In the zombie apocalypse, your worst enemy may be yourself.From the Until the End of the World and City Series universe comes the story of the virus on the West Coast. Where the end of the world is only the beginning… horizon, the last thing she needs is the zombie apocalypse. She wanted to get drunk and sing karaoke, not murder her undead neighbors. It’s clear the party’s over, however, and now Rose has more problems—a missing husband, an overbearing houseguest, and keeping her family alive.
Tom Jensen has inflexible rules. Rule number one? Don’t deviate from the plan. But when his life is overturned in the space of minutes, his plans die along with everything else. The world is finished, the future is uncertain, and survival means living in the last place he’d planned to be. Maybe his rules weren’t meant to be broken, but if he can’t change his tune, he risks losing the one thing he has left—his daughter.
Craig Matthews has a mission: get to Oregon. Doable, maybe, if he could bring himself to leave his apartment. With his food and water near gone and death closer than ever, a chance encounter may lead to finding his friends—if he can first find his courage.
Unfortunately, the new world doesn’t always mean leaving old problems behind, and as the West Coast succumbs to the virus, the survivors face more than the undead—they face themselves. But in an existence where fences offer dubious safety and zombies certain danger, people may save you in more ways than one.
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Rose Winters has finally had enough of her husband’s narcissistic ways, and then the World ends. This is such a great read with engaging characters, good and bad, Zombies have arrived in Oregon, just in time to screw up Rose Winters bid for a better life.
This lady can write. I tried so hard to not read this until the other books were out but I just couldn’t wait. It was so worth it. I started out hating the multiple POVs it I was won over. The setting was so tangible. The social and emotional angst from so many characters was so felt. I love the secondary and tertiary characters down to the dog. I’m so thankful this didn’t end on a cliffhanger. I’m just thankful to have discovered this author. She writes my favorite genre.
I wondered when I saw this book was available, was it going to be as good as the first two series, how much can you write about zombies and not be repetitious. Well it was different, can’t say better, but new perspective, new characters, if I’m not mistaken where it all began. This the first book in the series was rather mild not a lot of action, more getting to know characters, a rather harrowing journey but no major battles, but I’m sure they are in store, have to wait looking forward for next in the series.
Awesome narration by Roger, Teri, Christian & Mia.
I loved this book! There are a handful of authors that I will drop everything when she releases a new book so that I can immediately start reading it. Sarah Lyons Fleming has made her way onto that list of authors. I knew that a book would be coming out soon but I wasn’t exactly sure when it would be. Once I saw that this book was available, I couldn’t download it fast enough. Let’s just say that my expectations were high. This book was even better than I could have hoped it would be. I feel like I have been on a journey with these characters and I loved every moment of it.
It is no secret that I love a well-told zombie story. I think that this is a book that could appeal to readers who wouldn’t consider themselves to be fans of zombie apocalyptic fiction. That’s because this book is all about the characters. Sarah Lyons Fleming can write characters that work their way into your heart and leave you feeling like they are family. This is really a character-driven story. Sure, those characters get the chance to stab zombies in the eye from time to time but the focus is really on how this group of people can band together to survive the worst-case scenario. This book is set in the same world as the Until the End of the World and City Series but it is set on the west coast and features a brand new cast of characters. This is a great place for readers new to Sarah Lyons Fleming’s work to jump in since it is the start of a brand new series.
I liked the fact that this book was told from multiple points of view. Rose is the mother of two young adult children who home from college when tragedy struck. She was set to host an anniversary party so her dad and best friend are also around, despite the fact her husband is missing. Clara is a college student who happens to be best friends with Rose’s daughter, Holly. She came home from school when her dad asked her to because he was worried about the virus and her whole world has fallen apart. Tom is Rose’s difficult neighbor and Clara’s father. He has been through a lot and has a really hard time dealing with everything happening but he will do whatever it takes to keep Clara safe. Craig is one of Rose’s best friends but he didn’t make it to the party and is stuck miles away. He will have to find the strength he doesn’t know he has to make to Oregon.
I loved seeing the group adjust to their changing situation. I loved seeing them work together to put ideas into place and do what was needed to help the group. These people felt so real and I really enjoyed seeing how compassionate they were to others. I cheered for them when things were going well and feared for them when situations were less than ideal. I was able to relate to these characters and found myself wondering if I would have handled certain situations in the same way they did.
I would highly recommend this book to others. This was a book that was almost impossible to put down even though I had to since life will not wait for me to read a book that is almost 800 pages long. This is one of those books that I will be reading again and already have plans to add the audiobook to my personal library once it is available. I cannot wait to read more of this author’s work!
Another truly amazing piece of literature from Sarah Lyons Fleming. Strong story telling, with nail biting action sequences and emotional scenes that had me both cheering and in tears at various points.
Her attention to detail is phenomenal! I have no freaking clue how she kept all the highways, byways, railways, and trails of the PNW (Pacific Northwest) straight!
I was totally unsurprised to find myself falling in love with these new characters. I am especially thrilled with several of the main characters aged 40+. The effort the author put forth to create variety and differentiation of character personalities, and their neuroses, never fails to astound me. She makes every character so REAL, and I believe that is why her readers adore her work.
The POV changes with each chapter, and varies between 4 main characters. I like this because I’m always wondering what the other characters are thinking. The author manages this quite cleanly and clearly.
I wasn’t surprised to find myself rooting for characters I didn’t think I’d care for, because she does such an awesome job of making her readers care for each and every one of them. I also think her work will continue to draw new readers due to her continued inclusion of differing sexual orientations.
We’re finally getting some more background on the virus and the mold mentioned in her 1st 2 series, the Until the End of the World series and The City series. I was like “Yes! Answers!” I actually clapped! However, you do NOT need to read the other series to appreciate or understand this one. But, I strongly encourage readers to do so simply because they are so incredibly good.
Until the End of the World series:
#1 Until the End of the World
#1.5 So Long, Lollipops (novella)
#2 And After
#3 All the Stars in the Sky
The City Series:
#1 Mordacious
#2 Peripeteia
#3 Instauration
The Cascadia series:
#1 World Departed