My reaction to the first 10-20 pages was, to put mildly, not good. The writing seemed dense and full of superfluous descriptive language, to the point where I was tempted to skip paragraphs on paragraphs of metaphorical language and 'tangent' side-stories just to find out what was actually happening in the present tense, the now. For instance, when the main character is doing his sweep of the abandoned law firm he kicks open a door and three zombies jump him. It takes literally pages and pages and pages before 30 seconds in real time happens. I'm sitting there thinking "Holy crap there's three zombies trying to eat this guy!" while having to get through four pages of memories the main character is thinking about while this happens. It's great to have some depth but god damn I'm a bit more interested in the main character getting attacked at the moment.At first this was a turn off and just felt like unnecessary rambling (which I still think it was to a very small degree) but after finishing the first 80 pages I'm definitely starting to enjoy the story and am getting more used to the writing style.
As I've read on, the dreary thoughts and murky feelings that surround the main characters thoughts is starting to become less of a turn off and more of a representation of the context of the story. I really like the way the characters are being built, and how much time is spent exploring the depth of the different characters. One of my favorite things so far was how each survivor at this point seems to have their own weird quirk, something they cling to that on the surface seems pointless but in actuality is probably part of why that person is still alive. For instance how Gary still talks as if his two twin brothers were still alive, saying "we" this and "we" that instead of "I". It's weird but it's something that helps him stay sane in such an insane world, and ultimately something that helps him survive.
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