15 years ago . . .The
world fell.Armies of the dead swept across the globe, toppling
civilization and bringing humanity to its knees. Now, as the dead virus
has ran its course and is fading away, those who survived face a new
terror: the ever-growing numbers of the Sasquatch species.The Earth is
an apocalyptic wasteland, survivors barely managing to make it
day-by-day. Food is scarce, hope is hardly found.
Yet all turns on a dime
when a secret base is discovered underground and it is learned that it
might hold the hope for victory in this deadly world.War breaks out, and
this time man and machine combine as the struggle between humanity and
the beasts wages anew to see who will hold the top spot on nature's food
chain.
My Review:
It is fifteen years since the Sasquatches declared war on humans and humans are not winning. Greg and Anna survive alone in their reinforced cabin with hope fading for their future. Wally is travelling alone in search of his lost soul mate following the latest rumours about where she might be. A fortess of survivors face an attack by other military men who want their supplies. And in The Bunker, the last hope for the human race are about to launch their final weapons.
Greg has been trying to look after Anna, who has given up hope after the death of their child, but Greg is determined that there is still something to fight for. Wally has deserted his post as a skilled Hunter in New Denver to go in search of Bree, the woman he loves, travelling alone through a world full of Sasquatches, zombies and evil men. The fortified town of New Denver has stood firm against all threats but are now facing ruin when a military convoy arrives at the gate claiming they are seeking an alliance. Can the town withstand an attack of this magnitude?
Bree is at The Bunker, preparing her latest weapon against the Sasquatches who are marching in force towards their location. Her three generations of tech suits have allowed those inside to stay protected and successfully fight small groups of the beasts. But can the suits withstand an assault by so many? Can they protect The Bunker from the Sasquatches?
This has more of a dystopian feel as we follow those who have survived the initial war with the Sasquatches. It focuses more on the people with a battle at the end, rather than following the monsters on a killing spree. I did find the suits interesting...it was a bit like the film Pacific Rim. It was a decent read but not as good as others in the series.
Read March 2017.
Bigfoot is back!
Mere
hours after the Babble Creek massacre, the beasts strike again,
rampaging across the American Southeast. A small group of survivors in
Jackson County, North Carolina, fight to stay alive as things get worse.
Bigfoot is everywhere, terrorizing the citizens of Jackson County,
tearing them limb from limb and feasting on their flesh. Even the
powerful US military stands in awe as the enormous beasts take their
stand against them, going toe-to-toe with some of man's most lethal
technology.
Just when the survivors thought it couldn't get any
worse, death kicks into high gear as the dead begin to rise, hungry for
the flesh of the living.
The military, tasked with restoring
order and destroying the beasts, now find themselves racing to contain a
virus that could mean the end of the human race. Colonel Drake and the
small unit of tanks under his command are trapped inside the quarantine
zone as the war between man and beast is joined by the undead.
The
body count rises. Humanity is on the run. The night is filled with
terror, the vicious growls of the Sasquatch and the haunting moans of
the living dead. Are you ready to join in the fight?
My Review:
The local teenagers are
getting ready for the big party on the top of Bear Mountain. Pete is
running for his life through the forest away from Babble Creek to what
he hopes is help in Jackson County. Local law enforcement are hearing
about a major incident in Babble Creek as they find a badly mutilated
bear corpse. And the Sasquatches are coming...
Sarah is feeling
stifled by her upcoming singer boyfriend Matt but goes to the party
where he is performing. Ryan is there with girlfriend Vera and best
friend Chuck and the party is in full swing when Pete comes sprinting
into the car park, yelling that everyone needs to leave. It is only
seconds later that the first Sasquatch rampages into the party zone with
murder on his mind. Now the panicked people are racing for their lives
to get into cars and flee the scene, unaware that there are more of the
deadly beasts in the woods...
Kelly is a deputy in Jackson County
and with sheriff Jonathan, they get word about the destruction of
Babble Creek and that it was a tribe of Sasquatches who may be headed
their way. Locals with guns are being arranged into groups to head for
the party on Bear Mountain to try to deal with the problem but as they
arrive, it is clear from the screaming that a disaster is already
unfolding. The survivors head for town in the hope that they can find
help but the Sasquatches are everywhere and people are being attacked in
their homes and workplaces. They need to get out of town but is there
anywhere safe to go...?
