Zero Tolerance

Joe Ledger #1.1

by Jonathan Maberry, Ray Porter (Narrator)

This sequel to Patient Zero brings Joe Ledger back into action.

Zero Tolerance picks up a few weeks after the close of Maberry’s action-thriller Patient Zero. Dropping back into the world of former Baltimore cop Joe Ledger, the Department of Military Sciences, and flesh-eating zombies, fans of the series will finally see the tying up of a few loose ends.

Genres: Horror, Zombies, Audiobook, Thriller, Fiction, Short Stories, Science Fiction

1 pages, Audible Audio

First published June 27, 2011

About the author

JONATHAN MABERRY is a NYTimes bestselling author, #1 Audible bestseller, 5-time Bram Stoker Award-winner, 4-time Scribe Award winner, Inkpot Award winner, comic book writer, and producer. He is the author of more than 50 novels, 190 short stories, 16 short story collections, 30 graphic novels, 14 nonfiction books, and has edited 26 anthologies. His vampire apocalypse book series, V-WARS, was a Netflix original series starring Ian Somerhalder. His 2009-10 run as writer on the Black Panther comic formed a large chunk of the recent blockbuster film, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. His bestselling YA zombie series, Rot & Ruin is in development for film at Alcon Entertainment; and John Wick director, Chad Stahelski, is developing Jonathan’s Joe Ledger Thrillers for TV. Jonathan writes in multiple genres including suspense, thriller, horror, science fiction, epic fantasy, and action; and he writes for adults, teens and middle grade. His works include The Pine Deep Trilogy, The Kagen the Damned Trilogy, NecroTek, Ink, Glimpse, the Rot & Ruin series, the Dead of Night series, The Wolfman, X-Files Origins: Devil’s Advocate, The Sleepers War (with Weston Ochse), Mars One, and many others. He is the editor of high-profile anthologies including Weird Tales: 100 Years of Weird, The X-Files, Aliens: Bug Hunt, Out of Tune, Don’t Turn out the Lights: A Tribute to Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Baker Street Irregulars, Nights of the Living Dead, Shadows & Verse, and others. His comics include Marvel Zombies Return, The Punisher: Naked Kills, Wolverine: Ghosts, Godzilla vs Cthulhu: Death May Die, Bad Blood and many others. Jonathan has written in many popular licensed worlds, including Hellboy, True Blood, The Wolfman, John Carter of Mars, Sherlock Holmes, C.H.U.D., Diablo IV, Deadlands, World of Warcraft, Planet of the Apes, Aliens, Predator, Karl Kolchak, and many others. He the president of the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers, and the editor of Weird Tales Magazine. He lives in San Diego, California. Find him online at www.jonathanmaberry.com

Reviews

[Choko · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually felt sorry for the crazy evil scientist...

[Cindy Newton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't really consider this a book--it's probably not even a novella. This is a new genre for me. I saw someone call this military sci-fi/horror, and that sounds about right. All I know is that I really like this Joe Ledger character, and the combination of action + a certain level of creep is fascinating.

This little short story provides a nice closure to the first book in the series, and I was glad to see the diabolical Amira (not sure about the spelling--audiobook!) is finally taken out of the picture. I was excited to discover that there are quite a few books in the series, so I have some fun reading experiences waiting for me!

[Estevam (Impish Reviews) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This audiobook was stellar there is nothing much to say, this is more of what made Patient Zero so good, there is action, that military-style of it, there is some horror and there is the appearance of Amirah that was such an amazing villain in the last book if you liked the previous one this is an instant-buy or instant-read.

[Cam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short story which is a continuation from the first book Patient Zero. If your looking for good zombie books Jonathon Maberry delivers.

[Zade · Rating 5 out of 5]

This should *not* count as a full book, but it is a delightfully dark story and will please fans of Maberry's Ledger series. It fills in a few gaps and gives the reader a good fix of classic Ledger narrative--just enough to hold you over until the next novel. If you've not read the series up to this point, start at the beginning. You'll have much more fun.

[Badseedgirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man I forget how much I love military sci-fi/horror until I read Joe Ledger.

[Pete · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t know if Mayberry forgot this plot line from Patient Zero or if fans were bugging him for clarity but this tightens up some stuff from Joe Ledger’s debut. Pretty much a solid short story.

[Yvonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars
This ride was insane! I need to find out what Joe's up to in The King of Plagues.

[myreadingescapism · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are very short, I wish they have been added together to create a short novella or short story collection. This was literally only 44 minutes, but 4x the speed was like 10 minutes.

Which just like the previously short story, it's just too short and I want more of Ledger!

[Madeline · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best short stories ever.

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short story from a great series

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolutely riveting read that concludes the 'proceedings' of "Patient Zero". It’s brilliantly evocative, singularly humane, and utterly ruthless.
Highly recommended.

[James Biser · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy Joe Ledger. This is several tales of Ledger dealing with situations in the military and in his positions as a government agent. It is a good read because if gets readers into his head. Ledger is a TOUGH, intelligent character.

[Sinisa Mikasinovic · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good closure to Patient Zero. I read it only after going through first 5 books in Joe Ledger series, but I'm glad for the flashback.

In about 45 minutes it shows the aftermath of a DMS fight with walking dead creatures of beautiful, but batshit insane, Amirah.

Of course, this book was also narrated by godlike Ray Porter and I naturally stayed up at 2am to finish it.

Good followup to Patient Zero, just make sure to read it first. 5*

Can't wait to listen to next two short stories before The Dragon Factory!

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a huge fan of audiobooks but it wasn't too bad to listen to. There wasn't nearly as much action and it seemed lacking. Overall if you are a fan of Joe Ledger, it's not worth missing.

