Two things become readily apparent reading EVERY SIGH, THE END: 1) I’m not the only person in the world who thought that LESS THAN ZERO was actually the scariest zombie book ever written, and 2) author Jason S. Hornsby boldly takes on the undead genre with a challenge I haven’t read before. EVERY SIGH, THE END — yes, another novel about zombies — is hip, referential and daring.

The plot requires a bit of explaining — maybe a couple of flow charts, possibly even fractions. I suck at math, so I’ll try and sum it up the best I can: New Year’s Eve, 1999. Professional layabout Ross Orringer is complaining about his life and jaded affair with his girlfriend’s best friend. Ross and his asshole buddy Preston, when they aren’t getting stoned, dub those hard-to-find classics you saw in the back of old-school FANGORIA. It’s not much of an existence, but it beats being dead.
 

Oh, and along the way to the New Year’s party, Ross can’t shake the feeling that he’s done it all before. And that he’s being secretly followed by a television crew recording his every move. The writing is witty and engrossing, even as unlikable as the two main characters are. This is a tribute to the talent and genius of Hornby, who makes a guest appearance in his own fiction. The story is worth it.
 
In ways that still confuse me — despite two readings of the book — Ross is the experiment in some reality television show, where a zombie attack on his new millennium celebration keeps eyeballs peeled to the TV. Farfetched? I don’t know. I mean, who’s got more brains: a zombie or Paula Abdul? I’d watch. Hell, I’d even go to the live show if they turned them loose on the AMERICAN IDOL cast.
 
The most frustrating thing about EVERY SIGH, THE END is trying to figure it out, make it logical. So don’t — some things aren’t meant to wrap up nicely. It’s not due to lack of design. On my second reading, I just went with the beautiful flow. Hornsby has given us one of the strangest and intellectual offerings I’ve read in months. —Matt Adder

Buy it at Amazon.