Thunder and Ashes

Thunder and Ashes is the sequel to the Plague of the dead. Below that are a few of the earlier comps. The gas masked zombies are all in varying degrees of composition and I do love them, but in the end yellow beat them out. I guess yellow is the first thing I think of when I picture "thunder" or lightening too.

I was very saddened when the author Z.A. Recht passed away late year. He was an incredibly talented writer. My heartfelt condolences go out to the family.

A LOT CAN CHANGE IN THREE MONTHS: Wars can be decided, nations can be forged . . . or entire species can be brought to the brink of annihilation. The Morningstar virus has swept the face of the planet, infecting billions. Its hosts rampage; its victims don't die, but are reborn as cannibalistic shamblers.

SCATTERED ACROSS THE WORLD, EMBATTLED GROUPS HAVE PERSEVERED. For some, survival is the pinnacle of achievement. Others hoard goods and weapons. And still others leverage power over the remnants of humanity with a mysterious cure. Francis Sherman and Anna Demilio want only a vaccine, but to find it they must cross a ravaged landscape of the infected and the lawless living.

THE BULK OF THE STORM HAS PASSED, leaving echoing thunder and softly drifting ashes. But for the survivors, the peril remains, and the search for a cure is just beginning. . . .

Returning to the terrifying vision of his "awesome zombie novel" (David Moody) Plague of the Dead, Z.A. Recht "will once again make you turn your lights on" (J.L. Bourne) with
this chilling apocalyptic thriller.

Rise Again

A MYSTERIOUS CONTAGION. MASS HYSTERIA. SUDDEN DEATH.

And a warning that would come all too late . . .

Forest Peak, California. Fourth of July. Sheriff Danielle Adelman, a troubled war veteran, thinks she has all the problems she can handle in this all-American town after her kid sister runs away from home. But when a disease-stricken horde of panicked refugees fleeing the fall of Los Angeles swarms her small mountain community, Danny realizes her problems have only just begun—starting with what might very well be the end of the world. Danny thought she had seen humanity at its worst in war-torn Iraq, but nothing could prepare her for the remorseless struggle to survive in a dying world being overrun by the reanimated dead and men turned monster. Obsessed with finding her missing sister against all odds, Danny’s epic and dangerous journey across the California desert will challenge her spirit . . . and bring her to the precipice of sanity itself. . . .

Rise Again hit shelves last week.
Here's the finished cover along with two unused comps.

Beyond Exile

J.L. Bourne's sequel to Day by Day Armageddon, Beyond Exile hit store shelves last week. Check out how I turned my friend Jeff into one of the zombies on the cover.

Play Dead Zombie Crawl

It was a lot fun working with Sam Weber on Play Dead. He really did a wonderful job. There was a lot of back and forth with what direction we wanted to go with. Whether we wanted the cover to more humorous or campy, but in the end I'm happy with the way this turned out. Though I wish we could of had the rest of the team on the cover.

Hundreds of zombies gathered this past Sunday for the latest NYC Zombie Crawl. Around 5pm they moved up Bedford Ave to play zombie football with Play Dead author Ryan Brown in McCarren Park. After the game there was a screening of Play Dead the Movie at the Knitting Factory. You can watch the trailer here.

I was out camping this weekend but I would've loved to have been there. Just look at these photos!

Here's a description.

Today’s #1 New York Times bestselling thriller writers agree: Ryan Brown’s compulsively readable first novel is unbeatable—a darkly humorous, rich and pungent zombie shocker that melds our national obsession with football and the newest wave of fascination with the undead.

For the first time in Killington High School history, the Jackrabbits football team is one win away from the district championship where it will face its most vicious rival, the Elmwood Heights Badgers. On the way to the game, the Jackrabbits’s bus plunges into a river, killing every player except for bad-boy quarterback Cole Logan who is certain the crash was no accident—given that Cole himself was severely injured in a brutal attack by three ski-masked men earlier that day. Bent on payback, Cole turns to a mysterious fan skilled in black magic to resurrect his teammates. But unless the undead Jackrabbits defeat their murderous rival on the field, the team is destined for hell. In a desperate race against time, with only his coach’s clever daughter, Savannah Hickman, to assist him, Cole must lead his zombie team to victory

. . . in a final showdown where the stakes aren’t just life or death—but damnation or salvation. Boundlessly imaginative and thrillingly satisfying, Play Dead gives small-town Texas an electrifying jolt of the supernatural, and is unquestioningly The Zombie Novel of the Year!

The Comeback Story of the Season . . .

Paul is Undead, The Movie

Just found out Paul is Undead is being turned into a movie! I can't wait for this one to come out. Very cool to see my illustration out there. Congratulations to Alan Goldsher, Jaime Costas, my editor, and Jeffory Brown, who did the wonderful interior illustrations. Paul is Undead will be released on June 22.

Here's a description of what the story is about from the Simon and Schuster website.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IT'S TIME TO REALLY MEET THE BEATLES.

For John Lennon, a young, idealistic zombie guitarist with dreams of global domination, Liverpool seems the ideal place to form a band that could take over the world. In an inspired act, Lennon kills and reanimates local rocker Paul McCartney, kicking off an unstoppable partnership. With the addition of newly zombified guitarist George Harrison and drummer/Seventh Level Ninja Lord Ringo Starr, the Beatles soon cut a swath of bloody good music and bloody violent mayhem across Europe, America, and the entire planet.

In this searing oral history, discover how the Fab Four climbed to the Toppermost of the Poppermost while stealing the hearts, ears, and brains of smitten teenage girls. Learn the tale behind a spiritual journey that resulted in the dismemberment of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Marvel at the seemingly indestructible quartet’s survival of a fierce attack by Eighth Level Ninja Lord Yoko Ono. And find out how the boys escaped eternal death at the hands of England’s greatest zombie hunter, Mick Jagger.

Through all this, one mystery remains: Can the Beatles sublimate their hunger for gray matter, remain on top of the charts, and stay together for all eternity? After all, three of the Fab Four are zombies, and zombies live forever. . . .