[✨Susan✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a short that tied up the main loose end of Patient Zero. I'm glad that the loose end was not the next book.

[Zac · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love these shorts that give us just a little new snippet of Ledger and tie up loose ends...

[Penny Ramirez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love a short story that packs a big punch. It's been a while since I read Patient Zero, and in just a few sentences I was back in Joe Ledger's world. Perfect.

[Sonja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but good. Cleans up the 1st book.

[Gareth Is Haunted · Rating 3 out of 5]

Think about the war in Afghanistan, biological weapons, zombies and you've just about summed up this short story.
Not bad for a short audio book but at the same time there was nothing outstanding.

[Storm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Collected in Joe Ledger: Special Ops and Joe Ledger: The Missing Files, this is short story #1.1 in the Joe Ledger series, taking place a few weeks after Patient Zero. Joe and the team are back in the desert, as there may be infected that escaped the blast site. The higher ups have decided that if the infected can't be contained, they have authorization to take drastic measures to ensure the safety of the rest of the humans at all costs.


Joe's team investigates, finds infected and takes them out. All seems well until they come across fellow American military holed up in a cave, using a very special infected as an interrogation tool. It's not just any infected either, it happens to be a very special one.


This story illustrates Jonathan Maberry's well rounded nature as an author. Not only does it contain fast paced, realistic action that is tactically accurate, he blends into the story the moral dilemmas faced by those whose job it is to do interrogations, and what lengths they should go to in order to obtain the truth to save lives. In reality it's a fine line, one all too easily crossed, as the justification "for the greater good" is always a good excuse.


Joe Ledger, having found the US military commander employing this technique, shows the reader how a soldier can behave in a fashion NOT to lose their soul, giving a choice, and closure to Amirah, one of the best written villains in military sci-fi/horror.

[Panda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook (44 minutes) narrated by the awesome Ray Porter
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing (Blackstone Audio, Inc., and Buck 50 Productions, LLC)


The narration is excellent and the audio is just as it should be, without issues.

One of the great close up encounters in the Joe Ledger series.

I am going to copy and paste my partial review of Material Witness, which I wrote out of order for no reason:

These stories are awesome!

They are snapshots of individual situations that the team encountered that might not fit well in the context of the big picture, but to release as a short story is perfect! This is one of the better uses of 'back filling' a series with short stories. It not only works but it adds complexity, personality, and a more intimate character view as the author can get up close and personal with details into single situations without interrupting the pace or dragging out the novel.

If you are reading this series I recommend that you do not skip the mini in between novels. If you have read the series and you enjoyed it, I would suggest that you consider going back in for these great stories, with the warning that it may lure you into a re-read, because they are just that good... and... if you have not done the audiobook version, Ray Porter is excellent and trying him out with one of these short stories is a great way to see if Ray Porter's voice works for you and the voice that you imagined when you read the print version.

Happy Reading!

[Justin Klinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short story wraps up some stuff from the first book. If you read book one, you really should pick this up, too.

Think of it more as the epilogue to that book than its own story.

I really do recommend reading this story and the two short stories that come after it and before book two. I'm on book two right now, and I'm enjoying it so far.

The second short story (1.2) and the third (1.3) are more of the stand-alone variety, and it was actually nice to see that they wouldn't JUST be fighting zombies in the series. Book 2, The Dragon Factory, is also not about zombies. Nothing against zombies, but I wasn't going to read 11 books about zombies.

So far, I think I'm going to read the whole series, but I plan to take some time off after book 4 or 5, and read something else. Then, I'll come back to these.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently found out that I can listen to audio books through the library. Who knew? And why didn't they tell me? I also recently decided that I do not have the type of attention span one needs to listen to books. I had to re-start this book 4 times in order to get through it -- and it was only a half hour read 🙃 I am glad I tried it because it completed the Patient Zero story line. I also needed a little break from my current reading with some Ledger/DMS/zombie action. Have to say though, Ray Porter does not sound anything near what my version of Joe Ledger sounds like -- or Church -- or Bunny. Just an observation.

[Becs · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoyed Patient Zero then this really does feel like required reading (no, you can't read it beforehand!). This ties up a loose end from the wider series, but really is just a nice palette cleanser before the next one, showcasing a small mission following Patient Zero.

The audiobook is well worth it - the narration is great and he really captures the tone of Joe Ledger. Maberry is totally on point with this 40 minute novella, it feels as though it could have very easily been an epilogue to the book, rather than a money making novella.

[Ryan M Pratt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great follow up to Patient Zero and completed the story line that is later alluded to in Predator One. It's so much fun to read most of the Joe Ledger series and then go back and read these short stories and see how all the pieces and back stories fit together. I wish Maberry would do more Joe stories in an anthology rather than just his long novels. I love the long novels, but these short stories are intense with action and pull you right in. Keep up the awesome work Mr. Maberry!

[Lauren Moss · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I thought this was a prequel to a book that sounded pretty interesting. It’s not! It’s like a mini sequel to add up loose ends to the first book in this series.

🥴😬😬

Can I even read? The answer is no. I cannot 😵‍💫😵‍💫

The whole time I’m thinking “wow this actually sounds so interesting! Let me see what the next book is..” 🥴 I feel like I just ruined it for myself.

[Mary Her · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was thrown off because I thought it was going to be a full novel when I downloaded the audiobook but once I made sure that my download wasn't somehow messed up & I got over wanting more, I figure this is great. Short. Violent, fast-paced action & to the point.

[Ingrid Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you read the first in the Joe Leger series, Patient Zero, you will be able to follow this short story. It sees up one unfinished issue from that book. Not a lead in to the 2nd book as much as a appendage to one.

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm absolutely plowing through this series!

If you're starting here, it's a good window into the storyline. It leaves off right after book one and the aftermath of the bioterrorists.