Halloween Reading | Toxic AF | AstraDaemon

THE UNDEAD RUINS by Eloise J Knapp is the final book in the Undead Situation trilogy. As I write this, the Kindle edition suddenly went missing from Amazon, so the link will connect readers to the paperback. I'm still recommending this series in any form.

There is a huge time jump of about five years, with a few Cyrus flashbacks to key moments. Cyrus seems to have reverted back to the same personality he had in the first book. Other characters don't seem to have changed at all, which is kind of ridiculous when you think of what they've endured and how much time has passed.

In any case, this installment has more action than the first two books combined, with battles against both undead and crazies. People are trying to rebuild and completely ignoring how quickly everything fell apart in the first place. History is about to repeat itself. Some people carry scars, others carry grudge, but the really insane ones carry both.

I'm going to miss Cyrus...

As always,
AstraDaemon

Halloween Reading: Undead Week | Kevin | AstraDaemon

 

THE UNDEAD HAZE by Eloise J Knapp is the second book in her zombie trilogy. The irony is I like Cyrus this time around (I despised him in the first book), but this sequel aggravated me, even more than the first installment. Cyrus would escape one mess, only to find himself in another, and, after a while, the same survive the "crazies" over and over.

There are plenty of plot twists to keep me hooked into this series, so I am still looking forward to the next book. However, I hope there are major changes with the characters because I don't know if I can take anymore of their negative attitudes. I'd like to see them stop blaming each other for everything that goes wrong, and take some personal responsibility.

To her credit, Knapp has some excellent zombie action...as much as I'm complaining, this story is definitely NOT boring -- just exhausting at times. I also like the way Knapp ended the book; the epilogue is much better than a cliff-hanger.

I'm looking forward to the confrontation between three of the main characters in the next book, and hoping to see some of the supporting characters again.

As always,

AstraDaemon

P.S. Don't forget to leave a comment to enter the giveaway for this week's autographed book series. The end of the contest will be delayed to Oct 27th, due to a family emergency.

Halloween Reading: Undead Week | V Stands For Vicious | AstraDaemon

THE UNDEAD SITUATION by Eloise J Knapp is a permutation of various elements of the human psyche: irrationality, detachment, and a degree of apathy I haven't read since David Moody's Hater. I don't have a problem with self-preservation in an apocalypse (makes perfect sense, really), but the character of Cyrus V. Sinclair is self-centered to the point of being sadistic. However, he undergoes a mild transformation, and he has a pet ferret.

The other few characters (Frank - mentor of Cyrus, Gabe - teen survivor & Blaze - former military) also have a peculiar nature to them. Some embodying the typical survivor clichés, others simply inscrutable which amplified the lack of emotion that pervades throughout the book...none of them too developed. The sudden and brief flip to Blaze's POV just to show readers something she did without the knowledge of the other three characters did nothing to give any real depth to her personality. Gabe is just there (taking up space), and Frank is more setup for the story than anything else.

The novel does have some gruesome scenes, although Knapp doesn't dwell on the visceral details much. Instead, she focuses on psychological horror, with frustrating people and exasperating circumstances to rub salt in the undead wound.

Overall, the deal breaker for readers will probably depend on whether they're accepting of Cyrus or not, but this is a story which centers more on the breakdown of society rather than characterization, so it's a pretty good zombie apocalypse.

As always,

AstraDaemon

P.S. Don't forget to leave a comment to enter the giveaway for this week's autographed book series.