Jesus and John

McOmber (My House Gathers Desires) reimagines the resurrection of Jesus as an eerie, dreamlike zombie story in this chilling work. At the behest of Mary Magdalene, disciples Peter and John rush to open the tomb of Yeshua and find a reanimated but vacant-eyed corpse inside. The plot’s ties to the New Testament loosen as the largely unresponsive Yeshua leads John, his former lover, on a boat journey to Rome. John struggles to protect the wandering corpse, who wordlessly guides him to the imposing Gray Palace, where they are met by elusive twins Sapia and Jax. The twins promise John and Yeshua rest within the palace walls, but hint at an impending sacrifice in honor of the Gray Lady. John explores the palace’s many oddities—including sleeping bodies growing with moss and a room containing a forest—with Yeshua in tow. But Jax grows worried that they will upend the Gray Lady’s ritual and imprisons them to keep them from interfering. As they try to escape, their grip on reality loosens and the surreal horrors of the palace increase. McOmber excels at crafting chilling revelations that are genuinely surprising even within this strange, hypnotic world. Fans of weird fiction will enjoy this uncanny, mystical tale. Agent: Eleanor Jackson, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary. (June)