Welcome to the Lair!
Exploring dark alleys. Discovering new nightmares.
Revisiting the masters.
Christian Hunt and the small band of Camp Holly survivors begin their trek west toward Hoover Dam. There, Doctor Tripp believes she and the refugees that have fortified the dam can develop a cure from Christian’s blood. Zombies are an ever-present danger, opportunistic humans threaten their very lives, and scabs are evolving into apex predators, with humans on the menu.
As if the near impossibility of making it past all of these obstacles wasn’t enough, Christian strives to search for his family. Did his parents or sister survive? And if they did, are any of them immune like him? His desire to find out what happened to them puts the entire mission in jeopardy. And what he discovers is that knowing is sometimes worse than not knowing.
With new friends, enemies, and dreadful discoveries, the companions will have to pull all stops and endure more pain and hardship than ever before. Christian learns to love, hate, kill, and nurture, all while trying to hold on to some semblance of humanity.
Crusade by J.D. Demers is the third book in The Hunt Chronicles. Christian is still relaying his story in past tense through a journal of some sort. As he writes, the prologue notes about a year and half has passed since Christian had his life turned upside down by the contagion. He is physically and mentally breaking down, but he believes he needs to keep writing...
His story continues with the mission to bring key personnel, including himself, to Hoover Dam, with hopes that a vaccine can be engineered. At this point in his personal account, it is five months after losing his roommate to the virus, forming a family with Fish, Boomer and Katrina, and establishing the survivor compound, Camp Holly. Nature has been reclaiming everything and Christian's team is already resembling a group from a Mad Max movie.
The Scabs are continuing to evolve. One of the things I love about this series is how well-developed the monsters are. Demers describes in detail how the Scabs have been changing and interacting with each other, with the zombies and with the human survivors. The author even gives a name to a Scab leader. The battles with the Scabs are some of the best I've ever read in any genre.
Christian gains a lot of insight in his quest to discover the fate of his father, mother and sister. This allows him to relate to the others in his group, particularly Fish, in ways he couldn't have imagined. He also suffers more loss in this novel than in the previous two. Even Boomer becomes more of a central character, with battles and personal interactions of his own.
Demers has done an excellent job of keeping up the action, character growth and scientific discoveries. Each novel has been better than the one before. I'm looking forward to finding out why Christian has been writing a journal while trapped.
As always,
AstraDaemon
In the months following the Awakening, Christian’s group of survivors grows but they are still outnumbered by the hordes of zombies and scabs plaguing the world. With their security at risk, they must move to safer ground.
When Christian and Boomer get separated from the group, Christian is caught in a life or death struggle forcing him to reveal his immunity and hope he can trust the one person who knows his secret.
After Fish leads a daring rescue to save a group of specialists, they discover the origin of the virus and a plan is forged to get them to the Hoover Dam. New hope is on the horizon until a betrayal within the camp threatens not only Christian’s life but the lives of all humanity.
Revelation by J.D. Demers is the second book in The Hunt Chronicles and begins where Awakening left off, in a manner of speaking. Christian is reflecting on his current situation (trapped and alone) and referencing events which have yet to be revealed to readers, as he continues to write about his personal experience. He continues with the aftermath of the Scab attack on the compound.
The newly formed larger group is forced to relocate. Luckily, Fish had already been making backup plans for such a situation. As time passes for Christian and his companions, more survivors are located and brought into the fortified campground. Not everyone is a team player, so a military structure is established, placing some of the civilians into the chain of command, as well as the active duty and retired soldiers.
A third group of survivors make contact, requesting immediate assistance, leading to yet another frightening discovery about the Scabs, including vital information about the nature of the virus. Even with all their preparation, knowledge and experience, Christian and his new family soon find themselves being torn apart, literally and figuratively.
The question that remains is whether or not Christian's life-altering secret will be enough to save everyone.
As always,
AstraDaemon
A mysterious contagion circles the globe in less than a week. Billions die, only to rise again to feast on the living. Zombies… And they are not the worst monsters to rise from the ashes of humanity. A new species is born, and they stand at the top of the food chain. Christian fights to survive in the first days of The Awakening. But there is more to him than anyone knows. He is immune to the infection, but revealing this may lead to his death. The Awakening is the first Chronicle of Christian Hunt and the heroes that sacrificed everything so his gift may save what remains of mankind. Join the Hunt…
I've read literally thousands of zombie stories, and, from time to time, I get burned out on the genre. I was really hoping that Demers had something new to offer, and I wasn't disappointed. I was hooked from the moment that the main character, Christian Hunt, introduces himself as immune. The author added just enough twists to the infection to keep it fresh...well, as fresh as one can be with dead people.
I liked the fact that Christian, who is narrating the story, is definitely not the ideal survivor. He makes a lot of mistakes that will have readers facepalming quite often, but it just adds to the suspense and action. The addition of retired soldier Fish and police dog Boomer make up for Christian's lack of survival skills, despite the fact that Christian served in the Army. The setting of Florida is also a bit different.
