Sharyn McCrumb

Zombies of the Gene Pool

Sarah Sammis

Zombies of the Gene Pool is the sequel to Bimbos of the Death Sun. This book satirizes fandom and has a mystery set during a reunion of 1950s authors.

Author and engineer Jay Omega pals along with his colleague to the reunion of the "Lanthanides" so named because they first joined together in 1957. They have come together thirty years later to dig up a time capsule long buried at the bottom of a man made lake (currently being drained for repairs).

Mostly this book, as its predecessor, Bimbos of the Death Sun, is an antagonistic look at fandom and at the writers of science fiction. She paints a dreary view of the genre, clearly asking through her books why anyone would either want to write or read science fiction. These books would have been better if she had stuck with something she knows more about: the mystery genre.

Since McCrumb writes mysteries she seems compelled to turn these two parodies into mysteries but the murders come so late in the book that they seem more like after thoughts than actual plot points. The murder and ultimate solving of the case takes place within the last 50 to 70 pages of the novels, leaving no room for subtly or red herrings.

Zombies of the Gene Pool

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