This book featured an extremely interesting setup that did not even receive passive acknowledgement in the movie. The story of World War Z, or the zombie war, unfolds through interviews with people who survived it. The novel actually takes place after said war, which presents the opportunity to show a different type of post-apocalyptic life as opposed to wandering through a wasteland.

Every culture, and indeed every individual, reacted differently to the impossible crisis presented to them. Officially, some could not even agree on what caused the mayhem in the first place. Unlike most zombie media, many characters in the book hesitated to call the threat any variation on zombie because really, who would.

The acknowledgement of the absurdity of the situation gets a kudos from me. Not to mention the slow burn of the crisis. Brooks’ zombie virus has a finite beginning. It creeps in one body at a time from shady places, in ways the general public would not immediately be aware of. People try to live normal lives even once they know something has changed, and when the time comes for running, regular people face much more than the walking dead.

For readers wanting a unique take on the zombie apocalypse as it pertains to the world population instead of a gang of survivors, “World War Z” has what they need.