Apocalypse Cow

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)