This was another full on Sasquatch
massacre as the beasts find their way to another town and rampage
through it. There is plenty of blood, gore and death to keep any horror
fan happy and the action never ceases. But this book has an added twist
that keeps things interesting. Those who die from a Sasquatch attack are
not going to stay dead and a full on zombie apocalypse is about to
erupt. As a zombie fan, I was pretty excited to have Sasquatches and
zombies in the same book as it doubles the tension and horror. This is a
fun gorefest horror romp!
Read March 2017.
This is a collection of
five short stories in the Zombie Crusade series. These "snapshots" are
quick glimpses of critical locations around the world as the zombie
pandemic begins to unfold. While the snapshots connect to the main
storyline of the Zombie Crusade novels (some in obvious ways, others in
ways that will become apparent as the series continues), they may also
be read as stand-alone stories. Two of the tales in this collection,
"Israel" and "Ontario," have been previously released electronically.
My Review:
There
are five short stories in this snapshots selection. I previously
reviewed 'Ontario' so I'll review the other four here. Thank you to the
authors for sending this book to me to review and I apologize for taking
so long to review it. These snapshots mention events and characters in
the novel series as they follow different groups of people dealing with
the start of the outbreak where they live. I hope to see more of all
these characters as I progress through the novels!
1) Israel:
Jesse is in Tajikistan to assist jews there in moving to Israel but on a
hike he is attacked and bitten by sick locals. Concealing the fatal
bite, he returns to Israel and takes the zombie virus with him. Sophie
and her family watch events unfold on TV and decide to flee to their
other home, helping a Palestinian family escape from zombies. Now
everyone in Ein Gedi prepares to defend it from the zombie hordes while
working on a backup plan to flee to Masada if the defences fail.
I
so much enjoyed the opportunity to be with zombie survivors in a
totally different environment from the usual UK or USA locations.
Sophie, her son Mick and parents Avi and Lina are ordinary people and
worry about other family members in different countries. It was also
good to see the Israeli, Palestinian and Bedouin characters putting
aside differences and mistrust to work together against the zombies. It
adds a new dimension to the traditional fight the zombie story. The link
to the main series here is talk about the US soldiers attacked by the
virus in Afghanistan. This starts off apocalypse prepping for the MCs in
book one.
2) POTUS: The President seeks expert advice on the
outbreak and Barnes is happy to oblige, arriving at the safe bunker and
claiming to have a vaccine for the disease. The President is more than
happy to use this on everyone in the complex.
I don't want to
say much on this story in case I spoil things but it was really good!
The link to the main series is Barnes who features heavily in the
opening of book one and there is the full story of what happened in the
village featured in book one.
3) Maine: Colonel Longstreet works
now in private security for rich clients and is tasked with protecting
their island hideout by stopping other refugees from crossing the
bridge. However, stopping the scared civilians is going to be morally
tough as the zombies get closer and things on the island are going to
take a serious turn when a select group of rich men prepare to leave for
a new safe haven.
There is sooo much I want to say about this
one but I can't without spoilers! I loved the moral dilemma of whether
to do your job or show compassion to frightened people. I enjoyed the
twists which lead directly from the POTUS story so make sure you read
POTUS first. The link to the novel series here is Colonel Longstreet who
was the commanding officer in the village outbreak at the start of book
one.
4) Tennessee: A settlement of survivors have built a
fortified compound and are living in relative safety until the arrival
of General Jackson, who is offering the option of a vaccine and he isn't
planning to take no for an answer. Do the people put their trust in him
or take their chances with the mass of zombies heading their way?
Again
this one really follows on with the vaccine story from the last two
stories and I can't say much about the plot. I did like seeing a group
of survivors who had started a new life from the chaos and who are
unsure whether to give that up when the government calls. The link to
the novel series here is Charlotte, sister of one of the MCs in book
one, who refused to join him in a compound, instead staying near her
home.
