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    Night of the Living Trekkies
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    Night of the Living Trekkies
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    Night of the Living Trekkies
    Audiobook6 hours

    Night of the Living Trekkies

    Written by Kevin David Anderson and Sam Stall

    Narrated by Zach McLarty

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

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    About this audiobook

    Journey to the final frontier of sci-fi zombie horror!
     
    Jim Pike was the world's biggest Star Trek fan-until two tours of duty in Afghanistan destroyed his faith in the human race. Now he sleepwalks through life as the assistant manager of a small hotel in downtown Houston.
     
    But when hundreds of Trekkies arrive in his lobby for a science-fiction convention, Jim finds himself surrounded by costumed Klingons, Vulcans, and Ferengi-plus a strange virus that transforms its carriers into savage, flesh-eating zombies!
     
    As bloody corpses stumble to life and the planet teeters on the brink of total apocalypse, Jim must deliver a ragtag crew of fanboys and fangirls to safety. Dressed in homemade uniforms and armed with prop phasers, their prime directive is to survive. But how long can they last in the ultimate no-win scenario?
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateAug 24, 2010
    ISBN9780307877369

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    Reviews for Night of the Living Trekkies

    4/5

    135 ratings26 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Fun read, especially since I am an old trekkie. One plot anomaly. There is a point in the story where the time is stated to be just before 5 a.m. and then a few pages later it's suddenly 10 till 4 a.m. Story and writing consistently good otherwise.
    • 3/5
      A good quick read,funny in places,some trekkie in jokes.
    • 5/5
      Hats off to those goofs at Quirk Books for another great title. I usually don't sit down and read a book cover to cover but I just couldn't put this one down. It has great moments of suspense and is chalked full of one-liners that both Trekkies and Star Wars fanatics alike will enjoy. Take it from this "fanboy" Night of the Living Trekkies is a zombifilled ride that George A. Romero would be proud of.
    • 4/5
      One of the few books in the same genre as McCrumb's Bimbos of the Death Sun and Zombies of the Gene Pool: a humorous SF book set at a convention. Shell shocked vet Jim Pike must lead a small group of survivors from a Star Trek convention to safety after zombies invade the hotel -- the city -- the world? Pike was a Trek fan but after combat finds the show too sunny and unrealistic: now he must use its ideals to rally a small group of untrained civilians whose ideas about fighting largely come from video games (long on heroics and superhuman feats, short on strategy).Will they make it out of the hotel alive -- even the guy in the red shirt? Or will they join the ranks of the tottering undead?A fun book and a quick read -- full of Star Trek trivia (nearly every character's name is a mashup of Trek characters'), reflections on how the stories we tell (and which genres we adopt) affect our outlook, and a pleasant mix of jokes and zombies rattling the door or lumbering towards our heroes at just the wrong moment. (Also has some Star Wars content and occasional nods to other fandoms.) Fair warning: the more Star Trek trivia you know the more jokes you will get.
    • 4/5
      Let me say this: I am not a trekkie (that's right - I said trekkie!). But I am a fan of the genre and a fan of zombies. And I'm a fan of this book! Seriously, this was a fun read, hitting all the right notes, all the right jokes, and balancing humor and horror just right. This book is not a parody or a caricature, but instead a spot-on zombie story with Star Trek trappings.Is this book for trekkers? I think so. It's full of the type of in-jokes that geeks love. In fact, I think it's great for any fan of the genres of sci-fi and horror who have a sense of humor.Who is Night of the Living Trekkies not for? The humorless.Crisp pacing, good characters, and natural dialog.
    • 5/5
      This was a fast, fun read that I thoroughly enjoyed. If you're looking for a good Trek book, though, this isn't it. If you're looking for a good zombie book, likewise, this isn't it. Instead, this is a humorous parody of both genres, with some Star Wars references thrown in as well. I thought the selection of names, for instance, was perfect (i.e., Jim Pike, a mix of Jim Kirk and Christopher Pike, two captains of the Enterprise, as well as Gary--Where No Man Has Gone Before, Matt--as in Decker, and even Rayna, are lifted directly from the TV series). It also seems that everyone in Houston is a Trekkie and knows quite a bit about Star Trek. Even the people who don't seem to be interested in the series. The plot of the book is a tired cliche of zombie movies, which makes the book funnier as well--a group of survivors who need to get out of town before the zombie outbreak is dealt with by the military. And of course, not everyone makes it out alive. And there is the mandatory final conflict before the resolution, and then the even more mandatory "everything is fine and we survived" comments before the final plot twist and actual ending of the story. I thought this was a truly delightful and funny read.
    • 4/5
      Night of the Living Trekkies is a title that pretty much sums up the story. Unlike with some vaguer titles in Sci-Fi/Fantasy, with this one you really do get what it says on the metaphorical tin.The same can't be said for the cover, as there are a few descrepancies between it and the book (The notable lack of the zombie's characteristic third-eye and the green skin, for example.), but it depicts the symbolic zombie in a Star Fleet uniform, so I guess it does give a clear indication of whats going on.Firstly, I'm not sure I would class this as a work of parody, as it claims to be on the back cover, as it doesn't use characters or locations from the series. The main characters aren't even pretending to be any specific characters, they have their own Star Fleet positions and names. It's more a book about the "Trekkie" culture, with plenty of Star Trek references, the most obvious one is the first lines, which begin "Space, the final frontier...".This is a good start, fantastic in fact, and completely removed any hestitance I had in reading the book. The characters in the prologue were fantastic, and I was disappointed that it turned out they... weren't major characters. But the main characters were fascinating to read, especially the Protagonist Jim, and the woman he rescues, Princess Leia. In fact, I think this second character, dressed in a Star Wars outfit for good reason, was my favourite character (Not so great in a Star Trek book perhaps) and I think the quotes and references to Star Wars was much better done than the Trek ones. Or perhaps just more obvious.For example, I don't recall anyone ever saying "It's life Jim, but not as we know it." It's one of the most famous lines from Star Trek, and the main character had a name that was a clear set-up for such a quote. OK, so no-one actually said it EXACTLY LIKE THAT in Star Trek, but that's not the point. It would have made the book more... Trekky for non-major-fans. I would have concluded that this would have been to avoid putting off any Die-hard fans, but If that was the case, I would have called the book "Night of the Living Trekkers", since within the book it says "Trekkie" is an insult... But I'm not going to get into that debate any further, So I'll move on.Wether it's a parody or not, It should be funny. And while it's quite amusing at first, towards the end it's less so. The change starts when the first zombies are around, and it quickly becomes a less humourous book. It's always lighthearted, and easy enough to read (I stayed up much of the night), but there are less laughs than I had hoped for.And I think that's the only real problem with "Night of the Living Trekkies". It's a good book, but the only accurate thing about what it claims to be is the title, which is why I started the review with that. There are many zombie films about lately, and this one of those in book forms, with a little extra in it for Sci-Fi enthusiasts, Star Trek (and Wars) fans in particular. There ARE technical terms in it's pages, but they are mostly explained in the text. There was nothing I really felt I had missed by not being a die-hard fan (although maybe I just didn't know it). I wouldn't say you would need to have seen more than a little star trek - enough to know the most popular culture (as well knowing that Janeway is a person, not an obscure adjective) - to enjoy this book. I thought it was a well-written zombie-Horror, and I continued reading well into the early hours of the morning. It has an original take on the formation of zombies, and there are at least a few laughs.If you enjoy Star-Trek, I would read this. If you enjoy Zombie Horror, I would read this. If you enjoy both... Well, this is your lucky day, you now know the perfect book to read in your next subspace journey!
    • 4/5
      Zombies are on the loose, and they're attacking a Star Trek convention. But fortunately, Trekkies do not believe in the no-win scenario... Oddly enough, my one complaint about this book is that it's not quite nerdy enough for my admittedly extremely nerdy tastes. There are lots of Star Trek references and in-jokes, but the writers apparently felt the need to make things more accessible by frequently having the characters explain this stuff to each other even when it really shouldn't have been necessary. Plus almost no work of fiction I've ever seen that's involved a science fiction convention has gotten it quite right, and this is no exception. (Yes, I have been to a few. And, honestly, not everybody is in costume all the time, and if you insist on being called by a character's name for the whole weekend, even the other fanboys might look at you funny.) But never mind that. It's great fun, anyway, and by the end, I was laughing out loud quite frequently. It's not all humor, though; there's also lots of the exact kind of slightly cheesy horror action I've been in the mood for lately.
    • 5/5
      Jim Pike, who served two tours of duty in Afghanistan, spends his days trying to hide from the rest of the world. And what better way than to work as an assistant manager for the Botany Bay Hotel in Houston, Texas. Mostly a hotel for traveling businessmen, one weekend a year, the Botany Bay becomes the beacon for GulfCon - one of the largest Star Trek conferences in the U.S., effectively tossing Jim's chances to enjoy his quiet desk job. Just as the hotel prepares to receive the oncoming tidal wave of Trekkies, some of the hotel employees begin calling in sick, complaining of not feeling well after being bitten. Even the head of security is attacked -- by a mime, of all things.And that's just the beginning. Those that are bitten spring back to life, violent and ravenous, but something doesn't right. They don't act like typical zombies; these can act in coordinated unison, with a particular purpose. Or maybe it's that third eye that sprouts from any conceivable spot on the body. Looking into it is almost mesmerizing.Soon Jim is racing through the hotel with Princess Leia, Martock -- a Klingon weapons maker -- and other survivors of this terrible night, trying to find his sister somewhere on the 7th floor and lead them all to safety. . .somehow."Night of the Living Trekkies" takes the traditional story of a small group of people coming together to survive a zombie apocalypse and mixes it with heavy helpings of all things Star Trek. From the various weapons that Jim and his crew wield, such as kar'takins and yans, to the way almost everyone seamlessly makes references to the worlds of Star Trek. It even manages to lovingly poke fun at the series and fans' enthusiasm about it -- the main character's name is Jim Pike (a combination of two captains of the USS Enterprise), and the references to the red shirts thanks to the West Texas Red Tunic Club. (For those out of the loop, here's an explanation from the book: "...the characters dressed in red tunics were always doomed. If one beamed down to a planet with Kirk and Spock, the guy in red would always, always die."Watch a few episodes of the classic show for yourself to see if it's true.)The frequent "Star Trek" in-jokes perfectly balance the gore and zombie mayhem, making "Night of the Living Trekkies" a fun and fast read, sure to please both zombie lovers and Trekkies alike.
    • 5/5
      I got a copy of this book through the Amazon Vine program. It just looked too quirky and funny to pass up. I expected something moderately humorous and a bit silly, but what I actually got was something way, way better than that. This is an absolutely awesome book. It is very well written, intelligent, and actually really, really funny. This book is just non-stop action from the beginning to the end and it takes an interesting and creative twist that ties Star Trek nicely in with zombies.Jim used to be a huge Star Trek fan, but after a tour of duty in Afghanistan he doesn't give much credence to Star Trek's overall message anymore. Now Jim works as a bell hop at a hotel. Jim's hotel is going to be the site of GulfCon; a Star Trek convention known for the most obscure Star Trek costumes ever. When Trekkies at the convention start sprouting evil third eyeballs and chomping on people things at GulfCon get more exciting than they ever have been. It will be up to Jim, a pre-med student modeling as Princess Leia, and a small group of Trekkies, to escape the hotel save themselves and possibly even the whole human race.I have to say right off of the bat that the cover for this book and the title really don't do it justice; I think the cover is just a bit too campy given that this was an absolutely awesome book. Jim is just your average guy but he has a dry sense of humor, a bleak outlook on life, and some wicked soldier training to back him up in his zombie struggles. His sidekick, Leia is just as awesome. Leia prances through the book in her metallic Princess Leia bikini costume and Enterprise slippers, tasering zombies, holding her own, and speaking in Star Wars quotes when she gets nervous. There are just a ton of quirky, yet totally awesome, characters in this book.The writing is wonderful, engaging, and packs a lot of story into this short book. This book was incredibly hard to put down and a very fast read. The action is non-stop and the little mini-cliffhangers at the end of each chapter pull you right through the book. I read the first two-thirds of the book in an hour or so and had an incredibly hard time stopping even though it was too late at night. There is a lot of humor in this book but it never goes over the top and stays more in the realm of dark humor and irony.I loved that the zombies in this book were different than in previous zombie books that I have read. These zombies have more of a hive-mentality and the third eye they develop makes for extra mystery. I loved the explanation behind how these zombies happened and enjoyed how the authors tied that in seamlessly to the Star Trek theme.All the funny play-acting and dressing up of the characters as Star Trek characters was highly amusing and it was a great way to have normal every day human characters obtain weapons and attitudes that you wouldn't normally see.The book was fairly upbeat for a zombie book; it was refreshing to read a zombie book that was tons of fun and left you feeling good at the end of it all.Overall this is one of the best, if not the best, zombie book I have read all year. I just cannot get over what a great time I had reading it, how creative the story was, and how witty and enjoyable it was. If you are at all a fan of pulp fiction, humorous horror, zombies, action, or Star Trek pick up this book. The only other zombie book I have read this year that even comes close to touching this one was The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell and Alden Bell's book is much more serious, talking a lot more at the philosophy of life and human nature.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book; anyone with some familiarity with conventions, Star Trek, Star Wars, and the fan world in general should find it very entertaining. And if you love zombies, well, it has those in spades. Well-written, engaging, and fun!
    • 3/5
      A light-hearted mash up of _Star Trek_ and zombie movies. The main character was a little annoying but overall it was entertaining.
    • 4/5
      Zombies are everywhere these days. They show up in movies, books, standard TV, on the t-shirts of infants.. They have become pervasive in all aspects of our global social-cultural circles.It is strange because back when I was in school, Zombies were still a sub-culture. I do not know if this is purely an artifact of the internet culture, or if people have finally become desensitized to a point where flash mobs of gore covered faux-corpses is just a norm; Where a life with out zombie-fear, zombie escape plans, and everyone trying to top each other with anti-zombie paraphernalia would be passe.Like Death Troopers before it, Night of the Living Trekkies (NotLT) is a geek smorgasbord. NotLT is exactly how it sounds. A novel of “Unofficial, Unimaginable, Unbelievable” proportions. I have to admit, I like living in a world where books like this can exist. Where geeks, instead of being avoided while reading them, can be approached by people asking if it is worth reading and whether the red shirts die first.To appease people like the asian man on the train who stared at me for fifteen minutes before asking a stranger questions.. Seriously.. The title alone should have gotten you to pick this up and read it. If not the title, then perhaps the awesome art on the cover. I was very entertained by all of these things. Very very entertained…Quick summing up: In Texas, the largest Gulf region trek convention is just ramping up for the year. Folks are signing into their rooms, prepping for the feasting on Klingon blood worms, and giant “to-scale” cake models of alien warships. Combat Veteran (and hotel assistant manager) Jim is being harrassed by his pesky spidey sense though. Something is not right, the expected capacity of the hotel is not being met, people keep calling in sick, some kid is annoying guests with a play ray gun, and a mime (of all things) just started biting the security personnel… Something is going down, but he cannot seem to put his finger on it. Please note the status of “Combat Veteran”.If that doesn’t do it for you though, take my word that if you get a kick out of internet photoshops of Picard juggling spoons, making people angry by talking about Kirk and Spock kissing, or want a “Wreath of Khan” for xmas next year, then you are gonna love this.Oh yeah, Princess Leia makes an appearance :)Seeing this come from Quirk, was a treat. I am tried of all the rewriting of classic novels to add zombies, demons, vampires etc into them. Quirk publishing has played that out and annoyed me to the point of wanting to scream.. They turned novelty into tripe.. Congrats on that. However, having a cross cultural mashup instead of relying on dead authors and some tired wit was great. – Kudos to Kevin Anderson and Sam Stall.. Great work here guys.--xpost RawBlurb.com
    • 3/5
      Not really all that funny.
    • 5/5
      Best zombie so far,funny too. I'm not a brekkie, but my husband is and he got a real kick out of the story even though he isn't a zombie fan. Win, win. We're going to buy it. I highly recommend!
    • 4/5
      Zombies are everywhere these days. They show up in movies, books, standard TV, on the t-shirts of infants.. They have become pervasive in all aspects of our global social-cultural circles.It is strange because back when I was in school, Zombies were still a sub-culture. I do not know if this is purely an artifact of the internet culture, or if people have finally become desensitized to a point where flash mobs of gore covered faux-corpses is just a norm; Where a life with out zombie-fear, zombie escape plans, and everyone trying to top each other with anti-zombie paraphernalia would be passe.Like Death Troopers before it, Night of the Living Trekkies (NotLT) is a geek smorgasbord. NotLT is exactly how it sounds. A novel of “Unofficial, Unimaginable, Unbelievable” proportions. I have to admit, I like living in a world where books like this can exist. Where geeks, instead of being avoided while reading them, can be approached by people asking if it is worth reading and whether the red shirts die first.To appease people like the asian man on the train who stared at me for fifteen minutes before asking a stranger questions.. Seriously.. The title alone should have gotten you to pick this up and read it. If not the title, then perhaps the awesome art on the cover. I was very entertained by all of these things. Very very entertained…Quick summing up: In Texas, the largest Gulf region trek convention is just ramping up for the year. Folks are signing into their rooms, prepping for the feasting on Klingon blood worms, and giant “to-scale” cake models of alien warships. Combat Veteran (and hotel assistant manager) Jim is being harrassed by his pesky spidey sense though. Something is not right, the expected capacity of the hotel is not being met, people keep calling in sick, some kid is annoying guests with a play ray gun, and a mime (of all things) just started biting the security personnel… Something is going down, but he cannot seem to put his finger on it. Please note the status of “Combat Veteran”.If that doesn’t do it for you though, take my word that if you get a kick out of internet photoshops of Picard juggling spoons, making people angry by talking about Kirk and Spock kissing, or want a “Wreath of Khan” for xmas next year, then you are gonna love this.Oh yeah, Princess Leia makes an appearance :)Seeing this come from Quirk, was a treat. I am tried of all the rewriting of classic novels to add zombies, demons, vampires etc into them. Quirk publishing has played that out and annoyed me to the point of wanting to scream.. They turned novelty into tripe.. Congrats on that. However, having a cross cultural mashup instead of relying on dead authors and some tired wit was great. – Kudos to Kevin Anderson and Sam Stall.. Great work here guys.--xpost RawBlurb.com
    • 5/5
      I love it when a book makes me laugh out loud and get scared all at once. Great read.
    • 5/5
      originally picked up this book as a joke when boarders was closing and had gift cards to use up. I am glad i picked it it up it was a well written book and i loved it. Anybody who is a fan of star trek and zombies will enjoy this book. it was an easy read and hard to put down at times.
    • 5/5
      If you pick up this book, chances are you are not expecting great literature.

      And… it’s not.

      It IS a hilarious zombie / Star Trek spoof that is full of funny (and pun-ny) one-liners, action, gore … and pointy ears.

      JUST READ IT.
    • 3/5
      Eh. Alright I guess. I started it, I finished it. It was technically very well written, but ironically I think that maybe I wasn't the primary audience it was going for, because, well, although I love most of Star Trek, I'm not male. Sheesh, it took me three or four uses of the word 'sack' in the novel before I got what the heck they were talking about (a part of the human anatomy unique to males, and yes, I had heard the term before, just never read it in a book). So-- perhaps the fact that I'm female colored my opinions on the book a bit. (and if you're a dude reading this review and think I'm an idiot for not immediately getting what 'sack' meant. Stop reading the review and go read the book already!)The story isn't too complicated. There's a Star Trek convention in a Houston hotel where a former Army guy turned bellhop works. Then zombies start attacking, well, everything. There are a few survivors, including the army guy, they try not to die.Despite its unsurpring-ness, it was an interesting look at how two vastly different genres, The Star Trek Novel, and the Zombie novel, go together. It was also a bit fun to find all the lines and allusions from Star Trek, Star Wars, not to mention gaming and even other Sci Fi classics such as Battlestar Galactica, etc.Not a bad book, just watch out for that third eye, and guys that call themselves commodore, everyone knows it's a bogus rank anyway.
    • 4/5
      Fun read. Better then I thought it would be based on the cover and lots of references to Star Wars to keep those fans happy too.
    • 5/5
      It provides exactly what it promises: Trekkies fighting Zombies!
    • 4/5
      Basic Summary: Main character was a Star Trek fanatic until 2 tours at war left him living life in an angry, depressed haze working as an assistant hotel manager. Then, he finds his lobby swarmed with hundreds of Vulcans, Ferengi, Klingons and red-shirted Trekkies who slowly all become infected with a virus that turn its hosts into flesh-eating violent zombies! Jim catches on a must lead the fans to safety through a hotel maze of blood-lusting savages.

      I'm a huge Trekkie and received this book as a gag-gift in Dec. 2010. It was funny and a quick indulgent read.

      Favorite Quotes:

      None! It's a mindless nothing read, there are no memorable quotes in this - it's not exactly a complex story. ;)

    • 5/5
      This past weekend I ran across something that caught my eye on a forum that I frequent. That something was Night of the Living Trekkies. Instant gratification kicked in and I knew I couldn’t wait to check this one out. Boy am I glad I didn’t wait.Night of the Living Trekkies is a zombie/sci-fi/Star Trek lover’s dream come true. Our inner (or not so inner – as in my case) geeks, our inner teenage boys (unless, of course, you are a teenage boy), our inner (or again not so inner – again as in my case) zombie story lovers will answer the call that is Night of the Living Trekkies. Authors Kevin David Anderson and Sam Stall, life-long science fiction geeks and self-professed trekkies, bring us the sheer amazing-ness that is Night of the Living Trekkies.Do you get it yet? Do you see that – in my strong, very strong opinion, at least – that Night of the Living Trekkies is amazing, astonishing, awesome, fantastic, incredible, marvelous, superb, wonderful, and every other adjective that could be considered a synonym to my list.I loved Night of the Trekkies. Plain and simple. So what is it?Jim Pike (our hero) went from wearing a soldier’s uniform to a hotel uniform. He traded in carrying weapons to carrying luggage. After serving two tours in Afghanistan he decided that positions of authority and leadership were not for him. And so he became a bellhop, then a lowly security officer at a hotel in Houston. During the weekend of GulfCon, a Trek only convention, Jim is forced to face hundreds of Vulcan, Klingon, human, and various other guests, in addition to some sort of virus turning these guests into flesh eating zombies.Ha! No biggie, right?Jim and a handful of survivors, Princess Leia included (Yes, I know what you’re thinking, Trek only so why a Star Wars character? But really, read the book and find out!), have to fight their way out of the infested hotel to safety, preferably before the government deploys their fail-safe.The 250-odd pages of Night of the Living Trekkies are filled with plenty of Star Trek and even Star Wars references. I’m no trekkie so some of these references went over my head, but I definitely got some of them, and of course all the Star Wars, because well… I love Star Wars. There are battle scenes, surprisingly good characterization for a parody such as this, and a gripping story all together. I laughed aloud, a lot, and even got teary eyed about the end of chapter 32. I attached to the story immediately and couldn’t put it down. By no means is this a difficult read, just set aside a couple of hours to sit down and enjoy a few good laughs. It is a bit gruesome, so if thats not your thing brace yourself or skim the fighting pieces.Night of the Living Trekkies was – again – fantastic! I loved it! By far this is one of my favorites of the year, and might be finding a place on my favorites of all time shelf. I can’t help but love the book. Even if you’re a trekkie who can’t stand the thought of zombies invading your trek literature, I’d still give it a shot. They don’t ruin the story. The authors take what’s (and this is my assumption, as again I’m no trekkie) at the heart of being a Star Trek fan and weave and entertaining and fairly original, as far as zombies go, web around it.I can’t say it enough, get a copy of this and read it. It’s awesome! The best fourteen dollars I’ve spent in a long time!
    • 3/5
      An obscure Star Trek convention? Secret military installation that’s just had a 'breach'? A harassed ex-soldier who just wants to lie low in a dead end job?If this sounds like a great like great fun then this is the book for you, I mean zombies versus popular sci-fi what’s not to like? This book does exactly what it sets out to do: action and horror go hand in hand with humour and quite frankly I can't wait for the movie. It does have it's flaw s; some of the jokes are overly sign posted (for non fans I expect), which throws the timing off a bit and its not exactly a surprising plot (oh he IS the bad guy), although I am not sure its supposed to be. So all in all a fun read and you should already know if you want to read it from the title.
    • 4/5
      Jim Pike works in a dead end job with a minimum of responsibilities at a hotel. Although he has the capability and intelligence to do something significant with his life, he avoids responsibility like the plague. When he spent two tours of duty in Afghanistan, his confidence in himself and with people as whole was completely shattered. Now he has to deal with GenCon, the Star Trek convention that has started in the hotel. Things couldn’t be more disastrous. The attendance at the convention is well below what was expected. Employees are calling in sick and if they bother to show up, they disappear. Many people report being bitten by random strangers and develop flu-like symptoms shortly afterwards. Jim’s gut feeling tells him something is really wrong here, but Jim’s brain convinces him that it’s just paranoia. There’s no such thing as zombies, right?I thought this was going to be the mash-up book that was too cheesy to be good, but I ended up reading the entire thing in one day. It was so engaging, I couldn’t put it down. It mashes together two things I really enjoy: zombies and Star Trek. I grew up watching Star Trek: The Next Generation, so I have pretty much always been a moderate Trekkie. I really enjoyed all the attention to detail in the book. Every chapter heading was named after a Star Trek episode. There were huge amounts of references to all the Star Trek series throughout the book. The author must be nerds as well or they did massive amounts of research in order to appear so.The characters are all multidimensional, realistic people. Many of the people I got attached to ended up dying, which surprised me. I figured time wouldn’t be spent on a lot of character development if they’re just going to die. I really like Jim and his hero journey, from an outcast of the lowest order to a leader. The zombies are also pretty cool. These aren’t your run of the mill zombies, but ones induced by alien parasites, kind of like in Scott Sigler’s Infected. They cause people to sprout an extra eye and have the ability to mesmerize people. Eating flesh isn’t needed for their survival, but as means of transmitting more parasites to more people. Their biology is interested and provides a new spin on the zombie.Night of the Living Trekkies is a fast, light read that grabs you doesn’t let go. The Star Trek information is presented in such a way that fans would recognize some more subtle Star Trek allusions, but there are plenty that are explained so no readers would feel left out if they don’t know Star Trek canon very well. I think everyone could find something that they like in it.