Littlefield does not waste time setting up Aftertime, she throws you right into a dystopian California sometime in the not-to-far future as our protagonist, Cass, tries to piece together what the hell just happened to her. Cass quickly realizes that she use to be a zombie! But that is the least of her worries. Cass needs to begin the long journey to her hometown in search of her daughter. The daughter she had just reunited with her before the whole zombie thing.
As a recovered zombie, Cass presents to other humans as an infected human who will soon become a zombie or someone who is being abused or cutting herself. These assumptions force Cass to come to grip with her past life as an abused young woman who did put herself into situations where she allowed men to continue to "punish" her. This is how she first lost her daughter.
Cass is a deeply flawed character and while not as strong as Littlefield's Stella, I want to believe she is trying her best to be strong. She relies, I think too much, on Smoke, a cowboyish character who is still a mystery by the end of the book.
But the story will suck you in and despite any flaws in the characters, you will be desperate to know if Cass finds her daughter or not. There is a sequel and I knew this, so I kept thinking up until the very end, will she or won't she? And of course, now I need to get my grubby hands on the sequel.
Love zombies? Love stories of redemption? Love stories of mom's searching for their children? Just love dystopian fiction? Then get yourself a copy from IndieBound or Powells.
Disclaimer: A publicist offered me a copy of "Aftertime" because I had enjoyed "Pretty" last year. He said he thought I'd like it. He was right.
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