"EFFIGIES" coming in 2012 from Alan Wayne

Effigies is volume one of a dark, moody epic trilogy of the living dead apocalypse as it affects the entire world and particularly Chicago and its surrounding communities, from origin to infestation to the fight for survival. 

In a market full of zombie literature, I tasked myself not just to visit and pay homage to the beautifully macabre universe created by George Romero, but to differentiate and expand on it. The expected elements of the genre are all here –intense action, suspense, and descriptive chills to satisfy even the most hardcore zombie fans.  However, Effigies is also witty and facetious…even romantic and heartrending at times. An extremely visual novel with cinematic styling and pace that will keep you turning pages and aims higher than most -twisting rules and breathing life into an original and diverse ensemble of characters; both living and living dead. Complex, intriguing fun and distinctive from other genre novels, Effigies delivers a dreadfully blunt, touching and eccentric character driven story with thinly veiled, dark humored social questions and statements at its core.

It touches and caresses the heart…just as easily as it rips it from your chest and devours it.

Meet the infamous One Eyed Jack Mooney…a man with a grotesque Halloween mask for a face, infamous for bludgeoning his own family to death. Trying to make the most of a second chance after unjustly spending half a life in prison, Jack must not only survive in a world gone mad but learn how to be human again.

There is the sweet, child-like innocence of a homeless amnesiac discovering both her past through dreams and a budding taste for violence…Red Jane.

Andy Van Tran, a fourteen year old Vietnamese-American boy, saw the coming apocalypse and tried to warn the world… only to fall on deaf ears.  Annie saw her whole family attacked before her eyes and join the ranks of the carnivorous living dead.

Local celebrities Kate Snow, popular longtime WGNN newswoman and Max, aka “Mad Max Manson”,  the low rung professional wrestler are both nearing the dark side of forty, feeling the breath of their successors on their backs, and trying to find their place  in a society where the dead walk. 

A former Marine sergeant somehow acquitted of his barbaric war crimes in the Middle East, is now relegated to running a high school security business under the alias of Truman Lacy. Today he woke up in a world where he can apply his superior warrior skills to rule.

Rural town officials Sherriff Ben Miller and Mayor Harry Carter didn’t wait for government directives. They rallied the citizens of Genoa into the middle of Main Street and voted to fence off the town in an effort to quarantine and preserve their town and now must decide who is worthy of sanctuary.

Willis Jones, janitor at Hamilton High School for over thirty years, suffers the sporadic delirium of Alzheimer’s disease and longs for respect as a man who still has a valuable contribution to make in a crisis.

Boisterous Chicago politician Claude Aldeen anointed himself the new “Mayor of Zombieville”, understanding that with great responsibility comes even greater power.

Blaine Fairchild overcame a rough childhood to become one of the most promising young surgeon prospects in the country before squandering it all on an ill fated night of celebration. Now a nurse working his way back from addiction and learning humility, he questions the ethics of a hospital quickly turning into an undead extermination camp.

An inspirational broadcast from President Bonnie J. McMurray after persistent rumors of her death, and a lunatic on the radio broadcasting “Three days of Love and Peace” in Woodstock may offer rays of hope or prove to be dangerous deceptions to survivors heading away from the city and desperately seeking shelter from the undead storm.

Effigies offers no apologies for its no-holds barred; nothing is sacred look at human nature at its heroic best, its horrifying worst- and when the lines between become blurred- as we struggle to survive in a world gone mad. Sometimes there are even scarier things than the living dead…monsters like us.

 Early publisher, reviewer, proofreader and peer comment and blurbs include : “I can see the movie!” , “Great storytelling and all the thrills and gore that zombie fans have come to expect..”, “Witty, spot-on dialogue.”, “Wayne gets inside three dimensional characters and stays true to them.”,  “Complex and fun.” and “I don’t usually read this kind of book, BUT… I’m totally invested in these characters and must know what happens next.”

“We search for heaven in a vehicle crafted by man and heaven has instead found us in a vehicle crafted by God. Revelation is being revealed to God’s chosen people, yet as a people we deny and do not choose Him. We have instead become a flock of soulless self involvement; effigies of ourselves rather than effigies of the Christ that created us from the sands in His own image. Extract the soul of man and the void will be filled with a lustful hunger for excess, rather than lustful hunger for the blood of the lamb.

It is a day of atonement and repentance as Heaven and Hell are nigh and the gates have been opened. The segregation of the flock has begun and we can no longer be in denial…Armageddon is upon us!”

 Father Andrej Kiljansky of St. Michael’s courtesy of WCBN radio, Chicago

            “Perceived perfection is merely a lowering of our standards. It is both the pursuit of perfection and our imperfections that define us.”  Bryce Aldeen… Businessman

I will be posting occasional excerpts for your discernment. Hope you enjoy!

Alan Wayne