Mick Bogerman's How to Navigate Zombie Cave Teaches Us The Necessities Involved in Zombie Survival

Since I elected to take my birthday off, I promised to double up on the awesomeness I've found in my hunt for Treasured Tomes. Today is part one of that promise. Tomorrow you'll see part two.

Conveniently, this one fits right into the theme I've been working on this week: Horror for Halloween!!!

Pirate Treasure,

A zombie curse,

And an... old cheese cracker?

Welcome to a day in the life of Mick Bogerman: Big brother and wild adventurer!

How to navigate Zombie Cave and Defeat Pirate Pete is a YA horror, and story #1 of  the Slug Pie Stories, written by Mick Bogerman.

So what's it about?

After Mick gets his hands on the one and only map through Zombie Cave, the map that leads to Pirate Pete's treasure, he grabs his miner's hat and a pitchfork and heads off to make the discovery of a lifetime. 

But first he has to keep his little brother safely out of the way. And so, being the good big brother that he is, he ties young Finley to a stake on the beach to keep him from tagging along - above the high tide line. Don't worry. Good big brother, remember? - and heads out to search for the pirate gold. 

Unfortunately, once he gets there he discovers that trekking through a dark cave infested with zombies is rather difficult... especially when you forget to place the treasure map in a plastic baggie to protect it from the water, discover that Pirate Pete is stronger and smarter than the average zombie, and find the tide rising, thereby causing frigid water to rise around you. 

And then there's that zombie parrot...

Writing under the nom de plume of Mick Bogerman, the author tells these stories from the first person perspective - and it works beautifully.

Mick is a smart kid, and has enough curiosity and ingenuity to take us with him on several adventures. We see this from the very beginning, as he tells us about his very well thought out decision to tie his brother to a stake, as well as his ability to get a friend to allow him to borrow a treasure map from the museum that employs the boy's father.

The map written in the 1700s that basically disintegrated because he forgot to keep it watertight.

Oops.

Throughout this ebook, there's a wonderful blend of humor, horror, and quick thinking in the face of danger. From chapter one I knew this was a good one.

Mick felt real. 

He made decisions that were smart, but also decisions that were irrational, due to high stress. I mean... zombies! I don't know about you, but I'd probably make some really weird choices, too, if I was trying to keep from being mauled by the undead. 

And the structure of this story?

Definitely not the norm. You won't find "chapters" in this book. Instead, sections are called steps. The first chapter, for example, is 

Step 1 

Find Zombie Cave

If you ever need to survive a zombie infested treasure hunt, this would be a good ebook to have with you. And bonus! As an ebook, it has a backlight. Very useful in dark terrain.

What?! I'm just saying... it may be a good supply to have with you.

And speaking of supplies...

At the end - don't worry... I'm not giving out spoilers, here - there's a list of materials that Mick and his brother Finley came up with... you know, so that they know what to bring along the next time they have to get through Zombie Cave.

Next time? 

Well, you never know, right? I mean, they're a little older and wiser now...

This book feels like it would be a spectacular read for 4-6th grade readers. It's not long, having a page length roughly equivalent to a Goosebumps story.

Don't worry - I'm not comparing it to Goosebumps. 

Mick Bogerman's work is a unique entity that doesn't need to be compared to anything to stand out as something a young reader would enjoy... and ask for more of. I've even been flirting with the idea of buying the paperback version and holding onto it so that my daughter can read it when she's old enough.

While I didn't make this one a Treasured Tome, it was a breath away. 

And you really need to read this one, because it gives a lot of background knowledge that will be welcome when you decide you want to get the next story in the series: How to Rid your Swimming Pool of a Bloodthirty Mermaid, which you'll see the review for tomorrow... 

...and which just might get awarded Treasured Tome status... not that I'd actually be hinting or anything. Would I do that?  ::wink wink::

How to Navigate Zombie Cave and Defeat Pirate Pete can be found on Kindle and Nook.