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Entombed
Brian Keene's long-awaited follow up to DEAD SEA!
It has been several months since the disease known as Hamelin's Revenge decimated the world. Civilization has collapsed and the dead far outnumber the living. The living seek shelter from the roaming zombie hordes, but one-by-one, those shelters are falling.
Twenty-five survivors barricade themselves inside a former military bunker buried deep beneath a luxury hotel. They are safe from the zombies...but are they safe from one another? As supplies run low and despair sets in, each of them will find out just how far they're willing to go to survive.
Brian Keene's ENTOMBED....in the world of the dead, insanity is the only escape.
Also includes the bonus novella "White Fire".
It has been several months since the disease known as Hamelin's Revenge decimated the world. Civilization has collapsed and the dead far outnumber the living. The living seek shelter from the roaming zombie hordes, but one-by-one, those shelters are falling.
Twenty-five survivors barricade themselves inside a former military bunker buried deep beneath a luxury hotel. They are safe from the zombies...but are they safe from one another? As supplies run low and despair sets in, each of them will find out just how far they're willing to go to survive.
Brian Keene's ENTOMBED....in the world of the dead, insanity is the only escape.
Also includes the bonus novella "White Fire".
204 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2011
15 people are currently reading
499 people want to read
About the author
Brian Keene
382 books2,991 followersBRIAN KEENE writes novels, comic books, short fiction, and occasional journalism for money. He is the author of over forty books, mostly in the horror, crime, and dark fantasy genres. His 2003 novel, The Rising, is often credited (along with Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead comic and Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later film) with inspiring pop culture’s current interest in zombies. Keene’s novels have been translated into German, Spanish, Polish, Italian, French, Taiwanese, and many more. In addition to his own original work, Keene has written for media properties such as Doctor Who, Hellboy, Masters of the Universe, and Superman.
Several of Keene’s novels have been developed for film, including Ghoul, The Ties That Bind, and Fast Zombies Suck. Several more are in-development or under option. Keene also serves as Executive Producer for the independent film studio Drunken Tentacle Productions.
Keene also oversees Maelstrom, his own small press publishing imprint specializing in collectible limited editions, via Thunderstorm Books.
Keene’s work has been praised in such diverse places as The New York Times, The History Channel, The Howard Stern Show, CNN.com, Publisher’s Weekly, Media Bistro, Fangoria Magazine, and Rue Morgue Magazine. He has won numerous awards and honors, including the World Horror 2014 Grand Master Award, two Bram Stoker Awards, and a recognition from Whiteman A.F.B. (home of the B-2 Stealth Bomber) for his outreach to U.S. troops serving both overseas and abroad. A prolific public speaker, Keene has delivered talks at conventions, college campuses, theaters, and inside Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, VA.
The father of two sons, Keene lives in rural Pennsylvania.
Several of Keene’s novels have been developed for film, including Ghoul, The Ties That Bind, and Fast Zombies Suck. Several more are in-development or under option. Keene also serves as Executive Producer for the independent film studio Drunken Tentacle Productions.
Keene also oversees Maelstrom, his own small press publishing imprint specializing in collectible limited editions, via Thunderstorm Books.
Keene’s work has been praised in such diverse places as The New York Times, The History Channel, The Howard Stern Show, CNN.com, Publisher’s Weekly, Media Bistro, Fangoria Magazine, and Rue Morgue Magazine. He has won numerous awards and honors, including the World Horror 2014 Grand Master Award, two Bram Stoker Awards, and a recognition from Whiteman A.F.B. (home of the B-2 Stealth Bomber) for his outreach to U.S. troops serving both overseas and abroad. A prolific public speaker, Keene has delivered talks at conventions, college campuses, theaters, and inside Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, VA.
The father of two sons, Keene lives in rural Pennsylvania.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
January 16, 2013
5 Stars
“It is what it is. Just like it says on the wooden token.
You do whatever you have to do to survive in this place. Things are how they are. And if the situation changes, and life throws you a curveball, then you’d better well fucking adapt.
Adapt or die.”
