Gear Up For Dulaney's Zombie Series

ROADS LESS TRAVELED: THE PLAN by C. Dulaney is the first installment of a five book series (all available). Part One, Down The Road, begins on October 1st. A young woman named Kasey actually has a "Z-plan" in place before the zombie outbreak in the story. She and her friends are apparently huge zombiephiles.

"Sure it might sound crazy, but who's alive right now and who's not?"~Kasey

Ben and Jake are Kasey's two friends who agree to the Z-plan, but the three of them are joined by Jake's grandmother, Nancy, and some fellow college students who are caught up with the main trio, during their escape to the Appalachian Mountains. The POV switches between Ben and Kasey throughout Part One, until their storylines merge on October 6th.

Part Two, The Road Home, begins on October 7th, and the POV switches to a friend of Kasey's named Mia, who is briefly included in a phone call with Kasey in Part One. Mia runs out of supplies in her home, and tries to escape to Kasey's safe haven. Along the way, she meets a little boy named Ashton at a rest area, which further complicates Mia's dire situation. The POV switches temporarily to Kyra, who is abrasive towards Kasey, and causes one problem after another for her group. Instead of eliciting sympathy, Kyra's thoughts and actions only justify the hatred readers are sure to feel towards her character. When the storylines of Mia and Kyra finally merge, the cast of characters find themselves in a downward spiral, despite their carefully laid out survival plan.

Part Three, Road To Nowhere, which begins on October 20th, was emotionally devastating. The horrors that Kasey and her group face had me in tears. In Part Two, another survivor group is momentarily mentioned in passing, and they predictably clash towards the end of Part Three, but, even so, the fates of the main characters are surprising. (I like the fact there are only a handful of characters to keep track of, eliciting more empathy.)

The Plan is a great start to a series, but the beginning of the book requires a little patience. The zombie action doesn't happen right away, and there is more focus on the relationships between characters than killing the undead. However, the depth of the characters makes up for the lack of gore. I think it's safe to assume we will see more conflicts with the undead in the sequel, and I can't wait to read what else Dulaney has in store for Kasey's group.

As always,
AstraDaemon