Book Review: Crowded Yet Desolate by Lee Dunter

Ryan Laughlin and his wife, Deborah, have plans to move to a new city, find new jobs, and expand their family. But days before their move, a tragic mystery rips their plans and lives apart. As Ryan wakes one morning and finds that Deborah has inexplicably become a zombie, his life is thrown into a storm of loss and pain, a storm that continually haunts him with one question–if Deborah never came into contact with one of the undead, how did she ever become infected?

This is the tale of Ryan’s desperate search for the truth, and of his bloody battle to survive against insurmountable odds.

My Review:
Ryan returns home from a short trip, his wife Deborah returning from her night out at a local festival with friends. When he wakes up the next day, his wife is a zombie but with no signs of being bitten, and the streets still filled with party-goers who are about to become a buffet for the growing groups of zombies. Teaming up with brothers Joe and Roe, they then join another small group of survivors inside a gun store and plan how to get out of the city to a safer place. Having to travel on foot to a smaller town may not be the safest option with zombies and armed thugs to deal with but it is their only choice.

I liked the range of characters that we had. Ryan could be a little frustrating at times with his continued desire to just give up when things get hard, but it is a pretty realistic reaction under the circumstances when your wife is dead and zombies are chasing you. I could say the same about the moments he just freezes when he should be shooting. It bugged me when he did it but I can at least understand why it happened  and it fits his personality. There are other times when he comes up with good plans or takes action when others are frozen so I guess I can't yell too much at him. 

I liked the capable brothers he first meets as they are tough, interested in zombies and know exactly what they need to be doing. I like that they had a plan, starting with their frirnd's gun shop. I liked that they made sure everyone in the room practiced on the gun range to build up confidence before they hit the road. I also liked Kyle, the preacher, who became a big favourite of mine. Cam is allowed to tag along when Ryan intervenes on his behalf and I liked him too. Albert is full of his own self importance and is a biology professor, but he isn't a horrible character by any means. As the book goes on we meet a wide range of characters but I'm not going to give away all the plot to discuss them!

There was plenty of action to enjoy in the book, the type of action that you expect to find in a zombie book. Ryan first finds himself outside in the chaos of the street festival which is the perfect start to a zombie outbreak, with the noise and screams of excitement turning to yells of fear and pain. It is a confusing scene that was a fun start to the apocalypse. We get the initial run to the gun store and the extended planning and executing their escape and journey to get to the town. From there, safety seems to be present in a school building with other survivors but a series of questionable individual decisions puts everyone in danger. I can't say that there was a dull moment in the book really. There was always something going on.

My one frustration about the book was that it was a bit vague on the details that I wanted to get. First was how does Deborah get infected when she didn't appear to have been bitten. There could be a vague hint to it during Ryan's exchange with his wife but it isn't really mentioned again until right at the end when Ryan has a thought as to how you can be infected without a bite. He adopts that thinking to the death of two other characters, and something nasty that I suspected might be happening with them. But what I don't get is what the eye colour he keeps on about at the end has to do with anything. I'm baffled by how vague it is in the final pages about what happened and for a stand-alone novel, that was frustrating. I want it all revealed clearly to me! So that did bug me a bit to still be sort of guessing what the lack of big reveal actually meant.

The other confusion is that the mother says her baby is a girl then gives the name of Sammy, which is pretty unisex. But later nobody seems to remember the kid's name but suddenly the baby girl becomes a baby boy now newly called Reginald. WTF??? Either the author got confused about the baby's sex later on or I have serious reservations about the eyesight of the people changing the nappies! In spite of the irritation over Ryan's attitude at times, the vague ending and the nappy conspiracy, this was still a pretty decent zombie apocalypse book. It is unusual to get a stand-alone in the genre but this seems to be one.

Read July 2019
3.5 stars.

Around The Blogs With Chuckles

We all enjoy snooping and lurking on other people's blogs right? Why not share those entertaining things you found with other readers and bloggers too! Welcome to Around the Blogs with Chuckles, where I take time out to show you some of my favourite blog posts from the previous seven days and link you up so you can check them out. 

This week!