Brian Keene has a real winner in Entombed. A sequel of sorts to his zombie thriller the Dead Sea, this one plays off more like a tangent story that happens to take place in the world of the Dead Sea. This is a short, fast, and incredibly fun page turner. It is a different point of view then your typical zombie novel as this really is about Pete and a small cast of characters that are surviving in a bunker underneath the hotel that they worked at.
“A line from Scarface ran through my head—Al Pacino asking, “Who’s the bad guy?” Well, it wasn’t me. I wasn’t the bad guy in this situation. Neither were the zombies, for that matter. The zombies were nothing more than window dressing. Background noise—a catalyst that got us to this point. No, the zombies didn’t matter. The real bad guys were my fellow survivors. Chuck and his people, as he’d called them. They were the real villains.”
Brian Keene writes with style, with humor, and with gore galore. I loved thed Dead Sea, and this one may even be better.
“On the screen, a human zombie repeatedly slapped the door with a severed penis he clutched in his fist. A dead dog licked the steel, slowly and methodically, as if trying to wear down the door with its tongue. Another zombie’s eyeball popped in its socket as I watched. The gooey remnants slipped down the corpse’s cheek like a squashed grey slug. A cloud of flies swarmed toward the hole and began to crawl in and out. Disgusted by what I was watching, yet strangely compelled to watch it anyway, I shuffled toward the blast door, my peril momentarily forgotten. I was thankful that the closed circuit system had no sound. Seeing them was one thing. Hearing them was another, and smelling them was even worse. As I got close to the door, I imagined that I could hear them. Despite the background noise from the power plant and the unbelievable thickness of the door itself, I heard their distant moans. The dead sounded hungry.”
If you are looking for a quick zombie horror thriller that will leave you wanting more, than I highly recommend Entombed by Brian Keene.
“It is what it is. Just like it says on the wooden token.
You do whatever you have to do to survive in this place. Things are how they are. And if the situation changes, and life throws you a curveball, then you’d better well fucking adapt.
Adapt or die.”
Brian Keene has a real winner in Entombed. A sequel of sorts to his zombie thriller the Dead Sea, this one plays off more like a tangent story that happens to take place in the world of the Dead Sea. This is a short, fast, and incredibly fun page turner. It is a different point of view then your typical zombie novel as this really is about Pete and a small cast of characters that are surviving in a bunker underneath the hotel that they worked at.
“A line from Scarface ran through my head—Al Pacino asking, “Who’s the bad guy?” Well, it wasn’t me. I wasn’t the bad guy in this situation. Neither were the zombies, for that matter. The zombies were nothing more than window dressing. Background noise—a catalyst that got us to this point. No, the zombies didn’t matter. The real bad guys were my fellow survivors. Chuck and his people, as he’d called them. They were the real villains.”
Brian Keene writes with style, with humor, and with gore galore. I loved thed Dead Sea, and this one may even be better.
“On the screen, a human zombie repeatedly slapped the door with a severed penis he clutched in his fist. A dead dog licked the steel, slowly and methodically, as if trying to wear down the door with its tongue. Another zombie’s eyeball popped in its socket as I watched. The gooey remnants slipped down the corpse’s cheek like a squashed grey slug. A cloud of flies swarmed toward the hole and began to crawl in and out. Disgusted by what I was watching, yet strangely compelled to watch it anyway, I shuffled toward the blast door, my peril momentarily forgotten. I was thankful that the closed circuit system had no sound. Seeing them was one thing. Hearing them was another, and smelling them was even worse. As I got close to the door, I imagined that I could hear them. Despite the background noise from the power plant and the unbelievable thickness of the door itself, I heard their distant moans. The dead sounded hungry.”
If you are looking for a quick zombie horror thriller that will leave you wanting more, than I highly recommend Entombed by Brian Keene.
December 27, 2016
I'm not sure whether it's a sad statement about our society or a testament to the universality of Keene's work, but I was sincerely disturbed by the parallels between this story of murder and cannibalism and our most recent American election.
In the wake of the zombie apocalypse, a group of survivors seek shelter in a Cold War-era bunker which had been converted into a museum...and hence had no supplies. Driven to desperation by hunger, the denizens of the bomb shelter decide to vote on a plan so mad that no one could possibly be in favor of it...or so main character Pete thinks. And so Pete abstains, believing that no twenty reasonable human beings could vote in favor of murdering and cannibalizing their fellows. He then learns that since he abstained, he was also chosen to be the first up on the chopping block.
