A Beginning
Where We Stand Now: Book Three
An accessible entry point to an ongoing tale, A Beginning follows life in the wake of a zombie apocalypse.
In Brandon Pawlicki’s horror novel A Beginning, a killer targets a respected leader in the midst of a waning zombie apocalypse.
In a period when a few remaining “passives” roam the wilds, Vallerie oversees the Mountain Pass community. It faces myriad threats, from domestic violence to criminal incursions. Vallerie refuses to let her burgeoning civilization crumble, acting threatening to keep outside evil at bay. Her work is complicated when a suspicious member of a traveling group, Istmael, appears, intent upon attending Mountain Pass’s upcoming festival. Further, new members debate the quality of her leadership.
In the period leading up to the festival, there are violent zombie attacks, and an unknown killer leaves bodies and messages for Vallerie too. Despite these tensions, people still have to complete the mundane tasks involved in rebuilding society: They go to school and have parent-teacher meetings; they agonize over dating; they celebrate birthdays. In order to restore her reputation, Vallerie herself pursues the killer, dodges the undead, and tries to avoid the weaponization of new laws by her rivals.
In this third series title, ample background is provided to understand past events; the result is an accessible entry point to the ongoing tale. A flashback at the beginning of the story, along with Vallerie’s recurring nightmares, also adds context. Further, Vallerie’s method of integrating new community members includes sharing important moments from their history to increase understanding. Vallerie’s evolution from a traumatized teenager into a capable leader is compelling, even as she struggles with the psychological strain of surviving, killing, and leading. She shows growth in quiet moments, as when she soothes a teenager through their romantic mishaps.
In conversation, people engage in back-and-forth banter—for example, Vallerie’s recollection of her first therapist appointment features a witticism battle between her and the therapist. Snippets of a postapocalypse manual, letters from other communities, and the messages left by the killer help to flesh out the larger world. Though the chapters are long, they are broken up into episodic segments that hold attention, as when the sound of a body hitting a tree transitions into coverage of someone breaking twigs for a fire elsewhere. Sensory details ramp up the tension during harrowing moments, as when Vallerie is hunting a passive and the smell of mold and decay burns her nose as she draws near. By the novel’s tantalizing end, Vallerie has to look toward a future that she did not expect, securing attention for follow-up titles.
In the intriguing horror novel A Beginning, a leader works to rebuild her society without succumbing to the violence around her.
Reviewed by
John M. Murray
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
