Book Review: The Eagle Has Reanimated by Tony Schaab

In July of 1969, the U.S. sent a three men into space for what was to become one of the greatest moments in history. At least, that's what we've all been lead to believe. What if all those rumors of a staged moon landing on some movie set were actually true? And what if the reason behind it were to hide a potential threat to the well-being of the entire world? That's exactly what Tony Schaab explores in his zombie-infested novelette The Eagle Has Reanimated.

As astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins prepare for the Apollo XI mission, a rash of random violence and an unknown disease strikes the Mid West. That worries Armstrong since his family's in Ohio. But he can't let that get to him; none of the crew can. They all have a mission to complete -- to be the first men to walk on the Moon -- and unless they hear otherwise, nothing's going to keep them from their goal. Once in space, the mission seems to be moving according to plan until some excess weight throws the landing module slightly off course. Too late do the astronauts realize just what exactly that extra weight is going to cost them.

I enjoyed how the novelette takes what everyone knows about the Apollo XI mission -- from the small facts about the astronauts and earlier missions to the speculation about whether it actually happened or was filmed on a soundstage -- and injects it with the living dead to speculate how that might alter events. What also works is that the story doesn't rely on much gore to get the scares across. The tension builds slowly, carefully focusing in on the three astronauts. After all, what could be more frightening than being trapped in a confined space with one of those creatures slowly shambling toward you and with no way to escape, nowhere to run?

The Eagle Has Reanimated is a great zombie-infested alternative version of history, one that I found difficult to put down once I started. I think other readers will, too.

The Eagle Has Reanimated
by Tony Schaab
Ludicrous Speed Designs
eBook, 78 pgs.

Received eBook from author