1) Books About Books 

Mogsy shares a Top Ten Tuesday list on the subject.

https://bibliosanctum.com/2019/08/20/top-ten-tuesday-books-about-books/ 

2) Book Review-The Book Of Life by Deborah Harkness (All Soul's Trilogy #3)

Barb takes on the end of a favourite trilogy.

http://bookertsfarm.blogspot.com/2019/08/2-bloggers-1-series-book-of-life.html 

3) Book Review-The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa

Stephanie Jane goes dystopian.

http://litflits.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-memory-police-by-yoko-ogawa.html 

4) Book Review-The Book Charmer by Karen Hawkins

Jenea goes magical realism.

https://jeneasbookobsession.net/index.php/2019/08/19/review-for-the-book-charmer-dove-pond-1-by-karen-hawkins/ 

5) Book Review-Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center

Carole's review.

https://carolesrandomlife.blogspot.com/2019/08/review-things-you-save-in-fire-by.html  

6) Book Review-Turning Darkness Into Light by Marie Brennan

Mogsy goes fantasy.

https://bibliosanctum.com/2019/08/22/book-review-turning-darkness-into-light-by-marie-brennan/ 

7) Book Review-Cruel Candy by Mildred Abbott
Karen goes cozy mystery.
http://www.fwiwreviews.net/2019/08/review-cruel-candy-cozy-mysteries-1-by.html#.XV_DtHvTXcs

Book Review: Blizzard Warning by JR Tate (Damaged Climate #3)

Ryan’s predictions of the weather in the Harper Springs area have all been accurate so far – when he realizes they are in for an early winter, everyone must work fast to get the crops harvested and their shelter ready for the arctic air headed their way. Due to the lack of winter clothing and supplies, they can’t prepare for the heavy snowfall, high winds, blizzards, and sub-zero temperatures that leave them exposed to hypothermia, frost bite, and common colds that are now turning deadly.

The weather isn’t their only problem – an imminent threat from a band of looters circles the perimeter of Harper Springs, halting their plans of rebuilding the small town. Ryan grows leery of people he once trusted and begins to investigate the possibility of a traitor among their group. He secretly follows the suspicious person toward the badlands of New Mexico to gather evidence and prove that his suspicions are justified.

Throughout the constant changing weather, Ryan has asked the same question – why has this happened? Tracking the traitor might get him the answers he needs – or it could reveal a problem so massive that there is no coming back from the damage that has already taken place.

My Review: 
Ryan starts to believe that an early winter is coming and it is going to be a rush to harvest everything before the frost and snow destroys everything that they have worked to achieve. The danger from the looters is still there as winter starts to close in on Harper Springs but Ryan is preoccupied with the behaviour of a couple of people at camp and wonders if there is anyone he can trust if there could be a traitor in their midst. 

Again, I found it interesting to see the change of weather once again bringing a whole new set of problems for the survivors. Everyone is relieved that the weather has started to cool and give them some relief from the heat but that soon becomes a concern that winter could be coming early. Now there is a panic to get the crops harvested before the snow comes and kills it. When the snow comes it hits suddenly, trapping everyone in the town and preventing any chance of gathering more supplies to see them through. With a shortage of winter clothing, there is a fear that the cold could become a killer. 

It doesn't seem to stop Ryan. Yet again he is out risking his life in dreadful conditions just to follow someone who might be suspicious. I'm not surprised that his wife gets so mad at him for his frequent undeclared trips behind her back that put his life in danger. His hero complex is even more out of control at this point and it leaves me rolling my eyes. We are constantly being told that everything Ryan is doing is for the good of his family and to save mankind, that he is just trying to keep everyone safe and hearing that so often gets pretty repetitive. It is also annoying that he refuses to trust Steve and Darryl with his suspicions and just wanders off into danger without alerting them to what he suspects. It is reckless behaviour especially in this deadly weather. He is the only person he believes capable of keeping watch, looking after the crops and every other required task. It is frustrating to read at times.

Ryan's behaviour in this book is weird and often childish. He suddenly decides to stop calling Mike 'Chief' as Mike is no longer his boss and Ryan thinks he is just as good as Mike and his equal, so there is no need to give him a title. I found this to be so childish and immature. Mike has always been Chief to everyone in the town and I could understand him getting annoyed by Ryan's sudden determination to be rude and stupid. He also seems to have decided that nobody can be trusted, even Steve, yet moments later he is sneaking off in the deep snow to follow the suspected traitor, feeling ok about leaving his wife and child behind because good old Steve will look after them! Make your mind up Ryan!

I'm really annoyed with the author's plot choices in this book, considering what has happened to two characters that I really liked. I was totally invested in Doug's story, turning from bad guy to enigma and then becoming a part of the community when he saves Ryan's life in the wildfire. I loved seeing him turn into a good guy and become friends with Ryan as well as Darryl. Then without warning, Ryan suddenly decides that Doug is acting suspicious because he has been a bit quiet-and what happens next in the plot left me feeling pretty cheated. Why go to the trouble of having Doug's redemption and integration and then do THAT???!!! I was really annoyed about it! 

