Shoot the Dead

Read Time: 3 Minutes

I actually read this years ago, probably close to a decade back, and remembered almost nothing beyond “gangsters and zombies”. That worked out well since it felt mostly fresh going back in.

It opens with a bit of historical setup in 1920s Mexico archaeological dig involving conquistadors, blood magic, and the Skull of Azazel, which, as you might expect, is very much the sort of artefact people should leave buried. Naturally, nobody does.

We then jump forward to modern London, following Jack and Billy Thatcher, two career criminals working for local gangster Nathan James. After a deal goes sideways and a pile of bodies starts stacking up, the brothers find themselves accidentally stealing far more than drugs and cash. Turns out ancient cursed skulls come with complications. Mostly undead ones.

The tone lands somewhere between horror and full-on black comedy. There is plenty of gore and violence, but it is delivered with enough humour and swagger that it never feels overly grim. Very over-the-top at times too, in a good way. Chainsaw wielding maniacs, undead hitmen, blood magic, gangland shootouts. It knows exactly what kind of story it wants to be.

The dialogue is one of the strongest parts. Loads of sharp, quintessentially British banter throughout, with the Thatcher brothers especially bouncing off each other well. It has that Guy Ritchie style rhythm to a lot of the conversations, where even throwaway lines sound like they belong in a pub argument moments before somebody gets glassed.

There are quite a few moving parts underneath the chaos too. Detective inspectors Sarah and Leon investigating the murders, the shadowy “Monday Man” pulling strings behind the scenes, Malcolm as his unsettling undead enforcer, plus Nathan James trying to hold onto power while everything spirals around him. It all layers together nicely without becoming hard to follow.

Luke Thompson’s narration suits the material really well. He absolutely nails the hard-man London gangster voices, but also gives Billy a slightly more slippery, weaselly edge that helps distinguish the brothers. The performance carries the humour and menace equally well, which is important for this kind of balancing act.

At just under six hours it is on the shorter side, but doesn’t feel like it’s missing anything. The story moves quickly, rarely wasting time, and never really drags. I picked it up during one of Audible’s big sales for next to nothing, which made it even easier to enjoy.

Overall, Shoot the Dead is a very entertaining mix of gangsters, zombies, horror, and black comedy. Messy in the best sort of way, packed with fun dialogue and ridiculous violence, while still managing to tell an engaging story.

The story does stand alone, but there were obviously plans for a follow up. Don’t worry; it does wrap up nicely, but the epilogue does make it sound like there is more to come, but given it was produced in 2016, probably not happening.

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