As I said...disturbing parallels. If democracy is the will of the people, and the people are mad and desperate...well, here we are anyway.
From that simple premise, Keene takes us on a rip-roaring adventure full of blood, guts, and horrible fiery deaths. In a novella this short I fear revealing any more than the setup veers into spoiler territory, so I won't, but if you weren't already hooked by that premise, then I guess this isn't the book for you. For the rest of you, do yourselves a favor and check out ENTOMBED...or check it out again if you haven't read it in a few years.
In the wake of the zombie apocalypse, a group of survivors seek shelter in a Cold War-era bunker which had been converted into a museum...and hence had no supplies. Driven to desperation by hunger, the denizens of the bomb shelter decide to vote on a plan so mad that no one could possibly be in favor of it...or so main character Pete thinks. And so Pete abstains, believing that no twenty reasonable human beings could vote in favor of murdering and cannibalizing their fellows. He then learns that since he abstained, he was also chosen to be the first up on the chopping block.
As I said...disturbing parallels. If democracy is the will of the people, and the people are mad and desperate...well, here we are anyway.
From that simple premise, Keene takes us on a rip-roaring adventure full of blood, guts, and horrible fiery deaths. In a novella this short I fear revealing any more than the setup veers into spoiler territory, so I won't, but if you weren't already hooked by that premise, then I guess this isn't the book for you. For the rest of you, do yourselves a favor and check out ENTOMBED...or check it out again if you haven't read it in a few years.
March 5, 2020
Entombed may be set in the same universe as Keene’s Dead Sea but that doesn’t mean it’s your usual zombie tale. It’s a claustrophobic story about the survivors of a zombie apocalypse trapped in a bunker with no food and a diminishing supply of sanity. It’s bleak, gory and disturbing… and utterly fantastic. I was surprised by how different the book is to what I was expecting but that made it so much better and even more shocking.
June 26, 2018
Книгата се води продължение на Dead Sea, но следва съвсем различна пътека, макар и в същата вселена.
Няколко месеца след избухването на зомби пандемията известна като Отмъщението на Хамлин, осемнадесет човека са затворени в бункер от студената война, превърнат в музей. Мъртвите са на купчини пред двата изхода, а оцелелите бавно умират от глад, докато чакат неживите орди да изгният.
Пит е единственият, който се противопоставя на идеята за черна лотария и съответно е първият избран за нея без да тегли късата клечка. Само че другите не знаят колко силна воля за оцеляване има. За да остане жив, Пит превръща бункера в смъртоносен капан за 17-те си съквартиранти, като ги избива един по един, когато идват да го филетират.
Кийн разказва историята от първо лице и мотивите на Пийт изглеждат логични на читателя, но автора постепенно вкарва влиянията на кабинната треска(ако мога така да преведа термина) – апатия, клаустрофобия, параноя, агресия и накрая халюцинации – докато от един Джон Макклейн, Пит се превръща в Майкъл Майерс за все по-малко оставащите оцелели.
Има леки препратки към други произведения на автора, които вплитата събитията от книгата в огромната мрежа на митовете за Лабиринта.
Има и няколко доста изобретателни убийства, включително любимото ми – с помощта на мотокар.
Като цяло ,не е книга за зомбита, но любителите на жанра доста добре ще я оценят, защото успява да запази чувството за макабрено огледало на съвременното общество, дори без ордите безмозъчни, гладни за плът умрелтаци.
Няколко месеца след избухването на зомби пандемията известна като Отмъщението на Хамлин, осемнадесет човека са затворени в бункер от студената война, превърнат в музей. Мъртвите са на купчини пред двата изхода, а оцелелите бавно умират от глад, докато чакат неживите орди да изгният.
Пит е единственият, който се противопоставя на идеята за черна лотария и съответно е първият избран за нея без да тегли късата клечка. Само че другите не знаят колко силна воля за оцеляване има. За да остане жив, Пит превръща бункера в смъртоносен капан за 17-те си съквартиранти, като ги избива един по един, когато идват да го филетират.
