Joyce Carol Oates continues to amaze me with how she is able to actually get into the minds of her characters. Zombie was written in 1995 and is loosely based on the life of Jeffrey Dahmer. Oates delves into the consciousness of the very disturbed serial killer, Quentin P. who tries to create a sex zombie out of unsuspecting young men by attempting to lobotomize them so they will do his bidding. His attempts all end in failure and his victims die after being raped and tortured. Quentin keeps mementos of his crimes but has no regrets or empathy for the victims.
The novel is told in a stream of consciousness style with Oates presenting the acts of Quentin in a very real and frightening way as the psychopath plots to satisfy his deviant urges. This was really a disturbing novel yet Oates is able to tell the story to make it very believable. Oates does use some very graphic details in her narrative including Quentin's attempts at performing lobotomies but she doesn't go overboard in the descriptions like in such novels as American Psycho. It's really how Oates is able to access the mind of the killer that provides the scares in this slim novel.
The novel is told in a stream of consciousness style with Oates presenting the acts of Quentin in a very real and frightening way as the psychopath plots to satisfy his deviant urges. This was really a disturbing novel yet Oates is able to tell the story to make it very believable. Oates does use some very graphic details in her narrative including Quentin's attempts at performing lobotomies but she doesn't go overboard in the descriptions like in such novels as American Psycho. It's really how Oates is able to access the mind of the killer that provides the scares in this slim novel.
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