In How A Loser Like Me Survived the Zombie Apocalypse by Steven Bereznai, Marty Melon starts off having a bad day. As if killing his lady-love-turned-zombie isn't bad enough, he finds himself fighting for survival with his bitch ex-girlfriend playing her same old underhanded self. With gay-best-friend Gary at his side and his childhood teddy bear, Teddy, giving him advice, he fights to survive both the zombies and the ex from hell.
I loved, loved, loved Marty Melon. You could set him down in the middle of any story and he would be the center of attention. Steven Bereznai has made him into a multi-dimensional good man who had to crawl out of the pit of juvenile dweebdom and recreate himself into a rock star boyfriend with a killer body, a loyal best friend, and just enough of a bad ass zombie killer to keep himself alive. His role in How A Loser Like Me Survived the Zombie Apocalypse adds just enough humor, compassion, fear, and vulnerability to take the book to a whole different level of entertainment.
Besides the human element, How A Loser Like Me Survived the Zombie Apocalypse provides a steady dose of horror, thrills, and well-thought out speculation as to how a population of zombies would act. The fact that some zombies maintained a degree of their humanity made what Marty and his crew had to do even more disturbing, but to some degree, the whole concept of being stuck in a zombie apocalypse with the one person he hated the most is even more horrific than the monsters outside.