Кийн разказва историята от първо лице и мотивите на Пийт изглеждат логични на читателя, но автора постепенно вкарва влиянията на кабинната треска(ако мога така да преведа термина) – апатия, клаустрофобия, параноя, агресия и накрая халюцинации – докато от един Джон Макклейн, Пит се превръща в Майкъл Майерс за все по-малко оставащите оцелели.
Има леки препратки към други произведения на автора, които вплитата събитията от книгата в огромната мрежа на митовете за Лабиринта.
Има и няколко доста изобретателни убийства, включително любимото ми – с помощта на мотокар.
Като цяло ,не е книга за зомбита, но любителите на жанра доста добре ще я оценят, защото успява да запази чувството за макабрено огледало на съвременното общество, дори без ордите безмозъчни, гладни за плът умрелтаци.
November 17, 2024
Short but sweet. Set in the same universe as Dead Sea, I felt that Entombed was better than the original.
This one isn’t humans vs zombies…
It’s humans vs humans and boy oh boy, Brian Keene does a great job showing this. My favorite thing about this book is that there is good and evil on both sides. People would do anything to survive.
This one isn’t humans vs zombies…
It’s humans vs humans and boy oh boy, Brian Keene does a great job showing this. My favorite thing about this book is that there is good and evil on both sides. People would do anything to survive.
June 3, 2015
Brian Keene's Entombed is sort of like a spin off from it's successful predecessor Dead Sea. While Dead Sea may have a huge focus on zombies, Entombed features cannibalism and cabin fever instead. A friend of mine described it perfectly as a mixture of the film Die Hard mixed with a serial killer movie. I think that description sums it up nicely, since it is very much a short fun ride that encompasses those elements. One aspect of this novel I liked very much is the exploration of the murky grey area between self defense and outright murder. It's easy to see where the line would be blurred between the two, which also brings up the point that sometimes there is little difference between the both of them. Where I simply enjoyed Dead Sea for the entertainment, it was Entombed that got me thinking and made my heart race a little. I think Brian Keene had fun trying out a story he wanted to work on for a long time.
Entombed is a fun short read that probably won't take you a long time to plow through, however it is a story that is worth checking out if you enjoyed his other work. That is why I give Entombed a well deserved five out of five stars. While I consider myself to be a expert on his overall Labyrinth mythology, I was a little disappointed that it doesn't pop up too often in this series. (At least not yet.) There are some minor connections to Kill Whitey which surprised me if you have already read that novel. In conclusion Entombed was a huge pleasure to read, so I strongly recommend it regardless if you have read Dead Sea or not. If this happens to be your first Brian Keene book, then you really can't go wrong starting here.
I read both Dead Sea and Entombed as part of a buddy read that is located here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... - you can't go wrong with such a awesome group of readers. They were super nice to me and let me read at my own pace. If you are looking for a group of knowledgeable and friendly reading buddies then I suggest checking them out. Thank you for being such a awesome friend Mehmet!
Entombed is a fun short read that probably won't take you a long time to plow through, however it is a story that is worth checking out if you enjoyed his other work. That is why I give Entombed a well deserved five out of five stars. While I consider myself to be a expert on his overall Labyrinth mythology, I was a little disappointed that it doesn't pop up too often in this series. (At least not yet.) There are some minor connections to Kill Whitey which surprised me if you have already read that novel. In conclusion Entombed was a huge pleasure to read, so I strongly recommend it regardless if you have read Dead Sea or not. If this happens to be your first Brian Keene book, then you really can't go wrong starting here.
I read both Dead Sea and Entombed as part of a buddy read that is located here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... - you can't go wrong with such a awesome group of readers. They were super nice to me and let me read at my own pace. If you are looking for a group of knowledgeable and friendly reading buddies then I suggest checking them out. Thank you for being such a awesome friend Mehmet!
