, or deciding to take judgment into their own hands, as is the case with SO MANY works of zombie content.

The story had twists and turns, and had so many elements I LOVE about apocalyptic fiction, and, while I don’t want to spoil the well written stories, I will say the following about it:

In “Alas, Babylon”, one of the premier and forefathers to the apocalyptic fiction genre’s, one of my favorite parts of the story was how the main character prepared, when given a small amount of warning. I liked watching what things he found most important to do, what preps he made, what purchases he made, and how he did his best, using the limited time he had, to prepare for the coming attacks.

In that same book, the story focuses on all the ways the characters have to change things to survive, to keep water, to grow plants, etc.

One of the things I loved and adored about “I’m Tired of Zombies” was how James Murphy not only showed us the extensive preps the main characters took, namely Doug Sutton, in setting up his property, getting supplies, and ensuring himself, those around him, and those that came after, would have a way to live, to fend for themselves. The long details itemized how he set up secure areas, how he improved his weapons knowledge, how he got power and water, along with gas and propone, food storage and gardening…Doug Sutton worked hard to make sure he would be safe, and later, when joined by the woman who would become his wife, Ruth, was also knowledgeable.

Doug also was a modern enough man to do all these rough and tumble ranch type activities, but also had a more tender side, appreciating the land around him for it’s natural beauty, appreciating a good bath, and even knowing how, and consistently baking bread.

Doug is a good friend, growing a close friendship with Deputy Dave Malone and his wife Julia, and the four go about life trying to survive for the first two books.

Without going into details, in the third and fourth books, we get new characters, including Sheriff TJ Gerill, and his wife, Donna, along with the three Marines that join them, and of course, the baby, DD, child of Doug and Ruth.

The story, with its twist and turns, gives us new enemies, not just the zombies but truly evil bad guys who do more than make survival harder.

As I mentioned, I don’t want to give too much away, so I will say this: “I’m Tired of Zombies” is a delightful series that isn’t like most zombie books. It is grounded in a realm of reality, with just a dash of fantasy, which is driven by characters that while realistic and relatable, are truly exceptional people. These characters are what give it the sense of realism, and the moments where they achieve the unachievable is easily attributed the quality of these characters.

All in all, the “I’m Tired of Zombies” series is one I am likely to reread, especially the first book, which is already calling to me. I suggest you give it a go, for a few reasons I have listed here, and one more I will add.

Amazon has done good putting bookstores out of business, but, in THIS case, you can support a writer you likely wouldn’t find in a bookstore, and you get a great deal of good reading for a fair price, and while using Amazon, can support “the little guy.” Buy the first book, and see if you get hooked like I did. If you are a Christian fiction reader, western reader, or just an apocalyptic fiction reader like me, you are likely to enjoy it, so give it a go.

Thanks for reading,

Abbi