Alone in a foreign landThe radio goes quiet while on convoy in Afghanistan, a lost patrolalone in the desert. With his unit and his home base destroyed, Staff SergeantBrad Thompson suddenly finds himself isolated and in command of a small groupof men trying to survive in the Afghan wasteland.Every turn leads to dangerThe local population has been afflicted with an illness that turnsthem into … been afflicted with an illness that turnsthem into rabid animals. They pursue him and his men at every corner and stop.Struggling to hold his team together and unite survivors, he must fight andevade his way to safety.
A fast paced zombie war story like no other.
W. J. Lundy is a current member of the U.S. Military with servicein Afghanistan.
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Escaping the Dead as you can probably tell by the title is a zombie book. I know the zombie trope is getting a bit over done, but personally I still love to read them. But most all the zombie books or movies or TV that I have seen have followed civilians generally trying to get out of cities or major metropolitan areas. The only one that I can think of off the top of my head where they were in a rural location is George Romero’s The Night of the Living Dead. And I’m not sure of one from the military’s point of view, although I do admit I love zombie stuff, but generally can’t stomach some of the movies and such out there so I still have a pretty limited breadth of knowledge but am expanding it via books.
So this one starts out with a patrol of US Army soldiers trekking through Afghanistan doing their rounds when they lose radio contact with their Forward Operating Base. Not knowing what is going on they send a scouting party ahead of the convoy to check-in with the base and send reinforcements to escort them back in. Unfortunately the scouting party finds the base is overrun with what appears to be civilians. They hear no fighting, see no soldiers, nothing. Eventually the scouting party is spotted and the civilians start to run toward them. The scouting party is forced to retreat back to their convoy and hopefully figure out what to do next.
The writing in this novella was quite good in my opinion. I didn’t notice any misspelled words, grammar issues, or confusing sentences like I usually do. So kudos to the author for that.
The character development was minimal as to be expected in such a short novella, but you still get a general sense of who they are. So far I really like the main protagonist and how he is shaping up as a leader. I hope to be able to follow him through many more adventures.
The story kept me riveted to my seat and before I knew it, the book was over. That’s the sad thing about novella’s, they end soon as they get going. But I know this is one series I am going to be buying and continue to read.
I really enjoyed this book, it was short, but as an introduction to the series it was a gripping, action packed read. The characters were believable and easy to become invested in. Looking forward to starting book 2. I received this book in exchange for my honest review.
A very enjoyable addition to the zombie universe of books. This was especially fun since it had such a realistic boots-on-the-ground feel with an isolated military convoy in Afghanistan. The writing was clean and sharp and the military side to everything was sketched perfectly. I found the characters to be believable and attractive and their situation compelling. Finally, realistic zombies that are fast and creepy but that have a (somewhat) believable first cause. I was hooked from the get go and happily rode right beside them page after page.
The text had a few typos and grammar issues but surprisingly few, really. The dialogue was deft, the radio chatter apt, and the growing realization of the extent of their isolation and the world’s dire situation was terrific.
I highly recommend this book. I am already happily plowing through the next volume in the story.