Michael Garza's The Hand That Feeds Holds Readers in Suspense as Zombies Roam!

"Evansville Kansas

Alex's lungs burnt in desperation as he vomited a powerful rush of the rotten, black mulch. Unable to control his body, his bowels released and he felt a warm rush as he struggled for consciousness. In a fit of madness, he pushed with his arms, finding only enough strength to life his head. Pain wracked his eight-year-old body.

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"He heaved with another powerful purge, the force of the motion giving him enough movement to flip himself over on his back. He coughed and gagged on the spewing sludge. The stench clunb to him, filling the pores of his skin. He lost the strength to move and laid in the darkness trying to catch his breath, as a slow burn rose from his feet, up his legs, and into his thights. Terrified and alone, he cried in between violent purges calling out for his mother. Alex fought against the pain. His feet were numb and the burning sensation sent writhing throbs into his spine. It reached his waist and he felt like his skin was on fire. He dug his fingers into the ground and turned over. He dragged through thick muck, struggling with every inch. Shrouded in darkness and guided by his memory, he pulled over piles of bones buried in the ground. By luck, he reached the chamber's edge below the tunnel entrance. It took every ounce of strength he could muster to get to his feet...

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His fingernails bent and split as he fought against his body to get up into the tunnel. The climb ahead felt impossible. In near blinding madness, he wept, his face buried in the dirt. The head was in his chest and his lungs cooked with every breath. He was sure he would never see his parents again and the pain of it crushed his will.

There was no sense of time down in the hole. Alex lost his grasp of reality as the maddening heat worked its way into his neck and face. He pulled his way in the first chamber without the use of his legs. The final burrow remained and the smell of fresh air hit him with a powerful reaction.

"Alex pulled by instinct as the heat consumed his face and stole his sight. Visions filled his mind of death and decay. He pulled free as the burning took control and he screamed wildly in the night. He rolled on his back and howled like an animal baying at the moon. The guttural growls coming from him carried in the air and desperate ears heard his cries...

~~~

Alex had died there in the black mulch. It would have been better that he had stayed there in his unknown grave. We do not know, as readers, how Alex became one of the walking undead... Maybe everybody that dies in strange places, alone and frightened decide not to stay die. I don't know...

Do you? Then maybe you can explain what happened to Angela and John Mason, the parents of Alex, who had disappeared and had been missing so long that Angela "was consumed by her own madness..." Perhaps that is why she was able to hear his cries, his guttural growls--for by that time he couldn't speak...

Their doctor was his first kill... They had called him, rather than an ambulance, since he was closer. He had taken blood for testing and some of the dark substance that had changed his skin to a darker color. He had asked, but neither Angela nor John knew where it had come from...

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By that time, Angela had begun to talk to Alex, rubbing his hair across his forehead and whispering that nothing was going to happen to him... And, it was Angela that had turned to John explaining that they needed to provide...food...for Alex... Did I mention that Angela had been in an institution in the past???

She had successfully brought a stranger home from a bar, but John didn't successfully do his part. He had gotten away, but not before their "dog" had bit him... So you know what was next!

I had given up zombie movies many years ago, but what I found in reading rather than watching movies, this book created much more suspense and the ability to follow an underlying story. There are some good chase scenes with John being in town and seeing how quickly the "infection" spread. Of course, officials called it a form of Ebola...but, then, they were already gone and there were few individuals left who had not become undead... Still John was able to escape, needing to get back to his wife and son...

By the time that was happening, Angela was quite bizarre--so much so that I began to see humor in it! I'm not disparaging the story--or maybe I am a little, because, maybe, I'm not a parent??? Soooo, what would you do about an undead son???

I enjoyed the hypothesis placed before readers in his scifi novel that truly does catch immediate attention (as above, don't you think?) I feel confident in saying that horror lovers will enjoy this zombie thriller...And if you want a "taste" of what to feed a zombie son, you can't go wrong with this one! Have fun!


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About the Author.  Zombies, spaceships, and dragons have all found a place in my writing. I often find myself wondering where my inspiration will come from next and in what form my imagination will bring it to life. The outcomes regularly surprise me and it’s always my ambition to amaze those curious enough to follow me and take in those results. Please take a look around my site and I encourage you to peek at my latest work as well as the material I’ve published in the past. I sincerely hope that everyone will find something that astonishes, surprises, or simply scares the heck out of you.

                                                                                                                                                                                           Michael W. Garza - Find out more!

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