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I was really torn rating this book and will try to explain why...

The book starts with a 27 yr old businessman walking through the mall, one minute he is thinking to himself how great it is to be him and how everyone is envying him his success while checking out the "soccer moms' and their babies" and the next minute he is disgusted by them and back and forth. He is then taken over by an uncontrollable rage and attacks one of the women and then goes after her baby.

Thalia, a 12 yr old girl, and her Dad, a police officer, are walking through the mall on the way to lunch. Her mother died approximately a year ago and she is remembering this and thinking of how much she misses her when they hear screams. Thalia, who is half Ute, also has a touch of empathy in that she can feel other people's strong emotions. She feels overwhelmed by the rage that is coming from the man and starting to spread to those around him. Of course, her daddy has to wade into the mess and try to help, telling her to stay back. The last she sees of him, he looks up and tells her to "run baby run" and throws her the car keys.

Forget Zombies - that it the scary part - a 12 yr old driving! Ok, not really, but she has never driven before but manages to make it home and starts packing to leave to head for the mountains because that is what her Daddy always said to do to survive.

One reviewer found that the thought of a 12 yr old girl knowing how to use guns was unrealistic - I went to HS in a small town in TN and trust me when I say there is nothing strange about that at all. Most kids in that town bagged their first deer when they were in Jr High so I find that completely realistic. As well, Thalia has spent a lot of time with her Grandfather, who is a Shaman for a Ute tribe in the Colorado mountains. Her Grandparents believe in living off the land and rejecting "white man ways" so she is well prepared for survival on her own. She also brings along her cat, who she can "communicate" with - not through words but more through feelings. So now we know that Thalia is not your normal preteen.

She meets Jack, a retired marine, who is hiding in a farmhouse. He has his own demons to fight but they join up to find shelter in a military camp along with some others that they find along the way.

What I loved: The spiritualism of the Native American culture and how it is tied into the story. The "blossoming" of Thalia as her connections to nature and her "powers" expand. The dialogue between Jack and Thalia, and the fact that neither is a crack shot (it bothers me when they ALWAYS hit the zombie in the head EVERY time!). The author's unique take on the zombies: They are runners (still alive, rage filled) and then walkers (runners now dead and turn into "real" zombies). The suggested reason for the zombies, based upon Native American mythology. The way that the author "blended" the beliefs of two strong men (the grandfather and father) through her mom (flashback scenes) without diminishing either belief system.

What I hated: The way that the author made his anti war views made. I respect his views and those of others but he managed to make it seem like all soldiers change from normal, loving fathers (one scene actually made a point of saying that he knew the fellow soldier had a newborn baby at home and showed off the pictures) to an immoral killing machine who showed no mercy toward woman, children, innocents and that all that fought in wars were this way. I feel that any soldier that actually fought in a war is going to have difficult feelings to deal with from the horrors that they have seen and experienced, just like the character Jack does, but it really took away from the writing and my enjoyment of the book. I didn't even mind the crazy religious stereotypes because you find those frequently in these types of books (although his were pretty far out there but I guess that was necessary to set up the "spiritual conflict") but the military aspect really left a bad taste in my mouth and I almost stopped reading. I also felt that instead of enhancing Jack's character by showing his "angst", it diminished him halfway through the book and his enlightening was only used to further expand upon the anti war views.

The fact that I did continue reading though is the reason that I had trouble rating the book. I did want to know what happened to Thalia and Jack and a few of the other main characters and the author made me care what happened. The Native American spin was new and unique and I wish he had expanded on it - looks like there may be a sequel and I hope to learn more about that aspect if there is one. Based on that alone, I would have given it a 4 stars. The distaste from the military stereotypes (and yes, I am letting my own personal opinions color the review but at least I am being very straightforward about it) have me knocking it down to a 2 star thus my 3 star review.

This is the author's first book and I do look forward to seeing what he writes next.

