What would you do if people around you started experiencing cannibalistic episodes, and you could no longer trust your family… or yourself?
After terrorists unleash a biological weapon over the United States of America, random citizens start experiencing brief periods of homicidal rage where they kill and eat their loved ones, or anyone in close proximity. Quickly dubbed going canni by twitter, the government scrambles for a cure, and to find those responsible, while the ordinary folk struggle to survive.
Enter Rob, the love of his life, Cash, and their friends, Teresa, Paul and John. Traveling from New York to Las Vegas overland because of Cash’s OCD and fear of flights, Rob has his sights set on a Vegas wedding, but Cash is not so sure she’s ready to settle down. Once people start turning canni, Rob will do anything to protect the woman he loves, but what if he turns out to be the means of her destruction?
Written in third person, past tense and told in alternating chapters from the point of Rob, his friends, people experiencing canni attacks, the president of the United States and the scientists working for a cure, Canni is extremely well written and broad in scope. This is a personal story, and a story of a nation. While cannis like to eat human flesh, or any flesh for that matter, they aren’t zombies. Well, not as we know them, and neither are they the raged filled creatures of 28 Days Later. They are very ill human beings, who just happen to be incredibly dangerous.
Filled with social commentary, it’s an original and realistic take on an doomsday infection. The book starts off tense, with well drawn characters and touches of humor here and there. Towards the end of the book, this humor takes centre stage, transforming relatively serious characters and plot points into gonzo scenes, which make you question the entire novel and wonder if the whole thing isn’t meant to be a work of bizarre fiction from the start, poking fun at the apocalyptic genre at the same time as government and society.
At a stretch, I can call Canni the third zombie book of the month, and it immediately grabbed my attention. It hooked me with an original scenario and well written chapters. I even discussed with my family what we would do to protect each other and our animals if this scenario was real. However, the rushed, chaotic later chapters and ending of the book left me feeling betrayed and disappointed.
Therefore, I award Canni…
Click here to buy Canni on Amazon.
Iseult Murphy 