Apocalypse Cow

by Michael Logan

Overview

If you think you've seen it all — WORLD WAR Z, THE WALKING DEAD— you haven't seen anything like this. From the twisted brain of Michael Logan comes Apocalypse Cow, a story about three unlikely heroes who must save Britain . . . from a rampaging horde of ZOMBIE COWS!

Forget the cud. They want blood.

It began with a cow that just wouldn't die. It would become an epidemic that transformed Britain's livestock into sneezing, slavering, flesh-craving four-legged zombies.

And if that wasn't bad enough, the fate of the nation seems to rest on the shoulders of three unlikely heroes: an abattoir worker whose love life is non-existent thanks to the stench of death that clings to him, a teenage vegan with eczema and a weird crush on his maths teacher, and an inept journalist who wouldn't recognize a scoop if she tripped over one.

As the nation descends into chaos, can they pool their resources, unlock a cure, and save the world?

Three losers.
Overwhelming odds.
One outcome . . .

Yup, we're screwed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250032867
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/21/2013
Series:	Apocalypse Cow , #1
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	240,693
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

MICHAEL LOGAN is a Scottish journalist whose career has taken him across the globe. He left Scotland in 2003 and has lived in Bosnia, Hungary, Switzerland and Kenya, where he is currently based with his wife and two young children. His short fiction has appeared in various literary journals, and a (very) short story of his won Fish Publishing's International One-Page Fiction Prize.

Editorial Reviews

Journalist Logan’s humorous, gory debut explores the unique challenges of a zombie plague that starts with Britain’s herd animals. The narrative is shared by Terry Borders, the only survivor of a slaughterhouse destroyed by rampaging zombie cows; Lesley McBrien, a second-rate journalist with information she shouldn’t have; and Geldof Peters, a bullied teenager saddled with parentally enforced veganism. As the story brings them all together, electricity fails, martial law reigns, and people experience the best and worst of one another—mostly the worst. While some of the internal logic doesn’t click as well as it might and the villain is straight out of central casting, Logan has a flair for unique description (“a muscled chest that made Arnold Schwarzenegger’s pecs look like burst balloons”) and for painting a mental picture almost photographic in its clarity. An impressive start for an author who’s going places. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Apocalypse Cow treads that rare path between horrific and hilarious, which makes for a very fun read indeed. Give it a go.” —Christopher Moore, author of Lamb, Fool, and A Dirty Job

“Apocalypse Cow made me snort with laughter.” —Terry Pratchett, author of the award-winning and bestselling Discworld novels

“Logan has a flair for unique description ("a muscled chest that made Arnold Schwarzenegger's pecs look like burst balloons") and for painting a mental picture almost photographic in its clarity. An impressive start for an author who's going places.” —Publishers Weekly

“This clever and very funny twist on the traditional zombie novel is exceedingly well executed (it approaches but never quite steps into parody territory), and it ends with a scene that pretty much demands a sequel. Great stuff for horror and fantasy fans.” —booklist, starred review "Apocalypse Cow is a promising first novel, with a challenging premise that will be hard to top, so it'll be interesting to see what he has lined up next. Perhaps something equally horrifying (and hilarious) for the vegetarian set."-Rue Morgue

From the Publisher

"Two legs bad," might be the borrowed motto of the titular monsters of this apocalyptic look at the end of the world--were the great beasts not busy trying to kill everybody. Scottish journalist Logan stays rather deadpan in his absurdist debut, even as the animals on which we depend turn the tables on us. He is, however, quite deliberate in the creation of his deeply disturbed cast. Much of this Glasgow-based tale is seen through the eyes of British teen Geldof Peters, a boy saddled not only with the world's most awkward given name, but also vegan hippie parents who foist things like hemp clothing upon him. Even sadder is slaughterhouse veteran Terry Borders, who believes the stench of death upon him is driving away the ladies. To jump-start the lurching plot, Logan introduces ineffectual journalist Lesley McBrien, who is competing both with her nemesis Colin Drummond and the reputation of her war correspondent father. When a secretive plot to develop a bioweapon to disrupt the food chain goes awry, the motley crew must get nimble to unravel the story, outrace the predators and escape the island. Lesley manages to ferret out the details of the story, while Terry discovers that his death-tinged aura is largely a product of his own anxiety. In one of many twists on the genre, the disease--which quickly spreads to all the other animal species--also inspires rather explicit lust as well as murderous rages. The addition of a relentless, murderous spook named Alastair Brown only ratchets up the graphic horror. There are a few funny lines, but it's more straight-laced than you might expect. Despite a generous accolade from Discworld creator Terry Pratchett, who bestowed the inaugural Terry Pratchett Prize upon it, this zombie adventure inspires more gasps than laughs.

Kirkus Reviews