THE RETURNED – Review by MaryAnn Johanson
In a slightly alternate universe to our own, the world has been coping with a zombie plague with a retroviral drug that keeps the infection at bay in those who carry the virus. It’s a clear parable for HIV/AIDS: the first outbreak occurred in the early 80s, the retroviral was first created — from live (undead?) protein harvested from full-blown zombies — in the 1990s, and today being one of the “Returned” is chronic but manageable… as long as an infected gets the medication daily. But fear of and prejudice toward the Returned never really abated, and it is being stoked once again thanks to rumors that the retroviral is running out: ironically, the drug’s effectiveness is the problem, because a lack of zombies means a lack of sources for the required protein. Doubly ironic: within a day of the drug running out, the millions of Returned will become zombies. Read more>>