Over This Plot

When Leah and her husband, Clay, move from Seattle to Maine, she envisions a vibrant new neighborhood packed with families—playmates for her twins, new friends she can confide in and bond with. But while Clay works long hours to establish his brewery, Leah is left alone each day in a nearly deserted housing development where the only other occupants are aloof and standoffish.
 
Bored and adrift, Leah finds herself watching Clarissa and Russell Gaines next door, envying their stylishly decorated home and their university careers. But Leah’s obsession with the intriguing, elegant Clarissa grows until she’s not just spying from afar but sneaking into their house, taking small objects...reading Clarissa’s diary. It contains clues to a hidden turmoil Leah never guessed at—and a connection to a local college girl who’s disappeared. 
 
The more Leah learns about Clarissa, the more questions emerge. Because behind every neighbor’s door there are secrets that could shatter lives forever...

The Neighbor by Joseph Souza lacks the quality found in Unpaved Surfaces or the originality of Need to Find You. I've been enjoying Souza's transition from zombie novels to mystery-thrillers, but this novel has left me wondering if the author has "sold out." While the author's writing style is still as captivating as ever, with alternating POVs between Leah and Clay, the story premise is an over-done theme. Unfortunately, I can't go into detail without giving away spoilers.

Souza also spends more time working current social issues into his story than developing his characters. Clay is a drunk, Leah is a bored housewife, Russell is a cheating husband...I could go on, but my point is everyone is a stereotype, without any effort to give their personalities the depth I've come to expect from the author's characters in previous novels.

The best thing I can say about The Neighbor is this novel would make a great movie for the Lifetime channel.

As always,
AstraDaemon

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

Sunday Suspense: Need To Find You [book review]

Need To Find You by Joseph Souza is an intriguing crime drama, proving that Souza is just as comfortable with this genre as he is with the horror genre. Joseph Souza is well-known for his zombie series such as The Living Dead and The Liger Plague. However, after releasing his award winning novel, Unpaved Surfaces (and, no, that’s not just a blurb, he really did win multiple awards for his first crime drama), Souza is well on his way to becoming the next big thing out of Maine.

Souza avoids the cliché of violence as a plot device, and slowly weaves a story based on a hidden manuscript that might destroy the reputation of a classic author. Mikiela, investigating the memoirs of Robert Cornish, is abruptly kidnapped, but she manages to give her phone to Yasmine. As luck would have it, Yasmine has a history with the kidnappers and plans on using the phone’s contents to exact revenge on a man known only as The Viking. Whip is a former undercover detective struggling to overcome his alcohol addiction, but he accepts the task of finding Mikiela. Haskins is the corrupt assistant police chief who is trying to tie up all the loose ends to pay his debt to The Viking, but both Whip and Mikiela have a score to settle with the dirty cop.

The setup is slow, and there are several more characters to keep track of…to be honest, I wasn’t sure this book was going to be to my liking. I shouldn’t have doubted Souza’s ability to draw readers into one hell of a mystery. I would never have believed a crime drama could be centered on something as simple as a manuscript. Patience is required, but rewarded with the electrifying ending of Need To Find You.

I can’t wait for the next book in The Liger Series, but I’m thinking Souza needs to leave the undead behind and consider giving Whip his own detective series.

As always,

AstraDaemon

Souza Begins New Path With Unpaved Surfaces

Unpaved Surfaces
by Joseph Souza
341 pages
$3.99 Kindle version

PRESS RELEASE:

AUTHOR PENS NEW MYSTERY ABOUT A MISSING BOY

Maine—Maine author Joseph Souza has released a compelling new mystery set in coastal Maine. Unpaved Surfaces (Kindle Press) tells the story of a family still grieving after their son and brother goes missing.

Enter into the life of an ideal family--Auggie is a happy nine-year-old boy whose father, Keith, loves him more than anything. Keith's life seems ideal--until one day Auggie vanishes. A year has passed since Keith's son disappeared, and he's haunted by glimpses of his son appearing in his small Maine town. With the investigation at a dead end and his family paralyzed with grief, Keith worries that he's losing his mind. In a thrilling twist, the case turns in a new direction--a direction that could either heal his family or tear them, and the rest of the town, apart.

Joseph Souza has published five books and has been an Amazon bestselling author. He was awarded the prestigious Andre Dubus Award for short fiction from the University of Southern Maine. He also accepted Honorable Mention from Dennis Lehane for The Al Blanchard Award at Crimebake, New England’s largest crime-writing conference. In 2013 his novel THE REAWAKENING won the Maine Literary Award for Speculative Fiction. In its review of THE REAWAKENING, his award-winning novel, The Portland Press Herald said, “Its impact on a reader reminds me of the old Stephen King classic, The Shining.”

It's very rare to find an author who can write well in more than one genre. I've always thought Souza is a talented horror author, but after reading this murder mystery/crime drama, I want Souza to give up the zombies and continue down this road which begins with Unpaved Surfaces.

The cast of characters are extremely well-developed and believable, and switching between their POVs gives the readers a 360 degree view of the impact of the child abduction at the heart of the story.

This novel is guaranteed to take readers on an emotional journey they will not soon forget. I think this story would make a great movie. I also recommend his Living Dead series, and his Liger series for zombie fans.

As always,
AstraDaemon