These short stories were exciting, well written and you
cared very much about the people you were introduced to. I very much
enjoyed all five, along with the first novel in the series which I have
also read. I would advise reading the first novel 'Zombie Crusade' then
reading the snapshots as extra information. Traditional zombie fans
should enjoy this series!
Former Ranger Jack Smith
watched an Army bio-warfare experiment go horribly wrong in an Afghan
village in 2001, escaping only after he turned to a makeshift mace and
bayonet to destroy the skulls of the infected creatures that bullets to
the chest could not stop. With the traumatic experience seared into his
mind, he earned his Ph.D. in ancient history and began developing
medieval weapons-making skills after he left the service.
When the virus
broke free from the Hindu-Kush Mountains a decade later and rapidly
spread across the globe, Jack knew how to fight the monsters created by
the infection: 21st century technology combined with deadly medieval
tactics and weaponry. Jack and his former squad-mates lead a resistance
against a zombie apocalypse in a crusade to ensure humanity's survival.
My Review:
*I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review*
Jack
and Carter meet in Afghanistan and witness a zombie outbreak which is
barely contained. When returning to the US, both men begin work on a
fortress capable of housing their loved ones with supplies to survive
should the virus escape and come to their land. And then comes the day
when the news reports a new pandemic outbreak in Afghanistan...
The
book starts strongly with the outbreak in Afghanistan where Jack and
Carter see their first zombies, going through the whole experience
fighting together to survive. The book then jumps forward nicely to the
completion of their fortess project ten years later, with the Castle
ready. It is just in time as disturbing news reports catch Jack's
attention and he knows that the virus has escaped and a deadly invasion
of zombies is coming.
I liked the detail in the world building
in the early days of the outbreak. It all happens just the way you would
imagine it. We are with the men day by day as they watch the news
reports, strengthen defences, gather supplies and start bringing their
loved ones to safety. We then have Jack trying to help those in the
local area, trying to convince the authorities to work with him. There
is a lot of tell rather than show but the detail is interesting as we
see the progress of the outbreak and how the Castle prepares for the
coming war. The tension builds slowly as the zombie incidents get closer
to them. I also like that the survivors are trying to keep quiet to
avoid attracting the zombies and using old fashioned quiet weapons to do
most of the battle with.
The other good thing about the book was
the building of the three safehouses to house civilians who didn't want
to remain in their homes, and having the response teams ready to go to
the aid of those still in their homes when zombies invade the area. This
leads to some exciting zombie action on a regular basis in the book,
which nicely breaks up the described preperations. I found it all pretty
interesting to read, and was looking forward to what the next problem
would be. The action at the safehouses and the zombie attacks did not
disappoint! I liked the fact that Jack made glaring errors in his
planning which would happen when you're trying to man manage every
detail and overlooking the obvious. It added in realism.
In a
few reviews that I've seen, readers say that their main complaint was a
lack of character development and I agree. Jack is our fully developed
character as he is the hero, so we get a lot of what he thinks and does.
I had no problem with that but sometimes it did seem to be all about
him and nobody else. He is trying to be sheriff and organise a
resistance movement but insists on being involved in every action
incident ie the gas station attack. It felt sometimes that we missed the
opportunity to get to know Bobby or the others because Jack kept
dealing with it all himself and the team would arrive after Jack saved
the day again.
This leads me to the lack of character development
in the people at the Castle. Carter is the only fully developed
character that we have due to him featuring at the start. We barely see
Jack's family through this book and we only get to know a couple of the
team members as the book gets to the end. I'd have liked to have seen
more meetings and conversations early on with the major characters in
the squad all talking, sharing ideas etc and leading the missions on
their own, so we could get to know them better. I'd have liked to have
seen Jack and his team spend time with their family, sharing a few
emotional scenes with them. Again, we only get that in the phone call
with David. It would be impractical to meet all the characters but I'd
have liked a few of the characters running things at the Castle or on
the teams to get more of a starring role. It would've added more depth
and emotion, and could have taken the book up to five star status.
