Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines

First published in 2010; republished by Broadway Books on February 26, 2013

Ex-Heroes was originally published in 2010 by Permuted Press, an independent publisher specializing in zombie apocalypse fiction. The novel developed something of a cult following, leading to its republication by Broadway Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, which is a subsidiary of the world's largest publisher, Random House. That's quite a step up the literary ladder.

In the crowded house of zombie apocalypse novels, Ex-Heroes adds a twist. The apocalypse is set in a universe where superheroes live (with a demon thrown in for good measure). George Bailey was the first superhero, and he's conventional: super strength, bulletproof skin, the ability to fly (or, more accurately, to glide), coughs fire. He called himself the Mighty Dragon, a bit weenie as heroic names go. After the Mighty Dragon appeared, superheroes started to pop up regularly. Gorgon transfixes people with his gaze and steals their strength. Zzzap enters an energy state that makes him sizzle like a sparkler. Cerberus is your basic armored warrior, a female Iron Man. Beauty pageant winner Stealth is a heavily armed version of The Batman. Cairax is a demon with questionable judgment. Banzai is a female Jackie Chan. Midknight does something with an EMP field. I never quite figured out what Lady Bee is all about.

The zombies (known as exes, for ex-humans, because it isn't politically correct to call them zombies) control Los Angeles. The superheroes protect the apocalypse survivors, who take refuge in a Hollywood movie studio. Some superheroes die fighting zombies. Some become zombies. Josh Garcetti, once known as the Regenerator, lost his ability to heal others at the start of the apocalypse. This forces him to do his doctoring the old fashioned way, but he's nonetheless integral to the story.

When the superheroes aren't fighting zombies, they're battling the Seventeens (a gang of bad guys) and the Boss of Los Angeles. Things go from bad to worse when zombies appear who seem to have retained their intelligence, allied (of course) with the Seventeens. As one of the heroes observes, "just when you thought the walking dead couldn't get any creepier," they do.

Peter Clines writes in a breezy style that lends itself to a fast pace and nonstop action. Yet Clines mixes action with emotion, never forgetting that stories are about characters, not just the things characters do. For a zombie apocalypse novel, the writing is impressively intelligent. Clines even supplies an explanation for the zombie apocalypse, and it's credible ... at least, it's credible if you accept the premise of superheroes. And zombies. And demons.

Clines' sense of humor assures that the story doesn't take itself too seriously. The way the studio's guards brag about the celebrity zombies they've killed, and compete for the biggest celebrity, is hilarious (they consider zombie Alex Trebek to be a huge score). It's necessary to overlook some gaps in logic and the absence of explanation for certain things that happen during the course of the story, but that's acceptable in a novel that isn't logic-based.

As you'd expect in a superhero story, there are superhero clichés, including George's moral reservations about killing evil people (the ones who aren't already dead) because that's what separates the good guys from the bad. In a story that depends on action and humor, however, clichés aren't terribly disturbing. In fact, George's idealism -- a throwback to the early versions of DC's heroes, before they became dark and gloomy and self-loathing -- is refreshing. It is without irony that George comes to be known as St. George. The return to idealism was one reason I enjoyed Ex-Heroes, despite my general befuddlement about the ever-expanding zombie apocalypse phenomenon.

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