Before and After by Andrew Shanahan

When we think of zombie-horror, our minds quickly jumped to hordes of rotting corpses shuffling round the streets of a city that always seems to have a tonne of paper blowing about in the streets. There is usually a rugged, handsome man who has lost his son or wife or has been in prison (something to make him brooding) that has to travel across the country to find them/ redemption. Before and After changes all that in a dramatic way.

Before and After follows the story of Ben, a severely overweight man who finds himself in the midst of a zombie like apocalypse type situation. Here’s some back story: Ben weighs 601lb so is very heavy. He lives alone in his flat, the only place he has been for the past decade. He is a shut in and his only contact with humanity has been on the end of a telephone or the constant stream of doctors and nurses that come to check on him. When Ben’s chronic weight and his diabetes means he has to go into hospital to have his leg amputated, a plan of epic proportions is put in place to get him out of the place that is his sanctuary. Workmen remove the outside wall of his flat, a heavy duty crane is brought in to winch him out and a whole load of specialist transport equipment is brought in to help his journey.

Sounds pretty straight forward at the moment but as we all know, good things never last for long. Strapped tightly into a bariatric stretcher, the world go to hell. Karl, one of the workmen, goes berserk at Ben and begins trying to stamp his head in while outside, North Manchester becomes like a scene out of a horror film. Fights break out, people begin trying to kill each other and yes…. There is a lot of paper blowing around. Luckily, Karl is flung out of the apartment by the crane he is attached to leaving Ben alone. But Ben suddenly realises…he’s alone…strapped onto a stretcher so he can’t move….and he needs the toilet.

As the story progresses, the reader is treated to a dual view of Ben: some chapters tell the reader about Ben’s life before his massive weight gain and becoming a shut in, while the other chapters, Ben tells the reader what has been happening since the end of the world. Switching the tenses between third person and first keeps the story alive as an outside observer because not only do you see how society treated Ben as he became bigger but also how Ben feels about his size and what he is thinking as the world ends around him.

Andrew spares no expense when it came to describing Ben’s journey after Karl was flung from the flat and in one particular chapter manages to gross out even the most avid Grey’s Anatomy fan. The way that Andrew builds up the character of Ben as someone who really cares for others but wasn’t really shown the same kindness back really helped me empathise with Ben and this type of kindness in Ben is really showcased when he talks about the only other living thing in his life, Brown his pet dog. She is feisty and resilient but as the days tick by, she is shown to be vulnerable. This spurs a lot of the decisions Ben makes in the story because Brown is his literal world and he only wants what is best for her. Brown is very much a catalyst in the story because she is Ben;s driving force.

I really enjoyed reading Before and After. It was comical. It has gore and it made me want to not put it down. Luckily, there is a sequel to Before and After called Flesh and Blood, so keep your eyes peeled for a review.