The title gives you a good clue what to expect from this book: it is a reworking of Wells' classic science fiction masterpiece with added zombie chaos. Brown has taken the text of the original novel and made subtle additions and alterations in his own popular style.

The book really starts to differ from the original in chapter 6, when those slain by the martians around their crash landing pit begin to rise and aid the aliens by stalking the inhabitants of Woking and the surrounding area to assuage their unending hunger for living flesh. And so it continues, with humanity having to fight against not only the martians, but also their own kin, newly reanimated...

War of the Worlds was a very good choice to work with on a zombie theme as numerous sections of the original text are a gift to this retelling, suggesting the risen dead even without Brown's additions, something that surprised me when I was looking at the two versions together. As such it was often quite difficult to see what Brown had altered, with new details being seamlessly slipped in among the old. Brown has left the original text as intended wherever possible, often with new paragraphs added at the end of chapters, and the result is all the better for this respect for the classic.

Brown's favourite theme of zombies versus the military raises its head, althoguh the narrator also sees plenty of zombie 'aim-for-the-head' action in his nightmare journey. He also shares with us his thoughts, theories and scientific speculations on the source and motivation of the zombies, generally most in keeping with the time period and setting of the book.

In fact, if you ignore the few American-isms that are a little incongruous and jarring (to me as a British reader) within Wells' story, this is an interesting and entertaining read, and I highly recommend it. Not only will you get a good grasp of the original classic tale, you also get the fun and gore that inevitably follow wherever zombies shamble. A winner on all sides.

Details and links to where The War of the Worlds plus Blood, Guts and Zombies is available can be found at the Coscom Entertainment website.