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meet_me_in_cognito's review against another edition
4.0
Good zombie novel, takes an interesting perspective and the political aspects of an outbreak as well as the military response.
I have heard criticisims of this book that say that the character development is somewhat lacking, but I think that is appropriate to the tone of the book. The characters are believable and act in ways that make sense, though they are not always rational. Overall, an entertaining, fast paced read.
I have heard criticisims of this book that say that the character development is somewhat lacking, but I think that is appropriate to the tone of the book. The characters are believable and act in ways that make sense, though they are not always rational. Overall, an entertaining, fast paced read.
bookshy's review against another edition
1.0
Not a TERRIBLE book, but nothing out of the ordinary. Cliched characters and stale plotlines. After reading the first quarter of this book and knowing what was going to happen around every page I finally put this down. Probably a better book for a novice or beginner in zombie fiction.
notnotnoble's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
13crowe's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely loved this story. I was gripping the end of my seat throughout the book. I felt as if I were there; laughing when they laughed and feeling the losses they suffered. The only critique I have is I would hope that with as many zombie based movies/books/videogames in the world that the military and general public would catch on to the zombie death by headshot only a bit quicker. All in all though I thoroughly enjoyed this book and cannot wait to read the second one.
jljaina's review against another edition
4.0
What a great story! I grabbed this on a whim at the library. I knew nothing about this book at it was my first ever zombie novel. A perfect blend of action and survival with a side-serving of zombie horror.
A new virus strain has been discovered, called Morningstar. While scientists meddle in making new discoveries, a few people are soon infected. While nothing is amiss at first, the virus slowly works through it's victims. The strain is very contagious. A bite or scratch is guaranteed to infect you. They touch your blood and you are screwed. But their blood and bodily fluid touching your skin can be just as bad... This virus will spread through any contact it can.
This book focuses on that spread. How it could travel and effect the whole world. The concept is quite disturbing since it would make sense. Yet when it finally mutates, the infected go a bit attack crazy. Chaos ensues!
One thing I loved in this book was the types of infected. You had carriers who have had contact but are otherwise still normal. Once it has gone through it's incubation period, they go crazy are are on virus steroids or something. These are referred to as 'Sprinters.' they are fast, and loud. They sound the alarms to other zombies and will chase you down! Once an infected dies, they rise again. These are referred to as 'shamblers.' They are slow but quite. Can sneak up right behind you but if spotted at a distance you might be okay. My guess it its the rigor mortis kicking in that slows them down. The problems are you have to kill the infected twice! Also, regardless of speed, they DO NOT tire. They will track and chase you for miles. So being on foot is bad since humans still need sleep and rest.
Then you have the crazies who when the world falls apart, go nuts and destroy things, hurt and kill people, etc. And you have those who want to help and you have the survivalists. This book shares of the crazies but the focal points are from the helpers and survalists.
This story has a heavy military emphasis. The story focuses around mostly them. From trying to control the outbreak, to trying to get away and then figuring out what the hell to do next. It is an interesting ride. We get a lot of different viewpoints and perspectives in this book. From the military, to the scientists, to Red Cross, to a reporter. Each character has various strengths and weaknesses that we get to see, giving the story a very real feel.
some of the characters can get a bit confusing with names and the changing perspectives but about halfway though it does get a lot easier. While I like many of the characters, you do not get attached to them. They are not too deeply created for the most part. But that is a good thing. This is a zombie novel after all. Many will not make it. But there is enough deep and backround to understand and relate to them.
While lots of death occur, it is not grotesque. More action-style but the zombie survival with the feel of 'What if' that this book gives adds the element of horror. This is not for young readers. This is an adult novel. While maybe suitable to older, mature teens can be debatable.
Fast paced, easy to read and lots of action in this first book of The Morningstar Strain trilogy. Almost 4.5 stars!
A new virus strain has been discovered, called Morningstar. While scientists meddle in making new discoveries, a few people are soon infected. While nothing is amiss at first, the virus slowly works through it's victims. The strain is very contagious. A bite or scratch is guaranteed to infect you. They touch your blood and you are screwed. But their blood and bodily fluid touching your skin can be just as bad... This virus will spread through any contact it can.
This book focuses on that spread. How it could travel and effect the whole world. The concept is quite disturbing since it would make sense. Yet when it finally mutates, the infected go a bit attack crazy. Chaos ensues!
One thing I loved in this book was the types of infected. You had carriers who have had contact but are otherwise still normal. Once it has gone through it's incubation period, they go crazy are are on virus steroids or something. These are referred to as 'Sprinters.' they are fast, and loud. They sound the alarms to other zombies and will chase you down! Once an infected dies, they rise again. These are referred to as 'shamblers.' They are slow but quite. Can sneak up right behind you but if spotted at a distance you might be okay. My guess it its the rigor mortis kicking in that slows them down. The problems are you have to kill the infected twice! Also, regardless of speed, they DO NOT tire. They will track and chase you for miles. So being on foot is bad since humans still need sleep and rest.
Then you have the crazies who when the world falls apart, go nuts and destroy things, hurt and kill people, etc. And you have those who want to help and you have the survivalists. This book shares of the crazies but the focal points are from the helpers and survalists.