January 27, 2013
Brian Keene has pretty much been one of my favorites in this New Wave of newer horror authors to spring out of the 90's into the 2000's and he continues to amaze me and enthrall me with his writing. This novella takes place in the world wracked by Hamelin's Revenge, which has humans battling zombies (however, if you've read The Rising, City of the Dead, etc, you know there's more to the Living Dead than just being zombies, but I digress...), but the brilliance of this mean little book is a simple one. Guests and employees of a resort hotel hide away in the hotel's underground bunker (yes, a bunker; the hotel was formerly a secret location for a vast underground bunker for politicians during the Cold War, should WWIII happen) after zombies attack...but the only catch is they really have no food, esxcept meager vending machine snacks, which of course, do not last long. Soon, the defacto "leader" of the group decides they should start eating one or more of their own to survive. The novella's protagonist, Pete, opts out of that crazy scenario, and becomes the prey, the hunted, as he attempts to evade them in the warrens of the bunker. But Pete has to kill to survive. And he does, in a brutally realistic fashion, as his starving and battered body starts to break down, along with his fractured sanity. The novel presents that terrifying What If, and it soon becomes apparent that who the real monsters are. Definite must-read!
March 17, 2015
this was awesome! I was expecting that we went back to lamar but it didn't, it went to an other set of people trying to cope in there predicament of the hamlins curse in anyway possible I found it a really good read :-D
February 3, 2013
I’ve read a few of Brian Keene’s books, enough that I can start picking favorites. One of those favorites of mine is his zombie novel Dead Sea. I thought it was a great read and he brought some unique ideas he brought to the zombie genre. And it was bleak, very bleak. Not too long after I read Dead Sea Keene announced a sequel, Entombed. I was excited, it was said to be not so much a sequel as another book set in that world. That sounded like a winner to me, I was ready for it. It took awhile for me to get a hold of it. Originally it was released as a lettered edition hardcover and limited edition hardcover. As much as I wanted to read it I just can’t afford limited editions. So I was thankful when Deadite re-released it last year.
Set in a world where the disease Hamlin’s Revenge has turned most of the population into zombies. Entombed tells the story of a small group of survivors that have locked themselves away in a former military bunker. It provides plenty of protection from the zombies, but as supplies start to run out and under the reign of one man’s self imposed leadership things turn ugly. There’s very little zombie action in this one, mainly in flashbacks to what brought the survivors to the bunker, but there is plenty of violence. Personally I thought this was one of Keene’s gorier books.
I’ve often said that what makes Brian Keene stand out as a writer to me is the characters he creates. In Entombed we see main character Peter as he goes to a very dark place inside himself in able to do the things he feels he needs to in order to survive. We are privy to his internal struggles, such as is he doing what he does to survive, or has it become something else. This book shows us that sometimes the scary stuff has nothing to with monsters or zombies, but can come from the people around you. Or inside yourself.
I started out saying that Dead Sea is one of my favorite Keene novels, and I think Entombed ranks pretty close to it. Though not as great as Dead Sea, it is still a very good read. Being that this is one of his later books, it goes to show that Brian Keene isn’t slowing down or getting soft, with Entombed it almost seems the opposite is in order.
Set in a world where the disease Hamlin’s Revenge has turned most of the population into zombies. Entombed tells the story of a small group of survivors that have locked themselves away in a former military bunker. It provides plenty of protection from the zombies, but as supplies start to run out and under the reign of one man’s self imposed leadership things turn ugly. There’s very little zombie action in this one, mainly in flashbacks to what brought the survivors to the bunker, but there is plenty of violence. Personally I thought this was one of Keene’s gorier books.
I’ve often said that what makes Brian Keene stand out as a writer to me is the characters he creates. In Entombed we see main character Peter as he goes to a very dark place inside himself in able to do the things he feels he needs to in order to survive. We are privy to his internal struggles, such as is he doing what he does to survive, or has it become something else. This book shows us that sometimes the scary stuff has nothing to with monsters or zombies, but can come from the people around you. Or inside yourself.
I started out saying that Dead Sea is one of my favorite Keene novels, and I think Entombed ranks pretty close to it. Though not as great as Dead Sea, it is still a very good read. Being that this is one of his later books, it goes to show that Brian Keene isn’t slowing down or getting soft, with Entombed it almost seems the opposite is in order.
July 6, 2019
I was a huge fan of Dead Sea. This novella doesn't have many zombies, which isn't a bad thing since when it comes to Zombie stories what interests me more is what happens to humanity instead of seeing the dead things shuffle around. It focuses on Pete, stuck inside a bunker for a month with starving companions. When they vote for cannibalism to survive, they learn they've picked on the wrong person as their first meal.
