Alioune

A 'Must Own' for Zombie Fiction Fans - No Spoilers

Reviewed: 2025-01-05

My introduction to Luke Duffy's writing originally came from scouring YouTube looking for zombie audiobooks. There is a brilliance to the way he writes that keeps me captivated, with this book being narrated by the awesome Jack Wynters making it a truly great listen.

The story follows the familiar tale of survivors in a zombie outbreak, broken into three main stories with additional sub-plots intertwining to build an exciting narrative. Duffy, using his experience in the Armed Forces applies much of it to the story, giving it a tough but believable edge, missing all of the errors that non-military authors make when writing about militaristic action. This is countered by telling the story of ordinary people with no such experience, doing their best to stay alive in a world that has completely gone to sh*t. This helps to keep the book 'down to earth' and not filled with the overused trope of bad-ass military men capable of all and sundry.
There is one narrative thread in this audiobook that I'm personally not that keen on as it goes into territory I do not like within zombie fiction, yet even that part is still very good and told in an endearing manner.

The range of characters is a nice mix, giving us heroes, antagonists and regular people. Mistakes are made at times by figures here and there, but thankfully Duffy does not go down the road (used by many other authors - looking at you Iain McKinnon!) of writing characters that simply stumble from scene to scene doing one idiotic thing after the next. Some character deaths are saddening as we become attached to them throughout the story, and some are very pleasing - both indicative of good writing. Some parts of the story are inevitably heart-breaking, particularly when innocents come to harm either from zombies or worse yet, other humans - however it is bearable due to being so well told.

The narration is top notch! Jack Wynters does a fantastic job at keeping the listener engaged and is almost too good for the story. He is well spoken and incredibly entertaining which is a complete juxtaposition to the story being told of death, destruction and decay. Wynters delivery brings a brightness to even some of the most distressing parts of the book, maintaining a 'stiff upper lip' and 'chin up' old school English mentality, enticing the listener to keep going along on this journey. It is also incredibly helpful that Wynters is British, as one of my personal pet peeves with audiobooks, is having an American narrator who cannot pronounce certain words written by British authors, due to not being familiar with them (names, places etc.). This is not to say that Wynters is perfect - he too mispronounces certain words at times, however he is so good and gets so much of it right, that it does not matter in the slightest and he can be quickly and easily forgiven. The way he rolls his 'R's even in some of the most horrific or gory moments of the story is both amusing and enjoyable.

My only wish when buying this book, is that all three parts were available in a package and did not need to be bought separately.

This is among my favourite zombie audiobooks and Duffy may have the edge over TW Brown (All Dead) who is another fantastic zombie fiction author.

If you love zombie fiction, I cannot recommend this audiobook enough and would also point you towards Luke Duffy's other zombie novel The Dead Walk The Earth - in fact, I'd suggest doing that first and then coming back to this book, as the change in narrators makes this the better of the two, notwithstanding that there is a whole thread in this book that I would not have missed if not present.

10/10.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

New Ideas

Reviewed: 2024-08-23

Over half way through - Good so far, but a little annoying in places.

The science is interesting and presented in an understandable and believable way, which enhances the story.

The concept for the story itself is brilliant, and the threat to life in Earth initially seems like it comes from that Danny Boyle movie Sunshine, but is actually a much better.

The use of flashbacks is great in places helping to fill gaps in the story for the readers/listeners, but also can be irritating as they can jump in right as an interesting part of the story is about to get going.

The storytelling definitely meanders at times also which is a huge pet-peeve of mine - 'Just spit it out already!'

Overall this is a good book despite the flaws and with an exciting and interesting story for the most part.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Better Than Expected

Reviewed: 2024-07-16

Great audio book! Definitely got much more from this than expected. Bought it for bias confirmation and to maybe fill some knowledge gaps. Found the book to be have a lot of positive information and ideas about life in general that exceed the apparent limitations of the title. Will be listening to this again. Solid narration, funny and informative.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Sometimes Less Is More.

Reviewed: 2024-03-30

Third book in a so far great series - Explosive and gripping story, well written for the most part. The characters are interesting. The overlap between this book and Ship of The Dead is good, as we see the perspective of Dean right at the start of the apocalypse.

Unfortunately the author felt the need to include new types of undead, as though this story was influenced by video games such as Left 4 Dead. Very off putting, super cringey and totally unnecessary.

By the time we are at the end of the book, this concept although used sparingly totally spoiled the story for me. I did not and will not be purchasing the next book as a result of this new direction, which will surely be included and developed further in the fourth book - irritating me to no end.

Aside from that, the author does a decent job.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Brilliant!

Reviewed: 2022-08-26

If you have any intention of learning valuable lessons about not only financial wealth, but life itself - this book is for you.

I avoided this book for many years, but upon purchasing it, I have listened to it twice in the first 24 hours and will be returning to in many times in the near future.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Excellent book - Worth many a listen!

Reviewed: 2021-08-30

Absolutely loved it from start to finish. Listened to it twice so far.

This is the kind of book that can make you laugh, learn, question yourself, frown at your flaws and help improve in your day to day life.

Maybe you don't need millions of dollars - but this book will definitely point you in the right direction in terms of making simple positive changes to your finances and way of being.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Interesting Book! Pleasantly Surprising.

Reviewed: 2021-02-01

A very good book, set between two fictional countries with a simply told story highlighting many complex issues surrounding race, politics, immigration policy, corruption, human greed and more. The main character is a very innocent and moral person by nature, put in a bad situation in an unfamiliar place, alone and in need of help and good fortune. I liked that the book was honest and not preachy whilst depicting the societal issues being raised around racism, inequality and immigration with some care and attention. Without giving too much away, no race/ethnicity is innocent in the misery described in the audiobook and I felt that this was shown very well, making sure to blame all those who add to the suffering of others. I also liked that the book took the time to depict human kindness amongst all of the sad and harsh events that happen in the book. The narrator was great with the various accents of different characters, with my favourite performance being that of Saunders, with what sounds similar to a black South African accent (to me). I smiled every time he spoke regardless of what he was saying or doing. Overall, great book and a great introduction to this author. I will make sure to look back at Lawrence Hill's previous works, particularly 'Book of Negroes'. Thanks for reading!

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Good Listen

Reviewed: 2020-10-01

Not as interesting as Sapiens, but touches on some areas from that book in discussing the possibilities for humanity going into the future from our current position.

Shouldn't be missed, but not as good as the first.

There is no doubt that Harari has a brilliant mind and much of what he has shared through this and his previous book have helped me personally to re-evaluate how I look at the world.

2 down, 1 to go.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

So So...

Reviewed: 2018-11-06

Pretty average Zombie stories, with some entertaining parts. Parts of these stories are borrowed from other zombie/apocalypse works and it shows. Cool to kill time, but doesn't satisfy my need.

Narrator was good. I like to speed him up to 1.20.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!