Tanner is a Sweeper in this post-apocalyptic novella, which means his duty is to keep the area around his community clean from the infected. Lila is a Spewer, a warrior that simply wants to make sure her community stays alive, fed and as healthy as they possibly can be. However these two comes face to face and all hell breaks loose as they fight to stay alive, one way or the other. The Gabriel Virus caused this world to split in two, the ones that die from the infection and the ones that plays as hosts for the infection. It’s a man-made segregation of disease that will bring society to its knees… its survival of the fittest…
Apocalyptic Organ Grinder is a novella written from both Tanner’s perspective and Lila’s as well as a “historical” perspective that makes it almost like a legend being told. It’s written very intelligently and creates the ambiance of sitting around a camp fire, listening to the elders speak of their ancestors lives and stories. This novella captures African and Native American storytelling perfectly and brings those situations into a more futuristic sense.
William Todd Rose is one of my favourite writers, with his magnificent (and continues to this day to be one of my favourite zombie stories of all time) novel, The 7 Habits of Highly Infective People, it is clear why I follow his work so closely. Now Apocalyptic Organ Grinder is a fascinating book, just like his other works, but I will state now it’s not my cup of tea. Okay, that sounds a little harsh, seeing as I’m a Rose fan and all, but it was not his best work in my opinion… There’s a lot of editing problems that I picked up and although the storyline is brilliant with a lot of reading between the lines parts and all, but there was just a certain element missing and I’m not really sure what. I must say that the ending was pretty cool though, there is definitely a touch of what goes on inside the mind of a sadistic (probably crazy) dude going on there, so cudos on that one.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is in the mood for something different and a little out of the ordinary or anyone who wants to take a shot at William Todd Rose’s work, but if you want to be a die-hard fan such as myself, I would suggest rather getting your hands on The 7 Habits of Highly Infective People. Apocalyptic Organ Grinder was good, I won’t deny that, but I expect a little more from this great author in the making.
