I first heard of this book via this Release Challenge forum post by Megi53, and finally decided to order a copy from Amazon. This slim trade paperback is ostensibly a recently-recovered Latin text describing a battle between Roman soldiers and - yes - zombies, circa 185 AD...

[In a very nice touch, the cover image shows the Bocca della Verita; its "Hand in the Hole" legend (that anyone who tells a lie while their hand's in the opening will have it bitten off) fits rather neatly with a zombie plot, eh?]

Later: I enjoyed this very much! There's a delightful foreword describing in wonderfully arch detail just how this fragment was discovered, via a "secret palimpsest", "[or 'Yetis', as they are sometimes jokingly named in the paleography community]".

The fragment itself is a vivid and creepy account of a Roman soldier's confrontation with the undead - in this case, apparently revived by a curse from a druid priest executed by him. The account is punctuated throughout by footnotes from the alleged discoverer/translator; they're often informative, but also rather humorous in an over-the-top-scholarship way, but they do detract from the mood of the story. I had to force myself NOT to read them until I'd gone through the story for its own sake first. [I adore this kind of make-believe historical-record when it's well done, and this certainly is!]

Eventually, our narrator and some of his men are trapped in a villa, surrounded by the walking dead, and trying to cope with the increasingly-hysterical householders and their servants. The scenes of zombies trying to break through windows to grab victims are familiar to anyone who's seen a zombie movie, but the story's still well-told here, and the unusual setting adds interest. There's a valiant stand, and what seems a hopeless attempt to stop the spread of the evil, and a marvelously atmospheric climax. All in all, much more enjoyable than I'd dared hope!

I'm sending this book to BCer Megi53 in Virginia, as I first heard of it through her. Hope you enjoy it!

Came today and looks excellent.

I guess part of joining the 21st-century world of books is dropping my prejudice against self-published works (the reason I didn't buy this from Amazon when I first spotted it).

Will try to think of a unique release for this one when I've finished it.

Thanks for sending!

Splendid! I enjoyed the erudite footnotes even more than the swashbuckling plot, and determined I'd give this a "10" rating if all the Roman, Greek, and Eastern cultural/historical/literary references turned out to be true. They did, and I did.

The reason I read this book now, quite impulsively, was that I happened upon an article about Roman Britain by Clive Irving in the April 2011 issue of Conde Nast Traveler. I'm tackling my stacks of magazines with the same vigor I used against my TBR book-piles in previous years, and I absolutely love to read two pieces about similar subjects at the same time. (Irving made as much of miasmas and hypocausts as did Castus).

Very well written: I plan to investigate any other works Brookside may have "edited". I'll probably take this book to Raleigh with me Saturday when I'm having lunch with German BCer Mary-T to see if she wants it: after all, the hero was a German!

Got it during lunch with Megi53 today in Raleigh.
I'll give it a try...

... in der café|bar

Lieber Finder!
Dies ist ein freies Buch.
Lies es und/oder lass es an einem anderen Ort wieder frei oder gib es an Freunde weiter.
Die vorherigen Leser freuen sich über einen kurzen Eintrag um zu sehen wie es dem Buch bisher ergangen ist und dass es ihm gut geht.
Bookcrossing ist völlig anonym, kostenlos und macht total viel Spaß!
Gruß
Mary-T