Violent but interesting, it shows varied levels of madness and how it taints different people. Starvation makes people as frightening as the zombies, which seems to be the point of the story and that ending. It brings to mind some disturbing scenes from Night when the starved become desperate and animalistic. This story is realistic because of that. People will only starve so long before they start turning on each other. The contrast with the mindless undead in contrast works.
Thrilling and an easy read.
Violent but interesting, it shows varied levels of madness and how it taints different people. Starvation makes people as frightening as the zombies, which seems to be the point of the story and that ending. It brings to mind some disturbing scenes from Night when the starved become desperate and animalistic. This story is realistic because of that. People will only starve so long before they start turning on each other. The contrast with the mindless undead in contrast works.
Thrilling and an easy read.
September 19, 2018
So far Keene's has not disappointed me and by disappointed i mean a 2 star rated book. In this book which is a sequel but not a sequel really to Dead Sea, Keene spins a gruesomly delightful story of humanity gone shit faced. Can't say a whole lot without giving the plot away but rest assured, in this book Keene will leave you pondering the what if's in the event of an apocalypse that slides humans to the bottom of the food chain.
You wont be disappointed if you read this book.
May 8, 2022
This is a strong 4-⭐️ rating. Zombies are one thing but being cut off from the outside world with the only way out is through the things that put you in there is not a new scenario but Brian Keene knows best how to navigate those waters. I enjoyed!
January 1, 2026
You know it’s gonna be bad when getting eaten by zombies is the best possible outcome 😂😂😂
January 16, 2020
I know Keene was going through a dark time when he wrote this (I don't think he even remembers writing it) and it shows. This one is BLEAK and ANGRY, even for his own standards.
October 28, 2016
Goodreads sometimes bugs me... I had written a nice long review but it crashed. Argh...
Good tale but I've read better from him. This is a zombie tale but without zombies, well at least for most of the book. Only a couple of pages with them. The main story is in a bunker as a band of survivors try to survive with limited provisions. I really like that descend into madness as the main character (Peter) tries to survive killing other survivals whilst a zombie apocalpyse is just outside the doors.
Interesting theme is the descent into chaos by humans in face of an apocalpyse. Most writers have a dark perspective of human nature (my as well) that humankind is worst than "things" out there.
This novella links to his Labyrinth Mythos but besides some notes (connection to Dead Sea per exemple) but it could be a separate book.
Would I advice it to you?
If you want a good story about a descend into madness propelled by hunger and thirst - Yes
If you want a good zombie tale - Yes but with precautions.
Good tale but I've read better from him. This is a zombie tale but without zombies, well at least for most of the book. Only a couple of pages with them. The main story is in a bunker as a band of survivors try to survive with limited provisions. I really like that descend into madness as the main character (Peter) tries to survive killing other survivals whilst a zombie apocalpyse is just outside the doors.
Interesting theme is the descent into chaos by humans in face of an apocalpyse. Most writers have a dark perspective of human nature (my as well) that humankind is worst than "things" out there.
This novella links to his Labyrinth Mythos but besides some notes (connection to Dead Sea per exemple) but it could be a separate book.
Would I advice it to you?
If you want a good story about a descend into madness propelled by hunger and thirst - Yes
If you want a good zombie tale - Yes but with precautions.
May 9, 2016
This is a wonderful book about one man's descent into sheer insanity. Think of it like DIE HARD with zombies and cannibals, except the John McClane character starts out an average dude but instead of turning into an action hero, he becomes a mad killer, and he barely seems aware of that fact. He's a wonderful unreliable narrator. It's a lot of fun even though it's an incredibly bleak book. The author says he doesn't remember writing this book. I believe him. There is a lot of anger in ENTOMBED. Anger and hopelessness. I can't recommend it enough.
January 1, 2014
Laymonesque
January 13, 2020
One of the few Brian Keene books that left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
The beginning of the book was very engaging and action packed - it had the typical Keene charm that I love so much, but as the story progressed and the events unfolded it quickly became excessively dark and overtly graphic/violent - even for MY liking.
