Review of Dead as Dutch

I am not a fan of the Zombie genre. I don't understand the fascination with them. But when I was offered the chance to check out Dead as Dutch for free in exchange for my review for BookRooster.com, I decided to give this young adult novel a chance.

Stan is a film student, preparing to film a ten-minute short called Letter 13 for the coveted Fatty Arbuckle prize. He has grandiose thoughts of himself being the next Hitchcock or Coppola. On his crew is the scary-smart Irv, who seems to know a little bit about everything. His kid sister Dana has been coerced into helping him film as second unit. Keisha is the sexy female lead. Bryce is the whiny, spoiled rich kid who is used to getting his own way, especially as a talented actor. He is playing the lead opposite Keisha. All we really know about the plot of the movie is that it involves running from aliens. A good director is supposed to go with the flow and the flow quickly changes while the fivesome is working on their project.

When they accidentally uncover a mysterious metal box, their movie takes a completely different turn. The sun is going down, so they start to meander back to their campground, only to get completely lost. They stumble upon the cabin of the creepy Munyon, who seems like he belongs in Deliverance, and offers them shelter for the night. However, they quickly realize that they are not alone in the woods. Can they make room in the script for the Undead, while still clinging to their own lives?


The book was a relatively easy read for me. It flows in the same pattern as watching one of those cheesy teen horror movies unfold. The characters and the plot completely fit the mold. It reminded me of the I Know What You Did Last Summer series, as far as the characters and cheese factor were concerned, though much less scary. In fact, when the resolution comes at the end of the story, I was not surprised and actually suspected such an ending was going to occur.

Rich Docherty makes sure you really know his characters as he frequently rabbit trails to tell you each one's history. The backgrounds for some of them did seem pertinent to the story. Other ones were way too long and almost unnecessary. But unlike some other books I have read as of late, his background stories were well distinguished from the current plot. I could envision them as memory sequences during a movie.

It isn't going to qualify as literature of the highest quality, but it provides an escape for a few hours.

Get your Kindle copy here, regular price $2.99.