We continue to be surprised by the combination of settings in which we find zombies. Dearly, Departed is the zombie love story we've been waiting for. Okay, that sounds strange, so let us explain.
The year is 2195 and after a series of world wars, environmental disasters, and general awfulness, the surviving population has divided into two groups: The NewVictorians and The Punks. Unfortunately, they can't seem to get along and continue to battle for territory and resources. It isn't until a new foe rears its un-dead head, that they covertly begin to work together. Transmitted by a virus called "The Laz," the dead have come back and some are craving brains, while others are interested in just living their un-dead second lives. But if the hungry zombies cannot be contained and a vaccine isn't found soon, the entire world really will be dead. In the midst of it all Nora- a New Victorian, and Bram-an un-dead Punk, find themselves thrown together in a race to rescue Nora's un-dead father, stop the spread of "The Laz," and avoid a zombie take over. So of course, they fall in love.
Dearly, Departed reads almost like historical fiction-Bram is in the military, so most of the action pits military and civilians against the bad zombies. There is some mention of steam technology and automatons, but not enough for us to give it complete "steam punk" billing. It's an interesting idea being set so far into the future. One where characters roam around in Victorian garb while living in Central America using computers and steam tech in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. We hesitate to mention that over-the-top sparkly vampire story here, but there are some similarities. However, this one is not dialogue driven and Nora doesn't go all weak in the knees every time she has to make a decision. This is the first in a trilogy.
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