We follow the protagonist as he slowly descends into madness and goes from a man simply defending himself into a monster who revels in brutality and has an unabashed thirst to kill his prey in the most horrific and repugnant ways possible.
As our protagonist slowly hunts down the other survivors, the way the author goes into detail during every assault had me cringing and wincing repeatedly. I powered through all the gratuitous violence and reached the finale where the story comes to an unfulfilling and anti-climacting end, leading me to feel that all the violence and carnage was for nothing.
I'd love to see more stories set in this universe, but if Keene DOES write another one I just hope that it isn't filled with the same senseless violence that filled this book.
The beginning of the book was very engaging and action packed - it had the typical Keene charm that I love so much, but as the story progressed and the events unfolded it quickly became excessively dark and overtly graphic/violent - even for MY liking.
We follow the protagonist as he slowly descends into madness and goes from a man simply defending himself into a monster who revels in brutality and has an unabashed thirst to kill his prey in the most horrific and repugnant ways possible.
As our protagonist slowly hunts down the other survivors, the way the author goes into detail during every assault had me cringing and wincing repeatedly. I powered through all the gratuitous violence and reached the finale where the story comes to an unfulfilling and anti-climacting end, leading me to feel that all the violence and carnage was for nothing.
I'd love to see more stories set in this universe, but if Keene DOES write another one I just hope that it isn't filled with the same senseless violence that filled this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 6, 2017
Wow.....just wow. I have been a huge fan of this genre since childhood. I've always loved horror, murder/mystery, paranormal, creepy, scary, etc., movies, books, anything. Halloween is my fave holiday. So, I am fairly hard to surprise, very accustomed to plot twist and gotcha endings. This book surprised me.
I expected an apocalyptic zombie story, much the same as Keenes other offerings with this storyline. I was not expecting a book about cannibalism, a group led to desperation and one mans descent to insanity.
A great read, I really enjoyed this one, save for the ending, which I felt was alittle unsatisfying.
I expected an apocalyptic zombie story, much the same as Keenes other offerings with this storyline. I was not expecting a book about cannibalism, a group led to desperation and one mans descent to insanity.
A great read, I really enjoyed this one, save for the ending, which I felt was alittle unsatisfying.
December 14, 2019
Poor pete is locked in a bunker in the zombie apocalypse with the most stupid and unlikable collection of dumb and irrational people.
Just be aware that, after the standard zombie start, the zombies are gone and the story becomes a lovely revenge plot.
Just be aware that, after the standard zombie start, the zombies are gone and the story becomes a lovely revenge plot.
November 10, 2020
Just barely a zombie novel. Think "The Shining" meets a slasher film. An okay read but perhaps a little over the top. If you are looking for some good splatter horror this is good. However, it won't likely be on that you reread.
January 26, 2021
What would it be like to go crazy when trapped inside a vault that you can't leave because the zombies are outside? Absolute mayhem! This book kicks off the action in chapter two and doesn't stop until the last page. It's bloody, gory fun.
July 24, 2023
I would've loved a bit more plot to the story but I appreciate the multiverse of Hamelin's revenge. I also would've loved to get more insight into how they survived underground and what that was like.
November 18, 2018
Set in a zombie world of Dead Sea, but not at all about zombies. How will people react when being isolated? Spoiler, not good?
August 25, 2019
I've owned this book for ages and always forget to review. Love the humanity evil zompoc thing.
May 11, 2020
Definite horror and creepy read.. low stars but I was hoping for more zombie like the Rising
February 29, 2024
This was a non stop crazy ride.
May 15, 2017
This takes place in the same universe as Dead Sea but is not a direct sequel to it. With that said:
At first I was a bit disappointed with Entombed. It follows a bunch of survivors in a fallout shelter who are totally safe from the undead. They aren't safe from each other, however, and things spiral out of control pretty quickly.
Cons? There aren't a ton of zombies in this.
Pros? It is incredibly gory.
Brian Keene has a unique ability when it comes to describing violence, but holy crap. This has moments that made me cringe. Reading this on the train without looking like I had IBS was difficult. I was squirming.