If you enjoy zombie film, books and the like, then you'll likely enjoy 'A Girl and Her Cat'. However, as a certified zombie fanatic myself, I think that I can safely speak for the majority of 'zombie' fans by saying, "we enjoy a twist to the typical zombie formula". And I can tell you that 'A Girl and Her Cat' is FULL of twists. From GO, in the prologue an unexpected perspective grips you, the suspense builds and is punctuated by dramatic scenes that keep this book in your hands. Overall, it is a good read that is hard to put down; if it's not the suspense, it's the stories arc, pacing and character development that keeps you engaged. The writing style is a pleasant balance of technical detail, solid storytelling and metaphor. And because of this, it easy to visualize the scenes while getting lost in deep thought and contemplation, hence making for a cerebral read. Another interesting piece to 'A Girl and Her Cat' is the underlying, timely political message that is steeped in symbolism and cleverly tied into the spirit world of the native American Indian culture. Yes, I know, cool right?

In conclusion, the story contains all the GOOD and essential parts of a zombie apocalypse story with a whole lot more. And if you've already decided to buy this book, I have more good news. It reads as if it will have at least one sequel. I look forward to more work from this new 'indie' writer and you will as well. Enjoy!

Everyone has heard the phrase "Don't judge a book by its cover." It's good advice, except when it comes to, well, books. Covers are essential to readers- you can tell a lot by a cover. For example, the cover of this book immediately betrayed the fact that it was self-published, and that the content would be poorly edited, to say nothing of the actual quality of the writing.

A Girl And Her Cat is set in the United States, and opens with a zombie attack, witnessed by a young girl and her father. After her father turns, the young girl, Thalia, is forced to survive with her cat Fiona. Somewhat conveniently, her father taught her how to shoot, build fires, trap food, find water etc.

Meanwhile, ex-Marine Jack is hiding out in a farmhouse, wondering why he's bothering to survive, and contemplating the pointless of war.

Inevitably, the two meet, and band together against the hordes of undead. They make their way towards a Marine base, which they've been told is a safe haven for survivors.

It's a relatively good idea, ruined by poor writing, which is further let down by a complete lack of editing. A few typos in a book is forgiveable, but this book is riddled with them. I don't think there's a single hyphen in the book, the words 'where' and 'were' are constantly mixed up; the errors go beyond simple typos to full-on grammatical and syntax errors which render passages barely intelligble.

The third-person narration switches between past and present tense in about a dozen locations. There are no italics or quotation marks to distinguish between narration and a character's thoughts, so it's often very difficult to tell which is which, and the book reads as the author's rant against religion and war.

The characters' journey to and life at the survivors' camp is a great idea- the quest for these camps is a feature in the majority of zombie films and books. Unfortunately, stilted narration and dialogue make the book very difficult to read.

The book opens inside the mind of a man about to become a zombie- the implication is that this is Zombie 0. The passion and intensity isn't there though, and the writing lets down what should be a scary, intense passage.

The characters are simply bizarre. Thalia possesses some kind of magical/spiritual power, inherited from her mother and grandfather who are Native American. Her power manifests itself simply as strong empathy, until a crucial moment when she conveniently develops deadly skills. Thalia is a sweet, innocent child who happens to be incredibly skilled at survival, until it benefits the story for her to be sly and ruthless.

Jack swings back and forth between hating war and desperately wanting to help his fellow Marines. He often muses on the pointlessness of war, but that doesn't stop him participating in it.

The book reads like a polemic against war, then against consumerism (the zombies seem to be a metaphor for people who mindlessly consume material goods), then against religion (the zombies also act as a metaphor for people driven to bloodlust by their religious beliefs), part discussion of the honour and glory of the Marine Corps.

Really, there are too many things going on in the book, and the poor writing does none of them justice.

After a run of free kindle books that were practically unreadable, this was a relief. Some editing errors, but nothing so jarring that they distracted from a fast-paced, interesting story. I liked the main characters and wanted them to do well. Looking forward to the sequel.

I don't want to give away anything. Good setting descriptions without using flowery words. I soooo enjoyed this. Too fun.