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devansbooklife's review against another edition
5.0
An excellent, thrilling, zombie infested read! I enjoyed this immensely. This book follows multiple characters and starts out with a bang. The end of the world happens quickly and the reader is in the front row seat. I am very excited about book two.
vikingwolf's review against another edition
This book started off ok with the immediate start of a zombie apocalypse witnessed through the eyes of several people. Xavier is a priest who is having a crisis of faith after shooting two gang members in self defence after they attempt to kill a kid that they were trying to recruit. He then sees the mauled reanimated bodies of nuns attacking a fellow priest and he has to flee, becoming the reluctant leader of a small group of survivors hiding out in a shop. He has to find weapons and a plan to get out of the city. This group were the most interesting in the early chapters and I liked Xavier.
I also liked Angie and her uncle, stars of her reality tv show about her family of gunsmiths. The zombies attack as they are at finishing filming and they flee to try and reach the prepper ranch where she hopes to reunite with the rest of her family. We also follow two prisoners and a psycho tv evangelist. The other main character is college student Skye, who is the only surviving member of her family, rescued from campus by soldiers.
But by halfway I lost interest. Skye's story gets silly when her military friends do the dumbest things-putting a dead soldier in the back of their transport beside the rescued people and being surprised when he turns, not killing the bitten civilians who then attack them, not keeping watch on the roof, not fleeing when the situation demands it. It was silly. Then instead of going back to the other characters, we get the short life story of people who die a paragraph later, geographical updates that add nothing and lots of new characters gradually being added to the overcrowded cast-the Mayor, the helicopter pilot, random zombie chow characters etc. It got too much.
Instead of following the fortunes of a few main groups, it delved into multiple viewpoints that added nothing to the story and stopped us being with those who counted. I don't need a cast of thousands still being added by halfway-I'd rather develop those we already have. I got bored with the fluff and decided not to read on.
I also liked Angie and her uncle, stars of her reality tv show about her family of gunsmiths. The zombies attack as they are at finishing filming and they flee to try and reach the prepper ranch where she hopes to reunite with the rest of her family. We also follow two prisoners and a psycho tv evangelist. The other main character is college student Skye, who is the only surviving member of her family, rescued from campus by soldiers.
But by halfway I lost interest. Skye's story gets silly when her military friends do the dumbest things-putting a dead soldier in the back of their transport beside the rescued people and being surprised when he turns, not killing the bitten civilians who then attack them, not keeping watch on the roof, not fleeing when the situation demands it. It was silly. Then instead of going back to the other characters, we get the short life story of people who die a paragraph later, geographical updates that add nothing and lots of new characters gradually being added to the overcrowded cast-the Mayor, the helicopter pilot, random zombie chow characters etc. It got too much.
Instead of following the fortunes of a few main groups, it delved into multiple viewpoints that added nothing to the story and stopped us being with those who counted. I don't need a cast of thousands still being added by halfway-I'd rather develop those we already have. I got bored with the fluff and decided not to read on.
protoapostoli's review against another edition
2.0
Meh. Even two stars is generous. I gave it 10 chapters, and couldn't finish. Poorly developed characters didn't help either.
foreverbeautifulbooks's review against another edition
5.0
This book put me through a roller coaster that is for sure! This story is told from multiple POV (at times he does head hop but it somehow works and I was able to over look it.) and you get into the heads of random groups of people, good and bad, during a zombie outbreak. This one runs fast and kinda crazy! These aren't fast moving zombies but the author seems to spin an original take on this world and the virus. You get nice little tidbits and maybe a clue of those the virus started but the doctor is then killed. I would really like to encounter another person who knows what's going on. There has to be an underground group, there has to RIGHT!
There were times that this book rode a Walking Dead line. With the whole 'every human left alive is bad' deal. But you actually find goodness in the craziest places and the author redeems some of the bad humans. I do have a favorite character, and I have already shipped her with one of the men. Oddly enough this said man ends up saving her in a hoard and I was squeeing.
Then--the author--choose this character to stick in a tree and toss metaphorical rocks at her the entire book and how it ended with her!!!! I was screaming and asked for a spoiler from someone who read it lol
I'm sorry I had to know if my girl was in the next book! As far as zombie series goes, this is a total win. Very well written with gender equality and everything I LOVE about a zombie book!
*I purchased a copy of this book from my local bookstore The Book Rack*
There were times that this book rode a Walking Dead line. With the whole 'every human left alive is bad' deal. But you actually find goodness in the craziest places and the author redeems some of the bad humans. I do have a favorite character, and I have already shipped her with one of the men. Oddly enough this said man ends up saving her in a hoard and I was squeeing.
Then--the author--choose this character to stick in a tree and toss metaphorical rocks at her the entire book and how it ended with her!!!! I was screaming and asked for a spoiler from someone who read it lol
I'm sorry I had to know if my girl was in the next book! As far as zombie series goes, this is a total win. Very well written with gender equality and everything I LOVE about a zombie book!
*I purchased a copy of this book from my local bookstore The Book Rack*
stitching_ghost's review against another edition
3.0
I know that these days almost every other piece of zombie content wants to be compared to it but in this particular case I think the comparison to The Walking Dead is apt, for better or worse. Much like some season of the walking dead it's all over the place introducing characters and dropping them there's a lot going and sometimes so much so that it seems drawn out even though it isn't. A lot of the character archetypes you found in TWD are there too. There's also the same kind of death fake offs that take off some of the stakes if they are not paired with some real casualties that do pack some punches, whether or not it will be the case with this series remains to be seen. For some reasons I also got pretty strong The Stand vibes from this book (possibly because of the preacher on one side and the televangelist on the other).
The story is good enough but the writing style and constant switching from one character to the other didn't work for me, I wish we could have stuck with each character for longer.
Will I come back to this series: I got the second installment first so I guess I might as well.
The story is good enough but the writing style and constant switching from one character to the other didn't work for me, I wish we could have stuck with each character for longer.
Will I come back to this series: I got the second installment first so I guess I might as well.
dylanbonar's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
granolagina's review against another edition
5.0
Probably my favorite zombie book. Loved all the individual story lines and can't wait for the next one in the series.
kellyann_'s review against another edition
5.0
This book didn't take me that long to finish actually, but I just forgot to update Goodreads. I DEVOURED this book in two days, last year actually at HorrorCon. Horrorcon was a convention that I was working, for sci-fi/fantasy and horror authors. Giants like Brandon Sanderson and Dan Wells were in attendance. I was bored, working my booth, and I began conversation with the author next to me. I had never heard of him, or seen his books at the store I worked. I was curious though, and picked up his first book to read when it was slow. After the first chapter, I purchased it from him personally and started eating the book by the paragraphs. It was so engaging, fun, and literally made me sit at the edge of my seat. He is a talented author, and it was such a pleasure to spend the weekend sitting next to him chatting about different topics and ideas. He even personalized my copy, and it brings me such joy to discover hidden authors at cons and author events. Truly, this review comes from the bottom of my heart.
lizzzeb's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Way too many characters, it'll be hard to remember everything if I take a break before the 2nd book. I do like the various perspectives, it held my interest, and no supporting character is safe.