Book Review: Z Is For Zombie by Theodore Roscoe

Z Is For Zombie by Theodore Roscoe

John Ranier is ship's surgeon on a cruise line going back and forth from New York City to Haiti. He was a hot-shot doctor but ran into some trouble. His new career has him handing out seasick pills and hangover cures. Naturally, when they are at port he heads to a local bar to deal with his troubles (or maybe perpetuate them?). He gets a little plastered and has a fight with Haarman, a passenger from the ship who is also having drinks. Haarman throws Rainer out of the bar, knocking Ranier out. He comes to quickly and returns to the bar, where a large group of passengers has joined Haarman for a drinking party before they drive to Port au Prince for some business. Haarman looks deathly pale and doesn't say much. The group discovers that Haarman has been stabbed in the back and is dying! They rush him to a nearby hospital of Dr. Eberhardt and his nurse Lais Engels. The doctor is out and Ranier, who has hitched a ride on the big car carrying everyone, is pressed into service to help the near corpse. Haarman dies and the nurse identifies him as a man who died fourteen years ago on Haiti during a small plague outbreak. She and Dr. Eberhardt buried the victims in a string of cemeteries so as not to worry the local population. Things get weird as the local lore of zombie resuscitation is brought up and, in the distance, locals start incessantly drumming. The group discovers the upstairs laboratory has been ransacked, with some human hands boiling over a bunsen burner and a frog impaled on a nail where usual the doctor should have left a note of his whereabouts for the nurse. Everyone starts pointing fingers. They decide to investigate the cemeteries for some sort of clues.

The book is a blend of horror and crime noir. Ranier is in the role of the Sam-Spade-like detective though he is not as familiar with doing investigations and is still a little inebriated. He has a thing for the nurse which does not go anywhere other than providing a dame for him to protect. The mystery is quite convoluted requiring several chapters of exposition at the end to explain what really happened. It's not the most convincing, especially given Ranier's lack of expertise, but ties up most of what seem like plot holes in the story. The atmosphere is rich and noir-y, pairing well with the horror elements of the story. The attitude towards the locals is a little racist, though the bigotry is in the characters, not the narrative. The story is told from Ranier's perspective though he is not giving a first-person narration. The book has a bit more noir than it does zombies.

Mildly recommended--this isn't quite satisfying as a zombie story or as a crime noir but makes for an interesting blend.

I read this as part of Zombies! Zombies! Zombies! edited by Otto Pensler.