Handling the Undead

By John Ajvide Lindqvist

Book Overview

*Now a film featured at the Sundance Film Festival, coming in 2024 *

Zombies and human clash in this horror novel by the author of the international bestseller Let the Right One In, for which he wrote the screenplay for the the Swedish smash hit film of the same name, which some critics (see below) have called the best vampire film ever made. John Ajvide Lindqvist has reinvented the vampire genre. Now he's taken on zombies, and readers everywhere will find themselves utterly consumed by Handling the Undead.

Something peculiar is happening. While the city is enduring a heat wave, people are finding that their electric appliances won't stay switched off. And everyone has a blinding headache. Then the terrible news breaks - in the city morgue, the newly dead are waking.

David always knew his wife was far too good for him. But he never know how lost he'd be without her until the night she died. Now she's gone and he's alone. But when he goes to identify her body, she opens her eye...

Across the city, grieving families find themselves able to see their loved ones one last time. But are these creatures really them? How long can this last? And what deadly price will they have to pay for the chance to see their spouses and children just one more time?

"John Ajvide Lindqvist is a master philosopher of the horror genre." --Washington Post Book World

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312604521
• ISBN13: 9780312604523
• Release Date: August 2011
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A slow read that doesn't go anywhere...

This book is more drama than horror... I had high hopes for this book as the concept of how society would handle non-zombie undead was interesting. The book started out okay, though the characters seemed uninspired. There was a buildup then halfway through it sizzled and didn't recover. If the dead came back to life you would expect panic, uncertainty and some level of irrational behavior. There would also be people thinking of how best to address the situation and create measures for public safety. Such an astounding phenomenon was treated with minor concern by a handful of the population. This book had the main characters operating solely on reckless emotion. No critical thinking at all. The characters were bland and only thought of themselves. Their actions made me wish the 'unliving' were true, face-eating zombies. I would recommend to someone looking for a slow read with a touch of drama.