Nichole

Not what I expected...in a good way!

The writing was well-crafted, descriptive without being pompous. Plain enough to be realistic but certainly not amateurish. The zombies play a backdrop, the cause of the situation but not main characters. The main character is humanity, survival, guilt and regret.

The twist is unexpected and gruesomely delightful...and sad and thought-provoking.

Definitely recommended for something different from the genre.

This is the first time I read a zombie novella that was written from this particular point of view. (What point of view? Read it and find out!) It was refreshing and interesting...one of those books that has you asking “What if? Would I make the same choices?”

The prose is descriptive and readable. Chapman created an engaging narrator and focused more on the character than the zombie apocalypse, as good zombie writing should do, I think. That being said, there is still credible zombie action, including a disturbing encounter early on in the story.

A recommended read, and one that leaves me hoping she plans a follow-up that focuses on two other characters mentioned in the story and in her notes afterward.

I enjoyed this book; I did.

But it followed such a magical book that it fell short of receiving my full accolades.

The story was engaging, the writing lovely.

But it was not as wholly fulfilling as other books that I have read for reasons that I have yet to put my finger on. I think it was just bad timing in the grand scheme of when I chose to read it.

It wasn't the best-written book I've ever read (too many modern phrases made it less believable for me), but it was a good summer read for someone thoroughly enthralled with Henry VIII and his wives...

Part way through this book, I was ready to put it down. I was quite certain that the direction of the plot had grown completely transparent and that I had everything figured out. Mostly out of spite, I kept reading, expecting to prove myself right.

I was deliciously wrong.

While some of what I expected came to fruition, it did so in such unexpected ways that I was completely consumed. The last couple hundred pages flew by as I devoured the story, delighting in the unexpected twists and turns that awaited on each page.

Bravo, Ms. Howe, for surprising me in the best of ways.

I started this book this morning...and I finished it by dinner time.

I was captured within the first lines, driven to find out what would happen to the main characters (and I must admit that Rosie was among my favorites). A solid story, lovely bursts of prose, the pain of star-crossed love, the lump in the throat for the aged man...

...and delight at the conclusion.

I laughed. I laughed until I cried.

And then I laughed until I cried so hard that my eyes hurt and I was snorting like an asthmatic hyena. And then I clapped my hands over my mouth because my son was sleeping. But I was still sort of snorting anyway.

Yes, it is that kind of book. It is irreverant and absurd, real and raw, touching and sweet.

It is one of my new favorite books ever and one that I will return to regularly when I need a good laugh, when I need to feel like I'm not crazy, and when I need to feel like there is at least one other human being in this world who can understand me...

A very quick read...about 20-30 minutes. Perfect for a quick dystopian, post-zombie apocalypse fix.

The story focuses on Gabe, a teenage boy, a product of the life that has arisen since the “Scourge” decimated the country. His daily routine consists of mucking horse stalls, respecting his elders, and ignoring temptations...

...until the circus comes to town. And promises a glimpse of the past that is too tempting to ignore.

A short study of human survival and the overwhelming instincts of curiosity and temptation.

I loved World War Z by Max Brooks, but I often felt myself longing for more personal stories...stories of common people in the uncommon circumstance of having to fight off hordes of zombies.

This collection of vignettes satisfied that desire.

These short anecdotes of the zombie infestation were raw and real and fascinating and frightening. The type of stories that leave you with that horrible feeling in the pit of your stomach, that make you look twice over your shoulder, that make you wonder if you should start stockpiling bottles of water and canned goods...

I can wait to read more work by Bryan James.

Yes, there were parts that were formulaic. Sure, there were bits of a curmudgeonly conspiracy theorist.

But in the end, it was quintessential Koontz. A menagerie of characters brought together by circumstances larger than themselves, the divine war of good and evil with man at its root.

I enjoyed it. Provided with characters like Winny and Bailey Hawks to follow and root for, I was swept up by the story, hanging on the events and on who would make it through. And there were bits of beautiful prose in there, some haunting and some terrifying and some life-affirming that will stay with me long after I put the book back on the shelf.