Undead Kelly (2013)

"It's not the bloody bunyip! It's..., It's..." - Hare

1880 Colonial Australia and William, which isn't his real name, is working for a Lawyer in Melbourne. William has been sent Downunder under a cloud by his father, though we never learn exactly what the cloud is. Anyways silver lining, see what I did there, William gets to go to the local prison and interview Ned Kelly, famed bushranger and anti-Social rebel. Through the course of a number of days we learn what happened and why Ned is facing murder charges except what we learn definitely diverts from what the authorities are claiming. Seems Ned and the Kelly gang have been fighting "blighters", a breed of zombie that is showing up in the Outback and regional areas.

William forms an unlikely bond with Ned, but in doing so learns that there are those who don't want Ned's story to see the light of day. There are friends with benefits going down however and William is left questioning whether or not Ned is telling porkies. In an explosive final William is forced to face a decision, a decision with dire implications.

Author Timothy Bowden tackles an Australian icon, mixes in some zombie action, stirs with a pinch of political intrigue, before finally serving with a hefty dose of action orientated prose. You wanted something more in your zombie diet? Okay right up front here I'm going to say as a new Aussie I am not exactly up on the Ned Kelly story, a few people are questioning some inaccuracies apparently in the novel, but end of day we are talking a zombie novel, you really want to talk historic points of fracking historic interest! As far as I was concerned Ned was taking down by the authorities following a siege at Glenrowan on June 28 1880, he was hanged at Old Melbourne Goal in November of the same year, and pertinent to the novel in 2011 Anthropologists announced they had discovered the skeletal remains of Ned Kelly in a mass grave at Pentridge Prison sans the head. Talk about your dead eyes opening, sorry in joke Undead Kelly insiders. So author Bowden has pretty much covered his bases, even if the odd minor detail is maybe not historically accurate, it's called author licence, the facts are twisted to fit the plot. End of day we are talking fiction.

The first surprise of the novel is that Ned Kelly, famed bushranger and zombie hunter, isn't the focal character for great swaths of the prose, that title belongs to William, a scion of English upper class upbringing who finds himself disgraced and cast adrift in Colonial Australia. We never do discover why William has been sent to the colonies, which was kind of disappointing for mine, but nevertheless the character remains intriguing and surprisingly garners Reader sympathy. It's through Williams eyes and pen that we are introduced to the Ned Kelly story and a savage twist on why Ned and his band of rogues cut a path through regional Victoria. Kelly remains a particularly non-active character in the present but we do get the equivalent of a Boy's own adventure as Kelly recounts his past and what lead him to his current dire predicament. William on the other hand is forced into being the active character, but that proves to be more by accident than any design on the Englishman's part. So yes we're talking a lot of flashbacks intermixed with some political intrigue in the present and William does find some secrets are meant to stay hidden, if the powers that be so desire them to be hidden.

For the Zombologists out there Author Bowden presents some pretty convincing flesh munchers. They have an insatiable hunger for human flesh, are lumbers, and can be killed by a standard shot to the head. Nothing new there I guess for most readers but the Author does add a few twists here and there to have you lapping up the prose. As usual in zombie land the undead are the least of your problems, as Ned and his team discover, and William is forced to face. While not fully explained it appears the Government are well aware of the "blighter" situation in the regions but are working to ensure that doesn't become common knowledge. Bowden doesn't give any indication as to why the Government are involved or what they hope to achieve by formulating the zombie situation. There are clearly sequels and for that matter prequels set in the "blighter" universe that we may get the chance to read in due course, as we all know it's highly unlikely that you can contain a zombie outbreak if you leave it to gather steam. We are even left at the end of the novel wondering if an outbreak is about to go down in central Melbourne so plenty of room there for further exploration.

Timothy Bowden conjures up a respectable colonial Victoria with dialogue etc. all matching the era, nothing rang false during the course of the narrative. So if outside Australia and wanting a slice of the wild west Aussie style then this is the book for you. The story ranges from Melbourne, the Victorian capital, through regional centres, and outback farms, bringing to life the social tensions that existed back in 1880.

The prose itself is easily accessible with the pages just flowing past as you read deeper into the novel. Yes there are some secrets that will be revealed towards the end of the book but you will find Undead Kelly a pleasure to read from first page to last page while you are getting at those secrets. Bowden manages to keep a blend of fast flowing narrative and discovery happening that is generally missing from most zombie novels. For once we have a well-constructed zombie novel that shows a high level of professionalism, rather than the run of the mill poorly written books that have plagued the sub-genre in recent years.

In terms of style Author Bowden doesn't over weigh us with period dialogue and shows a modern horror prose approach, which is surprising given the period the narrative is set in and the tendency of some Downunder writers to show a distinct "last century" approach to the horror novel. If I had to compare Timothy Bowden to someone you might have read previously then guess I'm going to go with James Herbert circa Domain or Haunted. Actually thinking about it, and heck it's how we roll here, if Bowden ever wants to get down and funky with the scary house yarn then I'm ripping into that book like a crazed Jack Russell.

I had a good time with Undead Kelly and definitely grooved to the whole fandango from first page to last page. There's an interesting approach being taken here by a highly skilled Author that adds a lot of interest to the plot. Narratively I couldn't fault anything and would be definitely interested if there is a sequel in the wind. If after a well written zombie novel that breaks out of its sub-genre barricade then take a bite out of Undead Kelly, highly recommended, best zombie novel I've read thus far in 2014.

Undead Kelly is available from Amazon in paperback for a rock solid $11.66 or the Kindle version will set you back $3.70. The book is probably also available from Severed Press, but looks like they may be having a few problems at the moment with their site. I couldn't find a smashwords.com entry for Undead Kelly, but no doubt if you dig around a bit you will find other eReader versions available.