Black House Comics 2009 ISBN 9780980600650

The back cover blurb for After the World: Killable Hours tells us that the author Clay Blakehills — apparently a pseudonym — “works for a prestigious Melbourne law firm. He specialises in corporate takeovers and zombie law”. I was unable to find any further information online about Blakehills, so he/she remains a very talented enigma. The cover of Killable Hours — as with at least one of the other instalments in the After the World series, Jason Fischer’s Gravesend — is a creation of Jason Paulos, and rates a mention all of its own due to its wonderfully blood spattered pulp excellence.

Killable Hours launches headlong into gory action from the very first pages as the reader meets Terry, now one of the only living associates of Melbourne law firm Walters Kendall. Terry is trapped in his firm’s high rise office with a horde of zombies who used to be his colleagues, and as he grapples with the situation, collecting precious few allies along the way, things only get bloodier.

Blakehills’ novella reads like a movie. Gripping, fast-paced and utterly immersive, it’s a solid adventure from start to finish. Blakehills’ knowledge of the secret lives of lawyers adds an intriguing Grisham-like element to his tale, giving it extra bite (pun intended). The author is adept at his craft, writing clearly and effectively. As a Melbourne resident myself, I enjoyed the setting and props employed in Blakehills’ story. It speaks to Killable Hours’ quality that I, a reader who generally doesn’t much like the zombie subgenre, had an absolute blast reading Blakehills’ novella.

As with the other After the World novella this reviewer has read, Fischer’s Gravesend, at first I found the layout jarring to the eye (no indent at the start of paragraphs, double spaces between paragraphs) but I got used to it as I became immersed in the story. Still, I don’t like it, and would prefer a more standard layout (please, Black House Comics!).

Killable Hours is a relentless rollercoaster of spectacular zombie apocalypse conflict. As with the other After the World instalments, lovers of old school pulp, horror, drama and action will have fun with Blakehills’ novella.

Whilst Clay Blakehills can’t be found online or, seemingly, anywhere else, Black House Comics can be found at http://www.blackhousecomics.com/, and illustrator Jason Paulos can be found at http://www.hairbuttthehippo.com.