Book Review: The Devil’s Plague by Mark Beynon

 

Rating:
3 out of 5 stars

Synopsis:
It is England, in 1651 – The Battle of Worcester. To help him attain a victory over the Royalists, Oliver Cromwell has made a pact with the Devil. In return for his soul, he has been given a fearsome army of the dead – a blood-thirsty platoon of ancient evil…the Kryfangan! With Charles Stuart, the rightful heir to the English throne seemingly killed in battle and his Scottish army slaughtered by the Kryfangan, Cromwell now has control of Parliament. However, by the time the Kryfangan’s real identity is revealed to Cromwell, it is too late to stop their relentless killing spree. And when the true nature of the great plague is exposed, London soon becomes a city overrun by zombie hordes. The English must put aside their religious, social and political differences as they find themselves caught between two armies of the dead waging war with one another.

My review:
It starts off in 1204 with Genghis Khan who has sold his soul with the Devil and the consequences of that. It then moves on to Cromwell and 1651, whom makes the same mistake as Khan and sells his soul to the devil in return for the demonic army called the Kryfangan. There is however a teeny tiny problem. The people who are killed by the army seem to have this rather annoying trait. They don’t stay dead for long….and they are starting to cause havoc in the fair town called London!!!!! Only a King in exile and a troupe of actors stand any chance of stopping them… But can they? and at what cost?

I got this book from my local library and was instantly drawn to it. I haven’t read any of the other books in the Tomes of the Dead series, so unfortunately I have nothing to compare it too. This isn’t your normal run of the mill ‘Zombies, walk, Braaaaaiiiiins, guns, kill, splatter, gore.’ book though, so if thats what you are looking for then this isn’t going to be the book for you. I loved how the author intertwined the historical facts and content with the zombie storyline. It flowed well and worked together. The characters in the story can be quite one dimensional and I found I forgot a couple of the main troupe of people. My only little issue was that for me, a zombie crazed reader, I wanted more zombie killing, more blood, more brains, more gore. I had been reading for a long time waiting for a zombie scene yet when I got it it only lasted a few pages. I would have loved some epic zombie battle scene and I think this would have made my review a lot better. Overall a great little quick read, perfect for a commute or beside the pool.