Cheap Thrills Archives - Views and reviews on everything dystopian

April 6, 2017April 7, 2017

Parasite; The True Story of the Zombie Apocalypse

Parasite; The True Story of the Zombie Apocalypse by Doug Ward

Review:
It has been a while since I have seen a semicolon in a title, but hey, just because I don’t really know where they have to go…

Harry, a workaholic entomologist, barely a lose limb away from Asbergers, turns hero motivated by wanting to rescue his wife Melissa who is stuck at her nine-to-five when the dead rise.

At times it is as amateurish and childish as the cover suggest. Dual narrative doesn’t really give another perspective, nor voice. Characterisation is thinner as a bug’s leg. And having said all that, just like the cover, it is not without talent. Action and settings are great – as long as nobody thinks or speaks too much it flows along nicely.

It is one of the few free-bees I finished because, almost to my surprise, I found myself wanting to know what happens next. I wasn’t curious enough to pay money for part 2, but wouldn’t blame anyone who does.

March 3, 2017April 13, 2017

Bleeding Kansas The SAGA of the DEAD SILENCER

Bleeding Kansas The SAGA of the DEAD SILENCER by L Roy Aiken

Review:
This one is utterly bleak. The humour so dark you need a torch to find the funny bits. OK, a decent zombie novel is by its very nature not exactly fluffy lighthearted fun, but I don’t remember having ever read anything this cynical. Different, shocking and I think I like it..!? If you despair of humankind, Bleeding Kansas won’t change your mind. And I’ve never been and I never will go to Kansas.

By the way, I still have the original cover 🙂 I am glad the author put his hands in his pockets and invested in a professionally designed cover, or honed up on his skills.

ps I read this some time ago before book 2 and 3 came along. Let’s see what happen next in book 2…

March 3, 2017April 12, 2017

The Remaining

The Remaining  by D. J. Molles.

The Remaining is the first book in the bestselling series and it is not bad at all! It helps if you are interested in weapons though. Guns are described with so much obsessive detail, one starts to wonder a little… Nevertheless, the loneliness of the main man Lee, a soldier under orders to wait underground in a bunker, is truly palpable and adds to the excitement before mayhem starts. And he has a dog – for me always a plus in any book!

It has 131 (and rising) 5-star reviews on Amazon – nobody has that many friends who fake reviews (recently I started to wonder about that last statement…?). So a popular book with an interesting beginning.

March 3, 2017March 3, 2017

The Undead. The First Seven Days

The Undead. The First Seven Days by R R Haywood

Review:
Two unlikely heroes: Howie, your hapless but likable Tesco Manager and his underling-become-sidekick Dave, who has some kind of non-descript neurological disorder, hack their way through this very readable zombie-slash fest. Thankfully, what Dave lacks in social skills is made up by being a well trained special forces soldier. With Dave’s help Howie managed to rise above himself, and together they fight the forever increasing hordes of zombies shambling in their way from the South, to find Howie’s sister in London. It is good fun, perhaps a tad cartoonish – Howie’s weapon of choice is an axe against trillions of zombies…

Having said all that I had to check out at around book 5 – it just got too silly for me. Once zombies start being anything else but brain-dead, flesh-eating anti-humans and develop thought, it is all over for me! Intelligent zombies – don’t be daft. And I am sure the zombie hordes increased to levels that make Bangladesh look sparsely populated. I simply couldn’t face it anymore…

By the way, this used to be cheap as chips but has gone up a couple of pounds since I’ve read it. Still, at under 6 pounds for almost 900 pages of mayhem, it ain’t dear.

March 3, 2017March 3, 2017

Zombie Fallout

Zombie Fallout series by Mark Tufo – Books 1 to 10

Review:
I’ve read the first couple of books of this series – until the zombies became too clever for my liking. Mike, a family man, and survivalist who has been eagerly awaiting the undead (no shortage of guns at the outbreak) takes them on with plenty of humour and strong language. The spelling and grammar police were up in arms over this one. The would nail me to the cross as well, so I cannot comment. Meanwhile, America’s gun lobby would probably award Mark Tufo the Nobel prize for literature.

Anyhow, for me the trouble started when the author must have thought zombies are just too boring, let’s make them a bit more interesting by making them smarter. No, no, no you don’t! Develop the living and let the zombies be zombies. Here we have a zombie lady who develops some kind of mind relationship with Mike. Sorry, don’t know what happened after book 2 – I got out of there…

March 3, 2017March 3, 2017

100 Days in Deadland

100 Days in Deadland by Rachel Aukes

Review:
A perfectly good zombie read. Not quite living up to my expectations – with Dante’s Inferno in the subtitle I kinda expected a lot more. Not sure what? But perhaps more than characters named Cash, Cutch, Griz, Tack, Jase and zombies called zeds. The relationship between Cash and Clutch runs along predictable routes and at times felt like chick lit with zombies. Still, at least it was aiming high, and I wasn’t disappointed by the story as a whole.

Some Amazon reviewers voiced surprise that a woman is doing zombies! I wonder where these folks have been? Underground in a bunker counting supplies? Wherever it was, I’d like to welcome them to this century. The book cover could be better…