What Will Come After

SF news industry veteran Edelman collects nine zombie-themed short stories, but the content falls short of its promise. Les Edwards's cover illustration, which depicts the author as one of the undead, hints at Edelman's fondness for self-insertion; alas, the title story, in which he narrates his own rise from the grave and rampage through suburbia, goes on rather longer than the thousand words that might match the picture. Even the Stoker-nominated “A Plague on Both Your Houses” and “Almost the Last Story by Almost the Last Man” fall a little flat. Edelman's prose is strong, but each story, regardless of perspective, seems to have been written in the same voice, creating a monotony that undermines any excitement. (May)