It feels bad for me to give Closure Limited a 2/5 rating as I am a massive fan of Max Brooks' work with World War Z being my favourite book until I read Ready Player One a few weeks ago.
The reason I gave this book 2 out of five rather than 1 is because the stories that are in there are quite good but for starters if you pay retail for this book (£5.99) you are paying quite a sum for a book that I read in an hour as it stands at just over 100 pages.
The problem that I had with this book was probably born from my expectation that this was a book based in the World War Z universe. I could have accepted the price vs length if that had been the case as it would have made for a good addon.
The story Closure Limited is one of the best in the book as it was the first time that you get a hint (as small as it is I was as hungry for it as a z to a human) of Brooks' experience of the zombie war. In reading World War Z I had always wondered what Brooks had done throughout the war which had then led him to collect the stories of other survivors. The first story doesn't really answer any of those questions, but it does, for the first time realise that Brooks suffered like the rest of humanity rather than spending the war on a comfortable UN ship of in an American bunker.
The other stories were nothing that I was that bothered about to be honest, they had some merit but they did not feel like they had a place in a book that I feel advertised itself as a World War Z set of stories, even if they are well written.
The last story redeems the book in the way that Closure Limited made me excited for the book. It is set in China, which is certainly mentioned a great deal in World War Z and it was refreshing that the story took on the aspect of an interview of a survivor whose job was to rebuild the Great Wall as part of the Chinese version of the Redeker Plan. As with all of the Chinese sections in Brooks' work, it shows a dedication to survival that is both chilling and a relief that humans can survive anything with a bit of dedication.
All in all, an OK book, but nothing to write home about (but apparently worthy of a blog update lol). If you can pick it up cheaper than the retail cost then its worth a read (check a certain website that has a certain river theme as its £2.99). Its a shame that this book wasn't a few hundred pages longer and it could have been rushed out so that more money can be drummed up in time for the movie, but maybe I'm just too cynical. I will read this book again, if only just because I could read through most of it in my GP's waiting room.
Cover arts good mind.
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