Game Changers of the Apocalypse by Mark Kirkbride is undoubtedly a colorful novel. Your usual zombie Apocalypse made more confusing and complicated by a break-up weeks before a wedding, a printer spitting out a story of the future, and honestly, a day that just keeps getting worse and worse, and we have the book. That seems like an oversimplified synopsis of this book, and it certainly is, but it is tough to give you more details without filling the first paragraph of this review with spoilers. Nevertheless, this was one of the more entertaining Apocalypse books I’ve read in the last few years. And there have been a lot of them in the previous few years.
The main thing that stands out to me about Game Changers of the Apocalypse is the characters. Greg and Polly, the main characters, are so messed up and stuck in their heads that you can only think of them as real people. Fictional characters are very rarely this flawed. At the start of the book, I will admit I found Polly insanely annoying. However, as the story progresses, it starts to make sense. Polly and Greg seem so emotionally at odds that it’s a wonder they managed to stick together long enough to get engaged. But how many times have we thought that of real couples?
Like with most fiction stories, this one requires a certain level of suspension of belief to enjoy. However, even if you do not believe that there is some omnipotent being that could end the world and write about it, you can certainly feel it in this novel. It is evident from the start that someone watches the main characters throughout the ordeal, challenging their every step and rewriting when they think they have escaped. An odd concept for an end-of-the-world story but an exciting and original idea.
Pick up Game Changers of the Apocalypse for a zombie game-changing read.