From Crusaders to Zombies

As far as books go the holiday season has been very kind to me. Under the Xmas shrub this year I found several novels to which I look forward to spending much time on a couch with. I got 2 Cormac McCarthy books and 4 Bond novels and last but not least the book that I should get on to talking about. That book is World War Z, and yes its about zombies.
The book is written as a collection of interviews involving eye witnesses and key figures of the zombie war. The idea of a zombie apocalypse is one that always fascinated me( for full details I may make another post) because the way recent zombies and especially these zombies seem almost realistic to the point where I sometimes find myself "planning" for one. And that is one of the great successes with this books, if this virus did exists this is what may happen. This is because the author has a very good understanding of how the world works. Every reaction of the government, economies and families seems very plausible. For example one important event in the zombie war is called Yonkers. This is a battle in which the US government is supposed to win a great victory and to raise the spirits of the country they invite all the press to watch the battle. Of course the battle turns into a fiasco, but just that fact that they have the media seems very real.
I must especially congratulate the author for the wide variety of characters that he has created . There must be at least 100 characters in the novel , and each stand out or at least you dont repeat. One could say that not all of the characters are fresh. We have certainly seen some of these characters, from the grizzled bounty hunter to the strict military leader to the everyday man. But I would actually argue that this is a asset rather than a gripe. While i do agree i have seen or even met people like these characters before , the familiarity gives the book a sense of realism. These arent some zombie killers who are tough , emotionless and fearless. These are everyday people who are reacting to their darkest hour. They are people who I could meet on the street or see on the news. Its that realism that really makes this book scary. It could happen, and that would be people I know. I believe the fairy tale and and the scare comes on even worse.