Reawakening: the Living Dead Trilogy Book I

A series of terrible things begin to happen when a scientist with a dark past resumes his genetic experiments in a small Maine town. The animals suddenly become aggressive for no apparent reason, attacking anyone within sight, including Rick's wife. After slaughtering his diseased herd, Rick realizes to his horror that they have come back to life. Soon the farm is under siege by the deranged animals, and a small group of refugees who have assembled in the farmhouse must hunker down and defend themselves against the terrible onslaught of cannibals.The entire town soon becomes filled with the human flesh-eaters, threatening the farmhouse and the survivors within it. But they all have the same message before they reawaken: they are seeking the chosen ones. The onset of winter provides a temporary defense against the army of the dead, but with supplies running low, the survivors realize they must formulate a plan before the arrival of spring and the dreaded melt-off. And as the world outside them descends into total madness, a surprising leader emerges from the group who will hopefully lead them to safety. _ _ _Q & A for The Reawakening with award winning author Joseph SouzaQuestion: You've written crime fiction before moving into horror. Why an apocalyptic Living Dead trilogy?JS: With all the craziness going on in the world the idea for an apocalyptic trilogy hit me like a ton of bricks. The idea for The Reawakening came to me rather quickly and I wrote the first book in less than two months. It's a riveting tale filled with suspense, human drama and mindboggling horror.Question: What makes your novel that much different from every other zombie novel out there?JS: I love reading all the various zombie novels on the market. Mine however takes a different approach than the others. The living dead in my novels are not merely flesh-eaters, but avatars sent to earth for a concrete reason. For a brief moment before they turn into cannibals, the reawakened are peace-loving creatures sent to warn the living of the dangers facing them.Question: So it is a religious novel?JS: No way! The novel pits evolution versus spirituality in a very unique and horrifying way. It leaves the reader questioning the motives of the dead and the entity responsible for sending them here.Question: It sounds very interesting and intelligent. But will it whet the zombie lover's appetite for blood and gore?JS: Absolutely, it will. There's lots of blood, flesh eating and dead walkers in The Reawakening. Not only will this novel appeal to readers on an intellectual and spiritual level, but it also delivers the requisite shot of blood and guts that every great novel of the genre requires. I think it will shock and entertain the reader on many different ways.Question: We haven't talked about your characters. Who in your novel stands out the most?JS: Dar in my mind is the star of this novel. In the early chapters she is a bitter, depressed young teen, but by the end she's changed every aspect of her personality. I think by the end of the novel many people will compare her to the main character in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Only Dar carries an ax.Question: What do you hope people come away with after reading this novel?JS: The novel is told in the first person of Thomas Swiftley, a famous novelist and the father of Dar. I hope that people get so caught up in Thomas's articulate telling of his story that they can't put the book down. I want them to consider the problems facing our planet and to consider the spiritual and evolutionary questions posed to us. I want people to ask themselves what they would do in the event of a global crisis and how they would deal with the people around them. I'm hoping that people consider the underlying reasons why the dead in The Reawakening rise up and then scour the earth for human flesh.