Blake was never one for taking chances. He lived in a world of formulas and equations. A statistician in a controlled society where everything had become predictably mundane.That world disappeared the day the dead got up and began attacking the living.Now, the end is here. Blake finds himself fighting for his life in a world that is rapidly spiraling out of control. He struggles to keep himself … struggles to keep himself alive and must choose to fight the odds and risk everything to find his family.
Along the way, Blake finds himself thrust among other unlikely survivors. Together they must adapt to the realities of the undead world, or join the legion of zombies. The characters must overcome their difference and learn to come together if they will have any chance of survival.
Rise of the Dead is a fast-paced thrill ride through an ever-growing zombie horde, that is sure to satisfy any lover of the classic Romero zombie films.
Best New Zombie Books of 2016 – Ranking Squad
“The debut novel of Jeremy Dyson announces the birth of an upcoming fan favorite zombie fiction writer. Mark my words!” – Ranking Squad
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I listened to the audiobook version of this book
Run time: 7hrs and 57 minutes, narrated by John R. Crosthwaite
In Jeremy Dyson’s Rise of the Dead, we find ourselves at the start of the zombie apocalypse. The story is in first person and we follow the plight of Blake, a man who finds himself separated from his family by the rapidly deteriorating world around him. He bands together with other survivors in an attempt to keep one step ahead of the dead, but their escape is leading them away from his wife and daughter.
What did I like about this story?
I enjoyed the fast-paced fall of civilization, how it fell apart so quickly and our main character who had led a life of controlled decisions found himself thrust into a world of unpredictable chaos.
It was tough(in a good way) listening along as his attempts at survival took him further and further away from his family. I could feel his frustration and fear, knowing that he had to do what he was doing to survive, but knowing that it could mean he’d never see his wife and daughter again.
There are some other interesting characters, Quentin, Danielle and Stitch who band together with Blake and help him in his travels. They added some interesting twists, especially the temporary salvation that Quentin’s father brings the group. This part of the story also helps to reveal just how bad things are becoming.
What didn’t I like about this story?
This has nothing to do with anybody but me, but I had a real problem with the narration and it severely affected my enjoyment of the story. I’ll cover this more in Narration below.
Narration:
Ok, so I’ll repeat, this has nothing to do with the story or even the narrator really, but I had a hard time listening to this book. The narrator did this thing with his voice where he would be reading normally and then would switch into a very husky demanding tone and that is the same voice I use to make my wife laugh. I call it my Batman voice. It’s a silly thing I do with her, but hearing it quite frequently in the story as I listened kept throwing me out of the story. I couldn’t stand it. It’s one thing when I do it being silly, its another thing when a good portion of the story sounded like it was being read in that voice.
Conclusion: (Aka: Would I listen to more by this author?)
Unfortunately, due to my struggle with the narrator’s use of “Batman” voice, I would not. This doesn’t mean that others won’t enjoy it just fine, in fact, they likely will, it’s just that it didn’t work for me.
I really enjoyed this book, it was action packed, and an emotional rollercoaster, with interesting characters. It kept my attention and I’ll be reading the next book. I received this book in exchange for my honest review.
Good read.
Good read but left me wanting a better ending
Pretty good for the zombie genre.
A little predictable but good overall.
Will read the sequels.
Definitely NOT the best of the genre. The first person form made adequately describing the action and developing characters awkward and stunted. At no point in this book did I care about who lived or died. It was a fast read, but why bother.