Saturday 17 September 2011

Cheating, Death by Teel McClanahan III

Official Blurb

When the walking dead fill the streets, who can cheat death? Who can survive?

Featuring a zombie outbreak that devastates Denver, an indecisive adulterer, and a series of violent, disturbing, and perhaps even heart-rending events of the sort you'd expect when the dead rise up to eat the living, Cheating, Death is a roller-coaster ride through a horror show both of death and of the heart.

My Review

I fancied a bit of horror fiction and this book jumped out at me. Can't go wrong with zombies.

The story mostly follows a family man living in Denver when a sudden outbreak of zombism goes manic. Zombies in this story are the shuffling sort that can infect you with a bite. If you get bitten you catch the virus, and will "turn" within a few hours.

The characters in this story all know about zombies from the movies, but with a twist. They are not just fictional to these characters, they all start knowing zombies exist as a fact, not just the fiction. I loved how within the story people have been misled by the movies into what they should do, just how our minds are misled by various things in the media we watch.

Although I kept listening and wanted to hear how it ended I didn't like the lead character at all. He was a bit of a whiner, and worse he was a bit of a loser. He certainly wasn't the sort of person I would aspire to be and that put me off a bit.

There was no real story arc, but rather a series of events that overwhelmed the characters.

To summarise, the horror of the story kept me listening and the reader (who sounds a little like Tracey Hickman) did a splendid job, but I warn you not to expect high adventure from the story.

Reading 2/3
Production 2/3
Story 1/3

Total Score 5/9

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Listen to the first part

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