A Darkness Shattered: Review

                   Matt Boiselle

   
    What point is there in reading any novel if you aren't able to gain a feel for the surroundings that envelop you ? I have put down many a book because I need to be placed in an environment that is almost tangible, and for that almost too picky sense of being that I possess, I'm sure that I've lost out on many a good read.

   I was having feelings of trepidation when " A Darkness Shattered" was thrown into my lap, and after this read, those feelings quickly disappeared further and further within each page turn. Up-and-coming author Bruce Clothier has the ability to paint you, the reader, a scene that is as clear and concise as any you could hope to read. Each terrifying moment in the book is graphically and gore-iffically (just made that one up) detailed in such a fashion that anyone who jumps into this book, will swear that they are watching it play out in front of them via live-action.

  The story itself follows main character Michael Nelson, a 16 year old who is faced with the choice of heading out into a world that has fallen to pieces due to the zombie apocalypse to find shelter for himself, or wait out in hopes that his parents, who have been missing for a week will somehow return to safety. After much thought, Michael ventures out on his own to begin a search for a safe haven, and clings to little remaining hope that he can be reunited with his Grandparents. He runs into Abby in his travels, a teenage girl that also has been thrust into the unknown yet obviously fateful future. Together they begin a journey together into the heart of a violent new world, all along the way meeting up with a variety of characters, some that will aid in their survival, while some others are hell-bent on taking away from them all that they hold dear to each other.

   I will spare all of the details, mainly due to the fact that no matter what I may type, it simply does not do enough justice in comparison as to what you can read for yourself. Rest assured, the atmosphere is thick in this book, and the amount of detail will leave your mind feeling as if you too are a character tossed into the middle of this violent scarefest.

    The book is available on http://www.amazon.com/ for a mere .99 cents (e-reader format), so toss up a dollar and watch the zombie entrails rain down around you - Happy Reading !

Morning Star Strain Series Review

Nicholas Teeters

If you have had the pleasure to sit and read one of the late Z.A. Recht books, then you should know that the third and final installment of the series is upon us (June 19, 2012).

The first two books of the story showed how fast the world can unwind with a virus that has no cure and no way to slow down other than the nice pieces of lead our main characters have a decent supply of.

The Morningstar series chronicles a few months’ time, but it is very well written and you can really get a taste of each character’s strengths and weaknesses early on.

I found myself not being able to put these books down till I was finished with them. They kept my mind running through the lists of things you might really need in order to survive a situation like this.

I give this book a solid two decaying thumbs up. I loved the world the Recht created and showed taught to fear. Right now Amazon has them priced really cheap (Plague of the Dead, Thunder and Ashes, Survivors) so getting them won’t be a problem—at least while the world still spins.

Zombie-Killing Bunny

Some of us may remember a type of book that was common in the ‘80s called “choose your own adventure” books. Well, recently, Matt Youngmark just published a zombie-themed “Chooseomatic” book with a twist. You, the adventurer, are a stuffed pink rabbit. The book’s story takes place during a time when not only are the dead rising and attacking the living, but stuffed animals are alive and intermingle with humans.

Zombocalypse Now has numerous different paths and outcomes and begs to be read several times. You see, actions and events that occur during one story arc are actually explained in a different one at times. So the only way to know why the zombies are licking your car’s windshield would be to read the book again and choose different paths. With 112 different endings, it is unlikely you will end up with the same one too frequently.

Available at Amazon.