Worlds Well Written

In Lazarus (Library of the Living Dead Press 2010), Lori Titus shows off her creative way with a story. A small, desert town in 1869 California, love lost and new love found, a couple of good-hearted ghosts and a whole lot of undead unrest. A good mix of ingredients, and because I know Ms. Titus’s work and am a bit of a fan, I ordered from Amazon and wasted no time opening the package that came in the mail.

For story, Lazarus does not disappoint. Titus has created a taut line between dark and light and has her characters perform a balancing act. Some fall to the dark, others live in the light and face down death-magic, desecration, and decay that horrifies but also twists heartstrings, and casts it’s pall over the entire town. Titus demonstrated this same skill in her previous work, Green Water Lullabies (Sonar 4 Publications, 2009)—hooking the reader’s empathy with the good, the bad, and even the ugly. (Okay, I apologize for the pun on the Old West theme; I couldn’t resist.)

In creating the town of Lazarus, its accoutrements, and its surrounds, the author again shows off her unerring sense of place. She made the setting real enough that I looked it up online to see if the town exists, or ever did. (If so, I couldn’t find it.) The townspeople, especially the ones that are still alive, each become vibrantly real in the space of a few words, once Titus introduces them, and they so perfectly fit the period and location that if it weren’t for skillful handling they would become stereotypical. The author employs some interesting devices to deal with point-of-view—keeping the reader from wondering how the heck a character knows something in another’s thoughts. In a Novella, efficiency counts for a lot, and by including a mind reader and an observant (helpful) ghost in her cast, Titus makes sure everyone—including the reader—knows everything they need to know in time to use it, having come by the information logically.

More on the story, of course the most important consideration. We start out on a lazy afternoon when a dusty stranger—who happens to be a beautiful and savvy woman—comes to town looking for the sherriff. Love is in the offing but not before a heroic effort to save the remains of the town from the walking remains of the undead. The effort to do so involves guns, fire, witchcraft, and even a touch of the steampunk. Unfortunately, the forces of darkness are fueled not only by an evil man, but also the soul of the earth itself. The situation calls for iron will and the ability to watch—even help—a lot more people die without losing courage.

I’m not going to tell you what happens. I do recommend you read it.

Exactly 100 pages long, the Novella is trade paperback bound with a durable glossy cover. The cover art shows imagination, with an umber tinted photo of a ghost town with a transparent (ghostly) image of a tattered zombie superimposed. I don’t find an attribution for the art, and the spine, oddly, holds neither title and author or imprint. The titles and chapter (part) headings are set imaginatively in a stylized font reminiscent of the old west, but dripping… something. I thought, blood, but maybe it’s gore. Even better, considering. I like every book to have some humor, and I found it this time in the front matter: “Any resemblance to actual persons, living, dead, or undead… is entirely coincidental.” My admiration for the publisher’s contribution to Lazarus doesn’t go much further than that. I wish more time had been taken to carefully set the type. I found their website very unattractive, though admittedly fairly easy to navigate. Part of my distaste probably comes from the fact that I’m not a die-hard zombie fan. But Titus’ writing goes far beyond run-of-the-mill zombie fare, and I wasn’t happy that I couldn’t readily find Lazarus on the site.

Two things: The narrative, though wonderfully paced overall, drags a bit in places due to passive language. And, why did Jasper raise those zombies in the first place? (Sorry, you have to read it to find out what that means.) Overall, neither of those things has much impact on the the author’s success in presenting the town of Lazarus, California, in all its guts and glory.

Again, I do recommed this as a great read, and it is available directly through Amazon—I got mine in three days with free shipping. And if the Novella wasn’t good enough already, the last line is a kicker.