Thunder and Ashes by Z. A. Recht
Copy Courtesy of Simon and Schuster
Released Already
Morningstar is a virus that turns its victims into zombies, and it has taken over the world. Sherman leads a band of survivors and soldiers towards Omaha to meet with a doctor who is trying to create a vaccine. Anna is the doctor Sherman's band is meeting up with, and she is also racing to Omaha while being chased by the remnants of the government.
This book reads like a video game. The battles seem like Left 4 Dead in story form. Granted I haven't actually played Left 4 Dead only watched it played so I could be a bit off. Regardless, there's a lot of action.
In a different book the pacing might have seemed too frantic, but in this book the frenetic pace is perfect. The world is devastated, and the groups of survivors we are following have what's left of the world to lose so the hurrying fits beautifully to keep the reader on edge.
There are a lot of characters, some of which them die moments after you meet them, but they are pretty distinct so it is not too hard to keep track of all of them. There is somewhat a lack of depth to the characters though which may be because this is the second book in the series rather than a lack on the part of the author.
I would recommend this to fans of zombies, action, and the post-apocalyptic. It's pretty well-written so those who aren't fans of the above should also considering picking this us (although perhaps starting with the first book Plague of the Dead rather than with the second one).
Star Rating: 3.5/5.0
For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.
**extra note**
The author passed away on Dec 10, 2009. His work is being continued by a ghost writer based on a partial manuscript written by Z. A. Recht before he passed away. The final book in the series is entitled Survivors. You can follow the progress of the final book in this thread.
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