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A review by vikingwolf
Omega Days by John L. Campbell
Did not finish book. Stopped at 47%.
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.