Greg McCabe ‘The Undying Love’ Review

Written by: Vitina Molgaard       

Jackson and the love of his life, Diane are just about to finish their wedding vows when what was a wonderful ceremony is interrupted by their wedding planner coming down the aisle, covered in blood and completely out of her mind. Their idyllic life plans are instantly altered due to the outbreak of a mysterious virus. It’s affected the entire world, and by the look of things, normalcy as it’s been known will never again be the same. In just a matter of minutes people are bitten (in some cases devoured) by one another, only to rise as red-eyed cannibalistic zombies.

Jackson and Diane exist (it’s hard to call it living) for a while in a skyscraper, but as they run out of food they realize that it is necessary for them to go out back into the world. And reality is harsh, it’s now a world filled with an intense amount of questions, the primary two being whether or not anyone else has survived, and what dangers may be awaiting them.

McCabe develops a quality story, but inadvertently creates a strange problem that may have been avoidable with the assistance of a quality editor. See, Greg has a strange affinity for the word ‘zombie’. For some it may be little more than a minor hiccup, for me it’s an issue that wears thin quickly; virtually every single page is absolutely loaded with the word. We’re talking extremely excessive use. There are very few substitutes (walker, shambler, undead, ghoul, monster are a few alternatives that could have been utilized effectively, but were not) injected, and by the time we’ve read the word ‘zombie’ 20 times on a page, for a few hundred pages, we’re feeling a little spent (at least I was). The habit starts fairly early, and continues throughout the entire novel. I believe that had The Undying Love been edited more carefully, this problem could have been bypassed, or corrected in advance of release. As it is, the Z word is used so liberally that – as strange as it may sound to some – it becomes a serious point of distraction.

This may seem like a somewhat petty point of criticism, but in my opinion it really did take away from the tale, which is absolutely loaded with potential. Greg can write, that much is extremely obvious. He’s generally very fluid with his wording, and he understands the mechanics of storytelling. But repetition of this nature is damaging. There are near countless numbers who still love this subgenre, and for them, this book may very well prove quite entertaining, and my problem may not be their problem. As it is, it just didn’t work too well for me, and unfortunately, that’s a direct result of the absolutely profound number of times the word ‘zombie’ is used.

You can give the novel a go by picking it up right here.

Rating: 3/5