Bookworms: Deck Z: The Titanic – Unsinkable, Undead (2012)

With the rise in popularity of shows like Downtown Abbey, Titanic, Parade’s Ends and Upstairs, Downstairs,   I  was curious to see how Onion contributors, Chris Pauls and Matt Solomon, would blend together the sinking of the RMS Titanic and a zombie apocalpyse.  After reading the book, I was shocked that no one has thought of the idea sooner.

The story starts out in 1910, Theodor Weiss, a leading German bacteriologist, is sent to China to assist the Chinese government in studying the Manchurian Plague.  After completing his work, the Chinese government asks for Weiss’s assistance in researching another disease that has broke out in a nearby village causing extreme violent behavior in the infected.  After documenting the disease’s progression, Weiss is determine to find a cure for new mutated version of the plague.

In April 1912, Weiss has a breakthrough in his research, discovering a black ink-like substance from the zombie which he names, “The Toxic,”  and that will infect anyone who comes in contact with it.  Shortly after his discovery, he learns that the German military means to use this liquid as a weapon in an upcoming attack.  Knowing what kind of damage this virus could be to the world, Weiss torches his lab and escapes with the Toxic in hand.  He books passage aboard the RMS Titanic in an attempt to get out of Germany’s reach.  However, the German army has sent a spy out after him.

In Deck Z, Chris Pauls and Matt Solomon brilliantly link the sinking of the Titanic and the Manchurian Plague of 1910-1911,  creating a version of events that seems more believable for a zombie narrative.   Rooting the zombie plague in a Chinese origin may have been a nod to Max Brooks’ World War Z; however, it is likely a happy coincidence.  Furthermore, using this version bubonic plague adds another interesting twist to established zombie conventions. Pauls and Solomon made the virus far more contagious.

Here, the authors have pulled off a remarkable feat,  managing to create an action packed plot with fully realized characters.  With its short chapters and plot twists, Deck Z reads like an action packed horror movie