The cliffhanger isn't necessarily abrupt, but when I reached the end of the book, I couldn't believe it. The action is non-stop - even when characters are talking, something is always happening around them and to them. I flew through the story, and I'm very impatient to continue with Book 2. Whether you're into the zombie genre or not, I think horror fans will love the brutal action.
As always,
AstraDaemon
Outside the world is going to hell. Inside, John Ripely is drunk, heart broken, and ready to film himself with a hooker to teach his girlfriend a lesson. Events quickly fall out of his control.
Tanner by D.S. Black is a zombie flash fiction piece. I knew that going in, but, somehow, Black still surprised me with the turn of events towards the end. I'm wondering if the outbreak had been unfolding around Ripley prior to his hooker hook-up, but he missed the warning signs as he put all his focus into the end of his relationship. The what-ifs surrounding Ripley's night are more entertaining than his revenge plot.
It would have been funny if Tanner had been the new boyfriend...
As always,
AstraDaemon
She was a stranger in her home. Holland, at only sixteen, had managed to deal with every issue imagined. Abuse, drugs, depression, and emptiness.
Parents can only keep a hold of a child so much, what about the parents who are too into their children?
A Stranger In Her Own Home: The End by Aya Marie begins with a description of Holland's emotional state, as well as a few facts about her home life. As soon as her father's addiction is mentioned, I cringed. I had my suspicions, especially with the careful way the author lays out the story...unraveling the family secrets, without revealing any graphic details...just waves of thoughts and emotions lapping over one another inside Holland's mind. The ending is heartbreaking.
This short story could very easily trigger anyone who grew up with abuse and/or neglect. However, Aya Marie does a stunning job bringing attention to a serious issue, without further exploiting the main character, and I am curious what other stories she might have to offer.
As always,
AstraDaemon
My mother once said that only the Beautiful Ones survive. This is because, in the war-torn Great South, beauty is a currency, and to have it means you will never have to worry about a thing.
The only problem is: beauty is judged by our capital’s Gentlewomen, and there is no guarantee that we will past their test.
Every year, the Gentlewomen of the capital leave the Glittering City to oversee the annual Procession. They travel settlement to settlement selecting girls, aged sixteen and older, to become Beautiful Ones. If chosen, we will be lifted into a life of luxury, but the cost is our free will.
The Beautiful Ones by Kody Boye is the first book in a new series centered on a dystopian society. Essentially, those deemed Beautiful and Handsome are expected to marry and bear children to keep up genetic standards for the Glittering City. The story follows the POV of a sixteen year old girl, Kelendra, chosen from one of the outlying settlements to be one of the Beauties.
From the day of her departure to her time in the Spire, the Process is overwhelming and becomes life-threatening when Kelendra realizes the War is now at her front door. The society Boye has crafted contains elements similar to the Hunger Games and The Handmaid's Tale, while retaining the author's skill in using personal drama to draw readers into his disturbing creation. The Beautiful Ones is full of ugliness lurking below the surface of all the pleasantries.
I read this novel in one sitting and I can't wait for the sequel. Kody Boye has once again created original characters that reflect the ongoing social issues in the real world, cleverly disguised as suspense and tragedy in his fictional society.
As always,
AstraDaemon
Former Pima County Deputy Sheriff Jake Blakely is now an Arizona Ranger, living by his own set of rules, Jake's Laws, dispensing swift gun-barrel justice to bad guys, as well as protecting the safe havens he's helping establish from the ever-present zombies. The safe havens are the seeds for the rebirth of a Staggers Plague-stricken nation. So far, it has cost him his girlfriend, Jessica, and his survivalist home in Split Rock Canyon. Now, zombies are pouring over the former U.S.-Mexico border by the thousands, driven north by remnants of the Mexican Army. Jake has a plan. It's bold and dangerous, and could easily cost him his life. That's never stopped him before.
The Law Giveth is the second book in the Jake's Law series by JE Gurley. In the first novel, Jake's Law, readers are introduced to a diabetic survivor, Jake, who creates a new system of law in a zombie post-apocalypse. Gurley places more emphasis on the fights between the survivors than the zombies. The story ends with a shift from the civilian battle to the introduction of a military group.
In the second novel, there is no peace to be found. As the Territorial Government overlooks the reclamation of areas to establish new safe haven communities, Jake leads the newly reformed Arizona Rangers. Survivors are threatened by both the living and the dead, and Jake has made it his mission to execute anyone who refuses to follow the Law. As if the rebuilding process wasn't difficult enough, Mexico has declared war on what's left of the United States, using the hordes of zombies to overwhelm what is left of the U.S. military.
The relationships Jake established in the first book and in the time since then have not held up well in the face of constant conflicts. Jake is more withdrawn than ever, but continues to attract new acquaintances to his way of doing things, following Jake's Laws. When one of those acquaintances shows signs of possible immunity, Jake wonders if it's a sign of better things to come. Unfortunately, he forgets to follow his own laws and Jake finds himself losing everything and everyone all over again.
It's possible this will only be a two-book series, but I'm hoping Gurley will follow up with some of the loose ends still remaining. I think some of the supporting characters are capable of carrying on the Jake's Law series on their own merit. In any case, I hope fans will see more of Gurley's work soon.
As always,
AstraDaemon