The whole plot of the traitor was a bit annoying for me too. Ryan has constantly wondered what happened to cause all of this sudden extreme weather and now he becomes sure that someone in his community has actually been involved in it and he has his first and only suspect. now, this traitor has been in all three books and until the start of this one, there was nothing in their behaviour to suggest that they were dodgy or that they were anything but committed to helping out in the community. But suddenly this person is an evil person involved in a big conspiracy to control the weather for profit. Right. I feel as if I have read two books in a series and then been handed book three from a different series to read next. I was lost by the sudden change in Doug and this other character and it totally threw me!

The ending was all a bit sudden too. I didn't mind the actual weather conspiracy story as I find that school of thought pretty interesting. I just feel that there could have been a bit more on it. Cal then tells Ryan that shutting off all the machinery will actually send the weather into a dangerous tailspin that would be very dangerous. Yet Ryan decides to do just that without a second thought and declate the emergency over. Um what just happened? Was that the big climax? I found it pretty underwhelming to be honest. 

This series started off so well for me but it did gradually go a bit off over the next two books. I really enjoyed the actual story about the wild weather and the consequences of mankind trying to meddle with it. I liked most of the characters in the books. I just really disliked the MC and a couple of plot choices. I did find the first book in the series to be the best and despite Ryan, they were decent reads. 

Read July 2019
3 stars. 

Book Review: Drought Warning by JR Tate (Damaged Climate #2)

Ryan Gibson has been reunited with his wife and son. Those lucky enough to have survived the tornadoes have made an old church cellar into a temporary refuge. The storms have tapered off, the temperatures are climbing, and the shift in the weather pattern is cause for concern. Everyone is wondering what Mother Nature has in store for them next. The unpredictable climate has everyone looking to the sky, all fearing that if they step away from the safe haven they have created, it will be an automatic death sentence.

Their ultimate goal is to rebuild Harper Springs, but Ryan wonders how they are going to achieve their plans – with no precipitation falling and record-breaking heat, his worries are focused on the dwindling water supply and opportunity to grow crops. The surplus of non-perishable foods won’t last forever, pushing a sense of urgency to get the rebuilding going.

With Cecilia’s parents still missing, Ryan sets off on a mission to get all of the family back together for good. Leaving Steve back in Harper Springs, he feels confident his new friend will take care of business as he and his father head toward Fox Lake. They learn that tornadoes aren’t the worst thing they can encounter – blazing wildfires, massive dirt walls, and dangerous thieves and looters threaten their survival. They get their first real look at how widespread the turmoil is, revealing a post-apocalyptic wasteland they may never be able to come back from.

My Review:
Reunited with his family, Ryan faces the news that Ty's arm is badly damaged and will need to be amputated. He becomes convinced that the lack of rain will soon lead to a terrible drought as the sun gets hotter, and knows they need to try and grow as much food as they can before the drought causes a water shortage. However, his first task is to lead a dangerous mission in the heat to find out what happened to Cecilia's parents and if they are alive, bring them back to Harper Springs. With only his father and Doug for company, Ryan is about to face the most fearful part of the drought in the form of dust storms and wildfires that could threaten both them and Harper Springs.

I love the character of Steve. He is the farmer who was saved by Ryan in the first book and becomes his closest friend. Steve is determined to scavenge seeds and equipment to get things growing as quickly as he can. He is a nice guy who wants to do his bit for the community and put his talents to good use. I just wish he wasn't the sidekick for all Ryan's little scemes as I feel that Steve is the better leader. I also love Darryl because he is also trying to do what he can for the group, and is happy to go out and try to rescue Charlie and Margaret. I liked his friendship with Doug, who really grew on me in this book. I liked seeing him making friends and trying to fit in with the community. Mike fell a bit more into the background as the book went on which was disappointing as I wanted to see what others were doing for the town.   

I did like seeing the effects of the changing weather on the community. Everyone had to battle the terrible tornadoes and the flooding that came with it, but now the storms seem to be going and the heat is climbing. At first everyone is enjoying the chance to get out in the sun but soon people are getting too hot and worries about the water supply begin. This book has a whole new set of problems to worry about and I liked reading about the dust storms and wildfires that threaten the survivors. Now that Harper Springs is coming together, it is going to become a target for roving bands of looters who want to take what they have.

