Los Angeles County park ranger, Jack Carter, is about to discover that not all is as it seems in his tranquil life. Once responsible for patrolling the many public parks, in particular the popular Griffith Park with its famous observatory and zoo, Jack is about to discover that a whole new kind of animal roams his woods.

The undead kind.

It begins when his brother, on leave from the military, arrives sick. Deathly sick. Jack’s concern turns to alarm when his own flesh and blood turns on him, forcing the park ranger to take drastic measures.

Now searching for answers and help for his brother, Jack finds himself on the run from a lethal group of government agents—and from something monstrous that stalks his woods. Something not of this world…and hungry for flesh.

Tell us about Zombie Patrol.
ZOMBIE PATROL is my first foray into horror in quite some time. My first adult stories were actually horror. Stories like “Teeth” and “The Bleeder” and the thriller CURSED! were written when I was in my early twenties. (I later absorbed “Teeth” into my Vampire for Hire world, and Scott Nicholson came on board to add his considerable skills to CURSED!) So, yes. I have horror in my blood.

So it’s a typical horror novel? Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Funny you should ask…horror! Heh. With that said, ZOMBIE PATROL is a little closer to a thriller (at least for the first book). Books two and three of the Walking Plague Trilogy will be considerably bloodier and creepier.

Tell us more about what we can expect from the rest of the series.
More zombies. More action. The breakdown of society. One family struggling to stay together, not only to fight off those infected, but to stay sane in a world crumbling around them. I say “world,” but I really mean their small niche in Griffith Park (Hollywood’s most famous park). I wanted a small-scale setting for a big-time problem. I like to keep things intimate.

What kind of readers will this book appeal to?
Zombies in general have a huge fan base, although I suspect they might mostly appeal to adult males. For my zombie story, I wanted to focus on the dynamics of Jack’s family as they deal with this horrific crisis. I did this because my tastes in writing has changed. I enjoy digging deeply into characters and relationships. I suspect many of my female readers will have a good time with ZOMBIE PATROL.

Your writing tastes are changing? Tell us something, what are the characteristics of a J.R. Rain novel?
Nice question! Fast-moving plots. Lot of dialogue. Lots of fast talking. As witty as I can make it. Sometimes my one-liners hit home, sometimes they don’t! Heh. Generally a southern California setting. As much emotion and heart as I can pour into the story. Not a lot of sex. (I think I have written precisely one sex scene.) A mystery. Spiritual truths as I understand them. An ending that satisfies me. Oh, and short. I don’t like reading long books, and I don’t like writing them, either.

Is that part of the reason you’ve been so prolific? How many books have you written? Do you have a favourite?
I’ve now published 48 books (which includes a handful of children’s novels and short story collections). I have many more coming out in the next 12 months (including DRAGON ASSASSIN with Piers Anthony, which will be out in early March, 2013). Should be a wild year. A favorite novel of mine is THE BODY DEPARTED. That story came together in ways that surprised even me. I’m finishing up SILENT ECHO for Thomas & Mercer. I say this because SILENT ECHO might be my new favorite. Might.

Tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m a full-time writer. I live on an island with Sadie the Wonder Dog in what I call the Tree House overlooking Puget Sound, about an hour north of Seattle (and an hour south of Canada). I come from a family of writers and storytellers. Most of my family are full-time writers. I have a degree in anthropology. I worked 12 years as a claims investigator and private eye. These days, I let my P.I. license expire to continue writing full-time.

Have you got a website where readers can keep up with your work? How can we follow you on social media?
Head over to jrrain.com or find me on Facebook. (There’s a link to my Facebook page from my website.) Also, click on “Books” on my website to see a full list of all my published books and works in progress.

What’s next?
As mentioned above, I’m publishing DRAGON ASSASSIN in the next few days with Piers Anthony. I’m almost done with the final draft of SILENT ECHO, a standalone novel that features a private investigator dying of an AIDS-related cancer who solves one last case, a case only he can solve. I’m presently writing novels with Scott Nicholson (SPIDER WEB) and Michele Scot (HEAR NO EVIL). Elizabeth Basque and I are putting the finishing touches on ZOMBIE RAGE (Walking Plague Trilogy #2). So, I’ve got a few fun things going on.

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