There is a new trend in the small, collectible presses. Shorter works - novelettes and novellas - sometimes coupled in the more deluxe editions with an extra story or two, are making their way into signed hardcover editions. Such a work is The Confessions of St. Zach, which I have had the pleasure of getting an advance copy of for review.

This book is the product of the mind of author Gene O’Neill, who I met years ago at one of the early HORRORFIND conventions.   The Confessions of St. Zach is out from Bad Moon Books in a signed, limited edition with gorgeous cover art by Stephen C. Gilberts.   This is a trade paperback release, perfect bound, and costs only $15.  For a signed first edition, a good price.

The story begins when Jacob Zachary and his family finally dig their way out after being snowed into a cabin far up in the mountains overlooking California.  They find a world very different from the one that they left behind - devastation, ruined cars and cities; post apocalyptic nightmares abound.

They manage, mostly by luck, to hook up with an organized band or survivors at a remote medical camp.  I don’t want to give away too much of this story.  It involves family relationships, the baser urges of mankind, literature, and the dynamics of society - particularly in times of deep stress.

There are some questionable things - like how, even in the mountains - a nuclear strike could go unnoticed by the family, for instance…but overall there is just enough realism to the story to paint the backdrop for the real power of O’Neill’s prose.  His characters are vivid, real, and believable.  You feel their pain, share their dreams, and join them in their struggles willingly.  A good, fast-paced read that I enjoyed thoroughly.

If I have a serious quibble, it’s that when this book ends, it has the feel of the beginning of something much larger.  I have the feeling we have not seen the last of St. Zach.

For my interview with the author, visit the following link: Gene O’Neill

To buy his book at THE HORROR MALL - click the cover art above.