Honestly, if you are a Keene fan I would suggest it just to see how nasty things can get. After putting it down, I was ok with the fact that I didn't meet many zombies and changed my rating rom 3 to 4 stars. It's a short and cool read
At first I was a bit disappointed with Entombed. It follows a bunch of survivors in a fallout shelter who are totally safe from the undead. They aren't safe from each other, however, and things spiral out of control pretty quickly.
Cons? There aren't a ton of zombies in this.
Pros? It is incredibly gory.
Brian Keene has a unique ability when it comes to describing violence, but holy crap. This has moments that made me cringe. Reading this on the train without looking like I had IBS was difficult. I was squirming.
Honestly, if you are a Keene fan I would suggest it just to see how nasty things can get. After putting it down, I was ok with the fact that I didn't meet many zombies and changed my rating rom 3 to 4 stars. It's a short and cool read
November 12, 2015
You know, I was suprised from the moment I opened the package and took out this book. For starters, it was oddly slim--134 pages. I was expecting something more booklike and less of a Goosebumps heft, but whatever. I loved Dead Sea--zombie tigers, sharks and whales!--so seeing that this book was in same universe, I was still elated.
As I read on my suprise grew--I suspect that publishing houses skimp on proofreaders or editors or that I should be far more amibitious than I am now or I got some messed up edition that fell through the cracks. This book is RIDDLED with errors, spelling mistakes, one paragraph that had no spaces in it, etc. etc.--an egregious amount for a 134 page book. And you know I don't care what kind of author you are (heck I read a Camus book earlier this week that had a bad misspelling on page 2, published by Penguin of all people), but my esteem of a book goes down when it's page after page of typos.
Keene keeps up his trend for quirky narrators. It's one of the things I love best about his works. His heroes aren't tortured ex cops and Navy Seals or resourceful doctors or any of the typical horror main characters. He generally takes the viewpoint of folks who would be ancillary characters in other authors' books--so he's always interesting.
And this book is--ironic that I recently reread Memoirs Found in a Bathtub, because it's similar--zombie apocalypse (one that involves all wildlife too), tour guide and random people take shelter in 1950s nuclear bomb shelter intended for president. There are actually no zombies IN this book (well seen on security cameras) really--like Pariah, it centers on events within the bunker.
Ultimately--short (more like long short story or novella) book by Keene that I might like more later. It had everything I generally love in a book, but felt like a first draft--and could easily have been a book if the events played out over a longer time frame (most of the action in the book takes place in the span of a few hours) and perhaps it would have improved. For some reason, things felt rushed and overblown to me. The narrator might contribute to my malaise about this book because I did dislike him intensely. Glad I purchased it though and it could be a book that grows on me in subsequent rereadings.
As I read on my suprise grew--I suspect that publishing houses skimp on proofreaders or editors or that I should be far more amibitious than I am now or I got some messed up edition that fell through the cracks. This book is RIDDLED with errors, spelling mistakes, one paragraph that had no spaces in it, etc. etc.--an egregious amount for a 134 page book. And you know I don't care what kind of author you are (heck I read a Camus book earlier this week that had a bad misspelling on page 2, published by Penguin of all people), but my esteem of a book goes down when it's page after page of typos.
Keene keeps up his trend for quirky narrators. It's one of the things I love best about his works. His heroes aren't tortured ex cops and Navy Seals or resourceful doctors or any of the typical horror main characters. He generally takes the viewpoint of folks who would be ancillary characters in other authors' books--so he's always interesting.
And this book is--ironic that I recently reread Memoirs Found in a Bathtub, because it's similar--zombie apocalypse (one that involves all wildlife too), tour guide and random people take shelter in 1950s nuclear bomb shelter intended for president. There are actually no zombies IN this book (well seen on security cameras) really--like Pariah, it centers on events within the bunker.
Ultimately--short (more like long short story or novella) book by Keene that I might like more later. It had everything I generally love in a book, but felt like a first draft--and could easily have been a book if the events played out over a longer time frame (most of the action in the book takes place in the span of a few hours) and perhaps it would have improved. For some reason, things felt rushed and overblown to me. The narrator might contribute to my malaise about this book because I did dislike him intensely. Glad I purchased it though and it could be a book that grows on me in subsequent rereadings.
February 21, 2017
an off story from Dead Sea. Short but fun.
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