My
biggest issue was the speed of romance with Jack and Andi. They talk
briefly a couple of times and then suddenly they are kissing and in
love. Having Andi become a major character first and having her spend
time working with Jack and the teams first, then introducing romance in
the later stages of the book would have worked better. The lack of
dialogue between them meant a lack of chemistry. I do like Andi but I
think it needed to happen slower to work for me. There are actually only
a couple of characters outside the team that get enough page time to
have us worry when they are in danger. There needed to be more of that
so we can really invest in the main cast of characters. And if you plan
to kill someone popular, don't do it off page as I too felt a bit
cheated by that. It reduces the impact of the death to more of an
afterthought.
There was a serious lack of dialogue in the book
overall. We get Jack giving orders and explaining plans but there is no
real conversation about normal things which means we don't get to know
the people as well and don't really feel it when someone dies. Dialogue
delivers emotion and impact and the book would have benefitted from
this.
To sum up, I did very much enjoy the book. I liked the
detail and world building, and the action scenes. I liked the overall
plot and there is so much potential in this series going forward. The
few niggles I mentioned about characters and plot issues were never
enough to stop my enjoyment of the story, which kept me hooked enough to
want to read the next one.
The authors have mentioned that they
feel they improved the books as the series developed, based on feedback
they got, which means I'm quite excited to see what changes are made
and how it moves forward. There are already a good few more novels in
the series and I'm coming to it rather late, so my niggles here might
already be outdated opinions! Either way, I'm keen to read on! I would
certainly recommend it to fans of zombie fiction.
Let the voodoo roll!
New
Orleans will never be the same when a hurricane blows in hungry sharks
controlled by bad magic.An uppity family is stuck on a houseboat with a
family of swampers who have more secrets that you can shake a stick at.
Beware as the swampers keep up the family tradition proving again why
their gumbo always has that special taste...
The sharks aren't the only ones with sharp teeth!
My Review:
When river born girl Candy Lynn Audette gets pregnant to rich Landry
Theriot, his social climbing family are mostly horrified but take her in
as she gives birth during a massive New Orleans storm. The servants
become concerned by the rising flood water and the only way out is to
join the Audettes on their big river boat. However, the Audettes have a
secret...their gumbo has human flesh in it and they are hunting down new
victims to feed their family. And a voodoo curse on the family for
their perversion means that a group of sharks are following the
riverboat...
There are some characters in this book who are truly
awful! Emeline is an unpleasant snob, and she and spoiled daughter
Trish hate poor Candy Lynn and see her as trash. Their son Landry seems
to love Candy Lynn until he sees the colour of the baby that she has
given birth to and wrongly accuses her of cheating on him. Emeline's
husband Frank and his children are the nice part of the family, who
treat Frank's servants as part of the family. Frank's side of the family
stand by Candy Lynn and are at least civil to the Audettes. The
Audettes are mostly a dreadful bunch, who enjoy their cannibal
lifestyle, and see the hurricane as an opportunity to hunt survivors.
However, saving the Theriot family means it will be more difficult to
hunt, unless they can create a few accidents for the Theriots...
It
was a fun b movie romp kind of book. Usually obnoxious characters can
be a turn off but in a book where lots of people die, I never mind it as
much and the Audettes were actually interesting in their own way.
Amadee, the father is a bully and a cannibal but he does care about
their wellbeing to an extent. I liked his wife who just doesn't want to
live this kind of life but sees no way out of it. Candy Lynn was also a
nice girl who just wants to have a decent life with a nice family of her
own and wrongly thought that finding Landry would give her that.
OK
lets get to the sharks! In the beginning, it seems that the sharks have
just been disorientated by the storm and rising floodwaters and are
taking advantage of the dead bodies in the river to feed there. They are
following the boat you think because the unwanted body parts not going
into the gumbo are being thrown into the river. As the plot goes on
though, it becomes clear that the Audettes are cursed because of the
choices they have made and the sharks are following the family itself.
There are plenty of death scenes involving sharks and snakes as well as
the psych behaviour of the Audettes as they seek their next meal, which
keeps you entertained through the story. It amazes me how many times
people end up in the water in this book!
Overall I found it a fun
read and it doesn't take long to get through it. I've read various
books by the author and whikle they might not win literary awards, I do
find them entertaining to read and that is the main thing.
Read March 2017
