Of Lone Headstones

Of Lone Headstones, Book 1 by Jorge Bocanegra
Jan., 2015
print length, 44pgs
source: ebook from the author

About the book:
What's worse, the monsters crawling out of their graves or the ones that we can't keep buried in our minds?
Joel has long been a victim to the viscous teeth of the assumptions and misconceptions conjured in his own mind concerning his relationship with his girlfriend, Alex. After three years together, things just haven't been the same. But now, those monstrous doubts in his head will become personified in the form of risen corpses in the city of Orchard.

Will Joel and Alex be able to put aside their differences and survive together? Or will this apocalyptic event spell the perfect opportunity for the couple to go their separate ways?

My thoughts:
I thought this was a fast moving novelette, and that is both a positive and a negative. I understand the need to pack a lot of punch in a few pages because this is a novelette, but I also think that sometimes it felt too rushed. The overall pacing is a bit too fast in my opinion. I think Joel could have traveled through the pages with less insanity on each page and it would still be powerful.
The zombies creep factor was definitely high in this, and I think that the descriptions of some of the zombies scenes were spot on. They were gruesome in the best way possible. I am not squeamish, but there were a few scenes that made my skin crawl - and that is KEY to good zombie horror.
Obviously, as a novelette, the characters are less developed due to page and time constraints. However, I did feel like I had a decent grasp of Joel. There was enough to gleam a whole picture of him. I do want to know more about Alex and about the issue with Joel and his family. Hopefully there will be more exploration of them in further books.
One last thing that I struggled with was some of the relationship dramatics. I  felt some of it was just so eye-roll inducing that it was hard to look past. I mean really, who stops in the middle of a zombie crisis to sneak a look your partners phone? It was just TOO much. There is a place for that (and it IS necessary to the story) but I don't think it was placed well in this novelette.

Overall though, it was a good quickie read. It could use some polishing around the edges, but generally speaking it was enjoyable and fun. Plus, anything that makes me squirm is a good thing!

write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow