Warning!
(This is the Warning! at the beginning of Book One.)
'Does the Doggie Die?’ The one thing always left out of all the warnings for entertainment is the biggest thing of them all—do animals get killed? The housecat in the story does not die in this book. Secondary character animals are killed but none are shown to be betrayed by their humans. Things are rather Cujo. The story has passed a slew of animal lovers with thumbs up.
From the Literary Devices* website:
[Dark] humor is a literary device used in novels and plays to discuss taboo subjects while adding an element of comedy. Cambridge Dictionary defines it as a non-serious way of treating or dealing with serious subjects. It is often used to present any serious, gruesome or painful incidents lightly. The writers use it as a tool to explore serious issues, inciting serious thoughts and discomfort in the audience.
Why is a fiction novel beginning with a definition?
America has an undeclared, highly contagious airborne virus that causes a disease commonly known as Stupid. That explains a lot, doesn’t it? Keep those face masks on or you could catch Stupid. It has spread to other countries such as the UK, so they need to stop their damn gloating.
Those afflicted with Stupid reject dark humor as existing. They are devoid of any trace of a sense of humor, and because the virus makes them severely arrogant, they believe humor doesn’t exist in the world. No matter how exaggerated and ridiculous a Bostonian character’s dialogue statement is, the afflicted take it dead seriously and proclaim it the opinion of the author.
They need to be quarantined before the Stupid virus spreads across Earth and destroys the intelligence of the human species!
The modern storytelling method is utilized in this series, which means highly visual with a lot of dialogue and action words in the narration. The style is often described as “reading a movie.” Those who are vehemently opposed to this style and refuse to read dialogue in novels, here is their time to leave.
Since the afflicted decided to make a giant spoiler into the “concept” and broadcast it, screwing half of the book, here is the actual concept: the zombie apocalypse comes to real life. Flakka and other real-world drugs are referred to in the dialogue. This story is influenced by true life events, especially the 2012 ‘Bath Salts Zombie Apocalypse.' You will see the ‘Tranq’ behavior as well. Very scary in its realism. If you missed these things, you can learn about them on the author's website at KJJonesing.com, under Behind the Scenes.
The story is influenced by true life and utilizes genuine medical information in a real location but it is not a nonfiction work. Below is a clarification statement for the afflicted to help with how to read a fiction book:
A No-Duh Disclaimer
The characters only represent themselves. The opinions of the characters do not reflect the opinions of the author. They speak for themselves and are not meant to represent any population of people or anyone but themselves.
The characters are not statements to the media by influential people. They aren’t the master controllers in some 1984 scenario, programming all the readers to follow their lead—the fans of this series are too smart and smartass for that. The book is called a fiction novel. So sad that such must be explained to them, isn’t it?
Starting in early 2021, Stupid-infected hordes began attacking throngs of books on Amazon with their venomous, idiotic bullshit. It has grown into a crisis for indie authors. Unfortunately, unlike bitey zombies, the Stupid infected can’t be killed in self-defense.
In Extinction’s Amazon reviews, the Stupid have created a battle between themselves in the two-stars and combat veterans in the five-stars over the combat vet characters. Even combat vets are not permitted to know anything when faced with the arrogance of the Stupid infected.
It turns out the Stupid want the clenched buttock, bravado-spewing, Hollywood fake combat MOSes** military personnel who say trite things and never banter or joke. Who knew that crap had a target audience?
The author reserves the right for some veteran characters to behave like douchebags. This is part of the intimidation doctoral candidate Phebe will feel towards them, as well as their character arcs to stop being douchebags.
For public safety reasons, when the infected are identified, shoot them in the face. There are too many—they need to be promptly rounded up and cordoned off before spreading the disease further. Sadly, much of the US government is infected with Stupid, from federal to state—explains a lot, doesn’t it?
*https://literarydevices.net/black-humor/
**Military Occupational Specialty