JD

Entertaining As Hell

Revisado: 07-02-17

Really amusing story and a great performance by the narrator. This could totally make an epic B Movie. Campy and hilarious with a ton of action and comedy... not to mention a disco dog that poops diamonds. Yes, I said a disco dog that poops diamonds. That alone should make you want to check this story out.

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Gave Up

Revisado: 10-19-16

Sounded like a great story premise, but just could not get into it. Extremely slow moving plot and very little tension. At 1/3 of the way through the book when the main storyline was focused on the mystery of someone stealing a bag full of worthless personal items, I decided this one wasn't really going anywhere.

Written by anyone else, I doubt this title would have been published, or at least would have been drastically edited to focus the plot.

Fans of Stephen King will probably appreciate the references to his works, and maybe that will be enough to carry the story for them. But this book fell really flat for me. Very disappointing.

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Solid Sequel

Revisado: 06-06-16

I have to say, I enjoyed the sequel more than part one, and I enjoyed part one a lot. What I really enjoyed about book two is that the story focuses on the survivors against the undead instead of following a more traditional heroes vs. villains story. While there are certainly bad people in Deadland's Harvest, the story isn't hinged upon a single struggle. Instead, the story focuses on a sequence of various events and encounters that occur and push the characters to their limits, and force them to commit or face one of the seven deadly sins. All the events and struggles of the characters seem to be pushed along by the growing horde of undead.

While the author does a fine job of approaching the seven deadly sins, you can enjoy just reading this book and disregarding any and all relation to Purgatorio. There is a lot of creative original storytelling to be found here. Without the literary references, Deadland's Harvest would still stand as a fine apocalyptic story. The main characters are well-rounded and relatable. They continue to grow and evolve as people throughout the series. The secondary character development could have been stronger for some characters. In one instance, a secondary character died but the character is mostly developed post-mortem, so the moment kind of fell a bit flat for me. Later in the story, another secondary character that was well-developed died, and that moment was intense and emotional.

Still, I'd call this series a must-read for any fan of zombie fiction. It's a well-polished story, with a great plot, and strong character development.

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Great YA Virus Novel

Revisado: 04-20-16

Entertaining read for the younger crowd. Lot of action and intriguing plot that sets the ground for a strong series. Will be interesting to see how the characters develop further in the next books.

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Lot of Action!

Revisado: 04-19-16

This was a great book. Love the action and characters. Will definitely continue the series.

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Great Zombie Novel

Revisado: 02-27-14

This novel offers a lot for a great post-apocalyptic read that ties into the literary works of Dante Alighieri. While other writers have adapted literary works to include zombies humorously, Rachel Aukes instead spins an original tale that brings the reader along through the circles of hell, and captures the essence of the literary themes in her own telling.

100 Days in Deadland shouldn't scare off readers of thrilling zombie works though. There is plenty of action to go around, a lot of gore and the story stands up as an entertaining read whether you care about the literary references or not. They are very tastefully implanted in the story, and it comes across as a natural part of the plot.

The pace of the novel is very well done. There are hardly any points in the story where the tale seems to lag for very long. Things are always happening that drive the characters to action. While Cash is a strong narrator, Clutch is what really drives this story. The hardened ex-military trucker serves as Cash's guide through hell.

The only awkward moments are some of the early attempts at humor in the dialogue, which don't quite hit the mark. They aren't really funny enough to be entertaining, and don't quite ring true. The scene in which Clutch escapes from Doyle was a bit cliche, the villain leaving the good guy in an easily escapable situation. And, it didn't seem necessary or worthwhile to bring Doyle's wife into it. But these moments are easily forgivable as the work stands up for the quality of the writing and masterful storytelling nonetheless.

There is a second installment coming soon, and it will be exciting to see where this story goes now.

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Not A Zombie Novel

Revisado: 09-04-12

Feed is a novel about blogging, politics, media & zombies... in that order. The story is essentially one that could have been told without zombies at all, and for the most part it was anyway. After the first scene, where the narrator jumps a motorcycle over a pack of zombies, the story takes about 4 hours before another zombie makes a brief appearance.

There are really only several moments where there are any zombies in the story at all. So, if you are looking for a real piece of zombie fiction, this will probably disappoint you.

The writing is not bad, and the narration is pretty well done, but there are several points in the story where the plot wanders into the realm of the stupid. For instance, government sanctioned assassins breaking the neck of a reporter's cat? The longer it went on, the more the wheels fell off.

The premise was an interesting idea for a novel, but the execution leaves much to be desired.

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Amazing story, but not amazing writing

Revisado: 08-29-12

I normally don't shy away from thick novels, and have read plenty in my time, but this novel could have used some red pen. There are plenty of important elements that required it to be a lengthy book, but the author tended to drone on over certain aspects to the point where the reader can lose interest.

Some of the characters are memorable, colorful, enjoyable. It's unique and at it's best, pretty exciting. It gives you a real feel for the world of Bombay, and I enjoyed those aspects of it.

The narration is very well done. Probably the highlight of the book. The many different accents, styles of speech are all captured really well.

I wanted to rate this book higher, but just can't quite say I found it totally enjoyable. I struggled quite a bit through parts, just to keep focused while the narrative seemed to be on repeat for 5-10 minutes.

If someone was set on taking on Shantaram, I would definitely suggest the audiobook. I doubt I would have finished it were I reading off the page.

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Awful

Revisado: 08-29-12

There really isn't much to say that is positive about this book, except that it has zombies in it. Other than that, it pretty much annoyed me for 14 hours.

The narrator sounds like Ray Romano, he's just awful. I couldn't listen without wishing there would be a zombie outbreak during his narration and I could listen to him being eaten.

The writer intends to be funny, and isn't, so in that aspect the Ray Romano narrator is at least fitting. The humor fails to go beyond making jokes about dog farts and fat kids.

The plot is terrible, action terrible, technical quality of writing is terrible.

It amazes me someone published this book at all, period. Unfortunately I bought book 2 along with book one. It is even more horrible. I quit listening halfway through.

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