Mark Morris - Dead Island

[dem]

Seemed kind of appropriate in the circumstances ...

Mark Morris - Dead Island (Bantam, 2011)

Blurb:
Welcome to Banoi. A tropical island paradise where you can leave the world behind.

Welcome to the Royal Palms Resort. Offering its guests from around the world the ultimate in luxury and relaxation.

Welcome to the place where your dream holiday is about to become your worst nightmare.

Suddenly, and without warning, a terrifying plague breaks out on Banoi. Resort guests, hotel staff, islanders are infected overnight.... and transformed into the ravening, flesh-craving living dead.
For those few who, for some reason, are immune to this apocalypse it becomes a race against time. To survive, to get off the island and warn the world before it's too late. But first the must escape the clutches of the zombie hordes ...
Welcome to Dead Island. A Paradise to die for ....

A novelization of a video game ought to be the pits, but the way it's shaping up Dead Island is so much better than it has any right to be. Banoi, a small island off the coast of Papau New Guinea, is a playground for affluent Westerners like disgraced former pro-football star Logan Carter (he was responsible for the death of a woman in a drunk driving incident; it took a very expensive lawyer to save his arse), and one hit wonder Sam B., a rap artist who, six years on, has yet to record a follow up to his worldwide smash Who Do You Voodoo, Bitch. Somehow this mismatched pair have fallen in with Purna, a sassy and very beautiful Aussie ex-cop, who detests Carter for his boorish behaviour. Keeping tabs on the tourists is Xian Mei, a very disillusioned spy in the pay of the Chinese Government who have positioned her behind the reception desk at the Royal Palms Hotel. It transpires that Carter, Sam, and Purna won their luxury holidays in a blood drive sweepstake. Xian Mei was also tested before being assigned her duties.

For Sam B. the trip to Banoi is about so much more than a free vacation. His agent has booked him a prestige gig at the hotel, and the rapper knows its his last chance to resurrect a moribund career. Can he still work a crowd? Will the new material stand up? He needn't have worried. The show is dynamite. It's just unfortunate that his gutsy performance coincides with the outbreak of an island-wide zombie epidemic .....

TBC

[dem]

"You don't follow sports? That's like saying you don't follow life."

Evidently fledgling zombies respond unfavourably to rap music. The mayhem and violence during the latter stages of Sam's gig escalates into an all-night bloodbath with Carter, Purna, Xian, and Sam in the thick of it. That they survive this initial attack is largely down to Sam B.'s improvised drooler-slaying kit (fashioned from wire coat-hangers) and the resourcefulness of Purna, an all-action Xena: Warrior Princess in the making. But victory comes at a price. Carter is mauled, Xian savagely bitten on the hand. Between them, they've have seen enough Romero flicks to know that those infected by zombie saliva are doomed to join them - and yet the pair survive. Could it be that whichever agency was behind the blood tests realised the quartet were immune and despatched them to Banoi as guinea pigs? But that would mean this same shady organisation knew in advance that a local Zombie Apocalypse was imminent! A mystery man issuing instructions via a suitably crackly radio frequency confirms their suspicions. Mr. X seems awfully keen for them to escape to a tiny neighbouring island, home to a Maximum Security Prison and sod all else. To this end, he's hired a young lifeguard, Sinamoi, to spirit the party to relative safety while they plan their next move.

No bad sex as yet, but lashings of gore. Pulp culture references include The Warriors, Bruce Springsteen, Sesame Street and a pair of My Little Pony pyjamas.