Ryan is getting to be a really annoying know-it-all. He went on one weather course but seems to have the knowledge of the most talented weather forecaster ever and is predicting the drought after a few days without rain. He has become focused on finding Cecelia's parents in the town of Fox Lake and persuades his father Darryl to go with them. Darryl insists on taking Doug with them and Ryan spends the whole trip sniping at Doug, even though Doug is just riding along minding his own business and being perfectly pleasant. I get that Ryan doesn't trust Doug after the events of the first book but Darryl is vouching for him and trying to give the man a second chance and a reason to want to integrate with the community rather than remain an outsider. I do understand Ryan's views on him though.

What is really bugging me is the way that Ryan is picking fights with everyone. He argues with the doctor about Ty's treatment when the man is trying to save Ty's life. Despite having a badly infected leg, he refuses to tell the doctor or Cecilia about it. I mean, c'mon you idiot! Your son has lost his arm to infection and you are stubbornly refusing to get your leg treated? When he finally does get checked out, he complains about his treatment and whines about not needing medical help. I wanted to hit him. He argues with the fire chief when Mike refuses to send his men out during a dangerous lightning storm to do something that Ryan wants done. He is always yelling at his wife and his dad when they try to talk sense to him. Ryan just has to be the centre of everything, the man on guard, the man on the rescue mission, the man to save them from doom. His hero complex gets quite frustrating as he doesn't seem to trust anyone else to get anything done, despite the fact that the town got itself together as a community again long before Ryan joined them. 

Having really liked the first book in the series, I was a bit annoyed at how poor a character Ryan was becoming. His determination to be the big hero all the time at the expense of everyone else was annoying. While I did like aspects of the book and the challenges that our survivors faced, Ryan's attitude did put a downer on my enjoyment a bit. It was still a decent read though but not as good as the first book. My review of book three will follow. 

Read July 2019
3 stars. 

Book Review: Valkyrie The Plot To Kill Hitler by Philipp von Boeselager

Along with his brother Georg, Philipp von Boeselager joined a group of conspirators in a plot to kill Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler. In 'Valkyrie' he shares the story of his audacious attempt to influence the course of history.

My Review: 
As soon as I found out that there had been various attemps on Hitler's life by his own disgruntled officers and soldiers, I became fascinated by this. There has always been a debate about Germans all being bad back then, but I never subscribed to that theory. I always felt that most young men conscripted either thought they were doing the right thing for their country or were only there because they were forced-and that most were scared rigid of what they endured. Even amongst those in the Nazi Party it wasn't so straightforward. There were the evil men like the SS and Gestapo who tortured and murdered millions. Then there were those like Oskar Schindler who saved his workers from the death camps, and the brave men in this book who risked their own lives to try and stop Hitler.

Philipp and Georg like so many other young German men, set off for war and a bit of adventure in the cavalry units. They were initially stationed along the borders with Luxembourg and France before being sent out to the Russian Front where they endured horrific conditions and winter weather along with the savage fighting. Philipp was working as an aide for Marshall Kluge when he came into regular contact with rebel Achim Oster, who had been trying to bring Generals together since 1938 in a coup. Word reaches Philipp that jews and other races deemed undesirable are being executed by troops, something that horrifies him and his brother Georg is also coming to the same conclusion about Hitler's plans. They both join the rebellion which has thirty odd members, their identities changing as some were moved around or died in combat.

The plan is to assassinate Hitler and Himmler together, to stop the SS taking over overall command of the country. Several attempts were to be made and all failed, including an attempt by Philipp to blow up the plane that Hitler was travelling on. His group also attempted a suicide bombing when Hitler came to visit their base and a plan to shoot Hitler and Himmler as they dined with the men. At the same time, Georg was constructing his part of the plan for his cavalry units to seize control of the major buildings in Germany as soon as word came that Hitler was dead. The new plan involved a suitcase of explosives prepared by Philipp, which was eventually used in the plot made famous in the Tom Cruise film, where Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg used it as a bomb to try and assassinate Hitler. I found this part of the book to be fascinating and I certainly want to read more books on the subject.

When you read a book like this you can't help wondering 'what if' and think about all the lives saved if they had killed him. An earlier end to the war in Europe and so many lives saved on both sides would have been great, and allowed the Allies to concentrate on Japan and end that quicker. Sadly it wasn't meant to be and the war continued. I greatly admire the men who were prepared to step up and risk their lives to try to put an end to the evil that Hitler was doing. I really enjoyed the Valkyrie film and look forward to finding out more about all the plotters.

Read June 2019
4 stars