Lazarus Condition, The (2007)

Author Paul Kane
Publisher Tasmaniac Publications
Length 120 pages
Genre Zombie
Blurb His tale is all about death with a capital D.
Country

Talk us through it

Matthew Daley visits his Mum after a seven year gap in their relationship. This might have been pleasant and all except his Mother last saw Matthew on the day of his funeral. Naturally Mom isn't best pleased, doesn't believe Matthew is her resurrected son and calls the Police. Intially Matthew is viewed as some sort of nutter with a unknown fixation of Mrs Daley.

Detective Chief Inspector Robbins and Dr Beth Preston are in a race against time to discover who the enigmatic Matthew Daley really is. He couldn't possibly be the real Matthew Daley could he? For his part, the man calling himself Matthew Daley is tracking down the person who apparently killed him. Can the forces of Law and Order stop Daley before he finds his apparent target?

Things are about to get a lot more complex for Robbins and Preston.

Review

"Don't blame yourself. You did everything you could." -Matthew Daley

Tasmaniac have really out done themselves with The Lazarus Condition, and have pretty much jumped out of the trenches and gone over the top in a clear demonstration of going beyond the call of duty. And clearly I'm also trying to out do myself on the mixed metaphor front. Not only do you get Paul Kane's titular novella but you also get Kane's excellent short story Dead Time, and if that's not enough to keep you happy with life there's an introduction by Mick Garris. About the only thing missing is a set of steak knifes and a block of flats in Hobart.

The main course being served up here is of course the novella, which is pretty much what you are going to dial in for in the first place. Kane has taken the zombie sub genre, put it through a spin rinse with various dyes, and gives us a completely new design on what can be done with the walking dead. I'm always up for a story centering around the big Z concept and Kane doesn't disappoint. There's some twist and turns coming at you during the course of the novella with the final revelation being completely different to expectations. Kane starts his yarn with a straight to the point sentence, "No one paid any attention as the dead man walked down the street". The reader is thrust into a world where the dead are coming back to life, and Kane remains unapologetic about doing that.

Initially I was wondering if zombie Matthew Daley was heading home for dinner, in a sort of Romero fashion, but Kane isn't going to make it that easy on the reader. Matthew Daley seems more aware than most zombies in popular fiction, and appears to have a set agenda that he doesn't deviate from. Whether Daley's goal is revenge on the drunk driver who killed him, told in flashback, is something I leave to the reader to discover for themselves. Without giving too much away there's one hell of a shock ending coming that I didn't pick up on.

Kane's biblical overtones raise his zombie novella from the meat grinder the sub-genre finds itself in, and delivers on a decent read.

My first thought on finished The Lazarus Condition was that Kane should have made Matthew Daley's current state of being a mystery, that the reader unravels along with the Police during the course of the story. Is he one of the undead or isn't he? However I have to say that Kane's front on approach to dropping what appears to be his ace card on the table almost immediately does work in terms of the overall direction the story is heading in. If you can dig Matthew Daley is a zombie, for want of a better word I guess, then you are more than half way to full acceptance of what's going to come at you later in the novella. It's a pretty decent strategy and Kane freaking nails it like a wild Friday night up the Cross. The Writer even drops some hints through the course of The Lazarus Condition about where things might be headed. I didn't pick up on the breadcrumb trail and went crashing blindly through the dark woods rather than following the path Kane skilfully weaves for us. The Lazarus Condition is more than another pulp zombie book put out by a Yank publication in order to ride on the shirt tails of the current upsurge in support of all things zombie, Paul Kane's novella is going after something far more grandoise in design.

Needless to say Paul Kane's writing style is pretty straight forward and highly readable. I wasn't taken out of the book at any stage, and was having a hoot with it. Both the Author and Tasmaniac are to be applauded for a superb editing effort here, I was more the impressed with the high standard achieved. If you want to ensure your dark genre reading is of a high standard then I would urge you to regularly check Tasmaniac's website for current and future releases.

If The Lazarus Condition is the main course in a five star restaurant then the short story Dead Time is the intoxicating dessert. To be honest here, I actually enjoyed the shorter work, told in first person narrative form, more than the novella. We're talking a yarn from the post apocalyptic ashes that once again gives a different spin to the zombie genre. Paul Kane is certainly keeping the reader on his or her toes, expect the unexpected would be my advice.

For entrée, keeping up the food porn analogy here and yes I realise I have the courses out of order, we get the introduction by Mick Garris titled "Believe It or Not". Garris is slightly heavy handed in my opinion, take it easy there tiger, and you can skip the intro and get down to the good stuff without missing much. Got to say it's a real feather in Tasmaniac's cap to have got someone of the reputation of Garris to write up an introduction.

I've got this theory that Tasmaniac head honcho Steve Clark has some sort of prison farm happening in the Tasmanian wilderness that contains a pretty big mob of Artists. The Lazarus Condition sports a pretty decent cover, and the internal art, (we get full page pen drawings), is worth the price of admission alone. The artwork here reflects the attention to detail that is apparent in all other aspects of the book and I have to say The Lazarus Condition represents outstanding value for money.

Before I forget, if you don't like your horror tale dipped in blood and served up rare then you are completely safe to dial into Paul Kane's book. The Author is not out to bludgeon you around the head with gore. He has a different kettle of fish to cook and serves up what I like to call a "quiet horror" outing for your consideration. Well okay admittedly the short story Dead Time is skating on thin ice from time to time, but there's nothing inherently on the page that will offend even the most casual horror reader.

The Lazarus Condition was of course available from Tasmaniac Publications, but unfortunately has sold out in both soft cover and hard back. See what happens when you don't leap on a Tasmaniac publication early! You may be lucky enough to score a copy off eBay or one of the other online auction places, but have plenty of cash available on your payment option as Tasmaniac publications don't go cheaply in the collectors markets. And before you ask, no my copy is definitely not for sale.

ScaryMinds Rates this read as ...

Outstanding release from Tasmaniac and an excellent novella and short story two punch from Paul Kane. Simply must read stuff.