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Down The Road: On The Last Day
reviewed by Wayne Simmons, author of the forthcoming 'Drop Dead Gorgeous.'
Author: Bowie Ibarra
Publisher: Permuted Press
I’m not convinced that Bowie Ibarra is using his real name when writing.
Sometimes, when there’s nothing on TV, or the day job’s dragging
that little bit longer, I’ll ponder over Bowie’s choice of
pen name, entertaining the idea that my suspicions are correct. I’ve
wondered if the writer, Bowie Ibarra, was influenced by the musician and
(lest we not forget The Hunger) actor that is David Bowie. What would
be the link?, I ask myself. Where could we draw parallels between Bowie
Ibarra’s blood-pumping, zombie romps and David Bowie’s gentlemanly
swaggers of post-modern lyricism? Did Ibarra, like David was once said
to have done, throw the chosen words for his latest novel on the floor,
linking them together, randomly, to create Down The Road (On The Last
Day)?
I think not.
To be frank (and not David), seeking comparisons between Bowie Ibarra
and David Bowie is like comparing chalk to mouldy cheese. These writers
are as different from each other as moon is to sun. And whilst I love
both dearly, it’s not a bad thing that they so indulgently differ.
Down The Road (Ibarra’s first innings) was perhaps the rough diamond
of Permuted Press’ output of last year. It did what it said on the
tin, bringing neither literary awe nor ethereal novelty to the genre.
Instead, Down The Road gave us a bloody great zombie tale, told as if
over a camp fire, with all the shortcomings of a true urban legend. But,
more importantly, all the charm.
Down the Road (On The Last Day) goes further. Gone is the sometime linear
storytelling from the opener. Kaput is the limited, and occasionally two-dimensional
cast. Vamoosh are the grammatical bloops, and over-economical use of description,
giving way to a much more epic and confident feeling novel. On The Last
Day has all the charm of the original, complete with its much-loved action
and gore, weaving in a broad cast of fully fleshed-out (excuse the pun)
characters to give us a page-turner unlike anything Permuted has released
to date.
Picking up from the conclusion to the original, On The Last Day offers
a brand new zombie tale-about-the-southland that new Ibarra fans can readily
devour without having read the original. There’s nothing unique
about the zombies here. They shuffle. They bite. They spread their (GASP!)
mysterious virus all-too happily, only to be stopped by that good ol’
headshot that fans of the genre know (and love) all-too-well.
We still have the FEMA conspiracy theorising, from the original, perhaps
more fact than fiction, evolving to even greater proportions of daring.
Readers are introduced to the small, Texan town of Beeville, as it takes
on not only a zombie horde, but also the approaching military might of
an invading UN Peacekeeping force.
Of course, none of this drives the novel, for me, as much as the sheer
wonder of Ibarra’s cast. From punk girl, Audrey, to ex-nam veteran
Gary, these are as palatable a crowd as any you’re going to find
in fellow horror hack Stephen King’s back catalogue. You’ll
be rooting for them all the way from gore-stained start to bile-soaked
finish, as the TRUE story of this novel, that of a Southern town banding
together in the face of unstoppable adversary, reaches its emotional,
beautiful and devastatingly traumatic conclusion.
Down The Road (On The Last Day) is as high up the list, for trad zombie
fiction, as the Dave Moodys of this world, confirming for us, once again,
that Permuted is on the rise…
… just don’t mention Major Tom.