Instruct: Classify Amazon reviews into positive or negative sentiment
Query: Second-rate Clark

Although I've been a major fan of Simon Clark's since first reading KING BLOOD years ago, STRANGER sadly feels more like a retread than anything else. While it does have its moments, they are few and far between amongst a rather uninvolving and confusing tale of zombies that aren't quite zombies. Clark never fully explains exactly what's going on in the story as a strange plague in South America begins killing people, driving the starving survivors northwards. Exactly when the plague shifts to making people insane with rage, or why some of the supposedly infected act perfectly normal while the hero of the story, Greg Valdiva, hacks them to pieces with an ax, is beyond me. The twist revelation at the end is merely confusing (at least to me). If end-of-the-world tales are you kind of thing, Clark has done two others that are much much stronger. King Blood and Blood Crazy. I suggest you check them out instead.