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Book: Alice In Deadland
Author: Mainak Dhar
Release: November 2011
Source: Kindle ebook
Reviewer: Day
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Civilization as we know it ended more than fifteen years ago, leaving as it’s legacy barren wastelands called the Deadland and a new terror for the humans who survived- hordes of undead Biters.

Fifteen year-old Alice has spent her entire life in the Deadland, her education consisting of how best to use guns and knives in the ongoing war for survival against the Biters. One day, Alice spots a Biter disappearing into a hole in the ground and follows it, in search of fabled underground Biter bases.

What Alice discovers there propels her into an action-packed adventure that changes her life and that of all humans in the Deadland forever. An adventure where she learns the terrible conspiracy behind the ruin of humanity, the truth behind the origin of the Biters, and the prophecy the mysterious Biter Queen believes Alice is destined to fulfill.

A prophecy based on the charred remains of the last book in the Deadland- a book called Alice in Wonderland.

I don’t know about you, but I love to browse through Amazon’s kindle e-books looking for steals on books by “new to me” authors and trying a sample. Admittedly, nine times out of ten I end up not purchasing the book but it is a great way to discover works you never would have otherwise. Such is the case with ALICE IN DEADLAND by Mainak Dhar. With the interesting cover and title that is a play on Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland, I knew I had to read an excerpt and so I did. The excerpt hooked me so I downloaded the rest of the book and settled in to see what was in store.

As you may have guessed based on the title, this is a re-imagining of ALICE IN WONDERLAND with a zombie twist. Set in a dystopian India where small groups of people have managed to survive against an outbreak of an unknown virus which turned people into zombies across most of the world. Alice lives in one of these settlements and has no recollection of life before the outbreak. She has grown up learning survival skills, scavenging and most importantly killing “biters”. One afternoon while patrolling with her sister, Jane, Alice spots something rather peculiar and follows what appears to be a biter wearing a bunny hat. Driven by her curiosity, Alice spies the bunny-eared biter jump down a hole in the ground and against her better judgement follows. What Alice discovers in the hole both terrifies her and confuses her causing her to question everything she has grown up believing, forcing her to make some tough decisions.

The beginning of this book is very simplistic and reminiscent of Lewis Carroll’s original tale. At first I found the author’s story telling style charming but after the plot grew more complex with political notions and heavy revelations, I would have preferred more depth in the text. As it is,  the writing remained fairly simple and there are numerous typos and editing  errors that could be a definite issue with some people. I found myself skimming sections and skipping a page here and there, which isn’t fair to the author and something I don’t do if I am really consumed with the story. ALICE IN DEADLAND was an “okay” read that priced at .99 cents, is sure to entertain someone seeking a zombie story that, in my opinion, is more brain candy than substance.

Day is a dreamer who has never met a stranger. She is fearless and will talk to anyone and read anything! She taught music and dance and was a singer/actress for years, performing on stages both nationally and overseas. Now married with children, she spends less time singing on stage and more time writing songs at home. But, family life has not completely slowed this chick down. She still loves an adventure and learning new things. She resides in Texas with her family, Great Dane (Sophie), Labradoodles (George & Cosmo) and Chihuahua (Juan Carlos).

Doll Day

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