The Living Dead Series: The Final Countdown

Dar and her band of survivors must flee for their lives after a terrorist blows up the fence protecting their Boston camp. Departing in two eighteen wheelers, the group heads to Washington State to find Dar’s family.

A caravan of army troops, led by egomaniacal General Townsend, arrive in Boston to take control of the camp only to find it in ruins. His goal: to capture the President of the United States and Annabelle, one of the few ‘ghosts’ in the world who can walk freely among the dead without fear of attack.

Hungry and in need of rest after being pursued by Townsend, the survivors take refuge in a walled-in Amish compound. But all is not what it seems there. The compound, which has its own ‘ghost’, is bitterly divided and separated into two camps by a zombie-filled ditch. Dar realizes that if the Amish don’t soon change their traditional ways, they will die at the hands of the dead. Little does anyone know that a militant group of Amish youth has been secretly planning to overthrow their elders and take control.

Darmeggedon by Joseph Souza is not as strong as Darpocalypse, but it is still far better than The Reawakening. There is just too much repetition followed by sudden jumps in the timeline. The characters spend pages and pages doing the same thing: run from the military, stop to take a break, fight zombies, rinse, repeat...you get the idea. When there is a change in events, there is usually a large leap in time - weeks or even months.

I LOVE the development of the main character, Dar; one of Souza's strong points is the growth of his characters, and the way they interact with one another. The characters are radically different from the first two books - AS THEY SHOULD BE.

I thought this was the last book in a trilogy, but, based on the ending, I wouldn't be surprised if Souza decided to continue the series. There was only one loose end for me: General Townsend, but Souza could probably write another two full-length books with the direction that he has taken in this series.

Since writing this series, Souza has moved into the mystery-thriller/crime drama genre and I highly recommend Unpaved Surfaces and Need To Find You.

As always,
AstraDaemon

The Living Dead Series Continues

The second wave of the plague has struck with a brutal vengeance and a full-on zombie apocalypse has spread throughout every corner of the world.

Abandoned by her father, Dar has managed to set up a camp in the Boston Common. Surrounded by hordes of ravenous zombies, one person living inside the camp holds the key to their survival.

A few lucky people on Earth have developed a mysterious immunity from the plague. Known as ghosts, they are prized for their ability to walk among the dead and gather food and supplies without fear. The Boston camp harbors one such person, and President Roberts orders the Army’s finest soldier to bring their ghost to Washington, D.C. at any cost.As the world descends into apocalyptic madness, the horde grows increasingly aggressive, threatening the wellbeing of every survivor in Dar’s camp. Boston Common becomes ground zero for a dramatic showdown, and Dar realizes that she must make a decision that threatens not only her life, but the survival of every person she’s been entrusted to protect.

Darpocalypse by Joseph Souza was a thousand times better than The Reawakening. The range of characters is fantastic. Rather than rooting for any particular survivor, or survivor group, I simply enjoyed reading the battle royale for survival against the supernatural undead. I was utterly captivated. I'm not reading zombie literature to increase my brainpower, so it's refreshing to find an author that remembers the main reason for writing: ENTERTAINING the readers.

In the first book, readers were introduced to a zombie apocalypse caused by a genetic experiment gone wrong. The story centered around a family trying to survive until helped arrived, but they soon found out that their survival was entirely up to them. In the sequel, one of the characters from the first book, Dar, has risen from the carnage and become a very formidable leader of a community that is doing better than the tattered remains of the US government. Unfortunately, the government is willing to throw away the lives of Dar's followers in order to save their precious capitol.

Even the ending was a pleasure to read...instead of slapping readers in the face with an abrupt cliff-hanger, Souza wrote an ending that has me dying to read the next book in the trilogy - I'm glad I chose to follow Dar through The Living Dead Series.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Warning: Zombie Controversy

A series of terrible things begin to happen when a scientist with a dark past resumes his genetic experiments in a small Maine town. The animals suddenly become aggressive for no apparent reason, attacking anyone within sight, including Rick’s wife. After slaughtering his diseased herd, Rick realizes to his horror that they have come back to life. Soon the farm is under siege by the deranged animals, and a small group of refugees who have assembled in the farmhouse must hunker down and defend themselves against the terrible onslaught of cannibals. The entire town soon becomes filled with the human flesh-eaters, threatening the farmhouse and the survivors within it. But they all have the same message before they reawaken: they are seeking the chosen ones. The onset of winter provides a temporary defense against the army of the dead, but with supplies running low, the survivors realize they must formulate a plan before the arrival of spring and the dreaded melt-off. And as the world outside them descends into total madness, a surprising leader emerges from the group who will hopefully lead them to safety. 

The Reawakening by Joseph Souza is the first book in The Living Dead Series. This novel really upset a lot of zombiephiles, as well as myself. When dead people start talking about an afterlife and "chosen ones," it stops being horror for me. As a matter of fact, The Reawakening seemed more like a sci-fi/fantasy story with just enough brutality thrown in to give it a horror flavor. I am not a fan of supernatural zombies. Granted, the cause of the undead rising in this book is a science experiment gone wrong, but the nature of the undead left me wondering if I was going to be able to finish the book. 

I also disliked the characters - the way they interacted with each other was deplorable, especially considering some of them are related. There was definitely no bonding of any kind within this group of survivors. Not to mention the effort it took to keep reading: a corpse rots faster than the pace of this story. However, after a while, I rather enjoyed the suffering of the characters (sick, I know), and I was just curious enough about their fates to finish the book.Despite my strong dislike of this story, I went ahead and read the second book in the series, Darpocalypse, and I found it to be a great improvement over the first book. It's definitely a unique approach to the whole zombie apocalypse scenario, so if you are looking for something different, this might be the series you were waiting for.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Not My Preference

Fujita's Itch by Joseph Souza is a collection of three stories...the author's writing style has been evolving over the years, encompassing many genres, and these three stories represent the author's literary journey perfectly.

The first tale, Fujita's Itch, is a lengthy piece of bizarro fiction. I couldn't find anything to like about it, at all...just too damn strange for even me. The next story, The Stone Walls of Lebanon, is a brief crime drama and I loved every bit of it. Queensland, the last one, has a humorous edge to it. I can't help but wonder if there are indeed males who worry about that type of biological warfare. All in all, one diverse mix of stories.

Unfortunately, this mix lacked the intensity I've come to expect from Souza and the stories seemed kind of fluffy compared to his past work.

As always,
AstraDaemon