This story has a heavy military emphasis. The story focuses around mostly them. From trying to control the outbreak, to trying to get away and then figuring out what the hell to do next. It is an interesting ride. We get a lot of different viewpoints and perspectives in this book. From the military, to the scientists, to Red Cross, to a reporter. Each character has various strengths and weaknesses that we get to see, giving the story a very real feel.
some of the characters can get a bit confusing with names and the changing perspectives but about halfway though it does get a lot easier. While I like many of the characters, you do not get attached to them. They are not too deeply created for the most part. But that is a good thing. This is a zombie novel after all. Many will not make it. But there is enough deep and backround to understand and relate to them.
While lots of death occur, it is not grotesque. More action-style but the zombie survival with the feel of 'What if' that this book gives adds the element of horror. This is not for young readers. This is an adult novel. While maybe suitable to older, mature teens can be debatable.
Fast paced, easy to read and lots of action in this first book of The Morningstar Strain trilogy. Almost 4.5 stars!
jessthebookslover's review against another edition
5.0
Review of Plague of the Dead by Z. A. Recht.
5/5 stars.
Can I just say WOW.
This book had been sitting on my shelf since 2014 and only got around to reading it 6 years later. During a pandemic.
*Ironic much?*
But anyway. I'M SO HAPPY I READ THIS, because... honestly? This is one hell of a zombie book. This is the stuff about zombies I wanna read and I couldn't get enough of it! That's why I'm already soooo looking forward to reading the sequel.
Plague of the Dead will satisfy your need for details: details about the zombies, how they look, how they move, how fast they walk/run, HOW they became zombies in the first place, etc.
And not only that.
If you're anything like me, you're always on the lookout for scientific details and I can't say it enough: your need for all of that is completely fulfilled here. Scientific and military details are *chef kiss*.
Characters-wise, this book isn't that much 'deep', loads of people are introduced during the narration, but don't expect the writer to go full on psychologist: you'll have to retrieve some infos on your own, as a reader should always do. Something that will help you though, is the writing style and how dialogues were constructed. We get to know the people inside the book especially thanks to those, so you wanna keep a close eye on them, trust me.
Another thing I EXTREMELY loved is the journey that takes place in the story and, once again *sorry*, the details about the whereabouts and the timestamps! So much thought went into the making of this book, I'm so so impressed! Plus, the writer was so young when he wrote this, so kudos for that as well.
If you don't know though, Recht died in 2009 at the age of 26, he was involved in a car accident. He completed the first two books in this trilogy on his own, but then the third one had to be completed by Thom Brannan and was published 2 years after his passing.
Zachary, thank you for your service (he was in the military) and also, thank you for providing the world with this amazing book. Can't wait to read the sequels!
5/5 stars.
Can I just say WOW.
This book had been sitting on my shelf since 2014 and only got around to reading it 6 years later. During a pandemic.
*Ironic much?*
But anyway. I'M SO HAPPY I READ THIS, because... honestly? This is one hell of a zombie book. This is the stuff about zombies I wanna read and I couldn't get enough of it! That's why I'm already soooo looking forward to reading the sequel.
Plague of the Dead will satisfy your need for details: details about the zombies, how they look, how they move, how fast they walk/run, HOW they became zombies in the first place, etc.
And not only that.
If you're anything like me, you're always on the lookout for scientific details and I can't say it enough: your need for all of that is completely fulfilled here. Scientific and military details are *chef kiss*.
Characters-wise, this book isn't that much 'deep', loads of people are introduced during the narration, but don't expect the writer to go full on psychologist: you'll have to retrieve some infos on your own, as a reader should always do. Something that will help you though, is the writing style and how dialogues were constructed. We get to know the people inside the book especially thanks to those, so you wanna keep a close eye on them, trust me.
Another thing I EXTREMELY loved is the journey that takes place in the story and, once again *sorry*, the details about the whereabouts and the timestamps! So much thought went into the making of this book, I'm so so impressed! Plus, the writer was so young when he wrote this, so kudos for that as well.
If you don't know though, Recht died in 2009 at the age of 26, he was involved in a car accident. He completed the first two books in this trilogy on his own, but then the third one had to be completed by Thom Brannan and was published 2 years after his passing.
Zachary, thank you for your service (he was in the military) and also, thank you for providing the world with this amazing book. Can't wait to read the sequels!
rovertoak's review against another edition
5.0
This is an extremely exciting, action-filled zombie book! Good character development makes and keeps readers emotionally engaged with the people on the pages. I just pre-ordered book 2 of Morningstar from Permuted Press. Can't wait to read it!
elfishpond's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
acknud's review against another edition
2.0
I wasn't all that impressed. The writing wasn't much better than a high school lit course would provide. Sure, it had lots of action but none of it was very well developed. I felt the soldiers were not military enough, esp. with a 3 star general just deciding to go AWOL with a haphazard little band of refugees.
I did like the difference in the zombie make up. There were basically 2 kinds of zombies, sprinters and shufflers. The sprinters are still alive but have been infected with a virus that acts a lot like rabies. If these sprinters are killed then they reanimate to a slower version of a zombie that also decays.
There is not much detail on the zombie itself (how long they survive, decay properties, etc.) and I feel this is a weakness in the story.
I did like the difference in the zombie make up. There were basically 2 kinds of zombies, sprinters and shufflers. The sprinters are still alive but have been infected with a virus that acts a lot like rabies. If these sprinters are killed then they reanimate to a slower version of a zombie that also decays.
There is not much detail on the zombie itself (how long they survive, decay properties, etc.) and I feel this is a weakness in the story.