Cassandra Wild is on the run from a deranged psychopath while she fights to stay alive during the zombie apocalypse. After being kidnapped, injured, and thrown together with a new band of misfits, things get more complicated, and it takes all of her strength and courage to survive in a world gone completely mad. Cover by maeidesign.com
This is a teen/young adult title that contains some language, violence, and mild sexual situations. Recommended for ages sixteen and up.
NY Times and USA Today Bestselling Author, Kristen Middleton, is from the Midwest and not only enjoys writing, but connecting with her readers. Kristen also writes gritty biker books under the name Cassie Alexandra. She is also involved with raising money to help locate missing and exploited children, helping other authors succeed by sharing what she's learned in the self-publishing industry, and volunteering resources or her time whenever she can. "Besides having a passion for writing, I adore children, suspenseful movies, watching Shameless and The Walking Dead, traveling, Moscato wine, Chianti Grill, Savoy Pizza, and meeting new friends."
Kristen Middleton lives in Minnesota Favorite Quote (Henry Ford)
"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right."
-MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS- This is the fourth book in the series The Zombie Games. In this book Cassie had just got engaged, yet she leaves on a wild chase to see if her grandparents are still alive during this horrific time of zombies. She doesn't leave with her fiance, she leaves with her friend Nora, who wants to look for her dad. They are both 18, but they don't leave alone, they leave with an old man named Henry to help them along the way. The rest of the group leave in groups, even though the parents don't want them to. Two 12-year-old teenage girls and a 15-year-old boy leave and risk their lives to save Cassie from certain peril. This book has very many interesting parts (though some of them may be inappropriate for some people). There are many characters to meet and learn about. The author puts lots of suspense in how the characters will die or when, or if they even will. It has lots of deception, some to keep others safe, and some for plain survival like how Bryce had to lie to save Luke from the crazy old lady. There are also many parts that make you think. The kids start to think it is the beginning of the end of days, and signs appear that it is, yet they always prove them wrong, and more begin. I would only recommend this book to someone who likes gore and fun books. For those people who like fast reads, these books are the fastest. I finished these books all in one day. They are entertaining and go along with the now popular "zombie craze" lots of people have. This is my conclusion to my review. Good luck staying alive in this zombie mess and... wait... who is that behind you!?!
(I did this for the wrong book. I finished 3 books that day and it got confusing. This is for the real book #4)
I really liked this sequel, but not quite as much as the first. I think it might have had more editing issues that distracted me more than in the first book. A few inconsistencies as well. It kept my attention and I enjoyed being absorbed in the story. I wasn't too keen on the MC being separated from the rest of the group for as long as she was. My favorite part of the first book was the interactions between Cassie and Bryce...and that was sadly missing to an extreme in this one.
I think overall I'd give it 3.5 stars, primarily due to need for more editing.
Would I recommend it? YES. Be prepared to forgive the flaws (lack of punctuation, Bobby once spelled Bobbie, etc) Also, the first book was without a doubt YA. This one stepped it up a notch, with MANY sexual inuendos (sp?) from a dirty old man and a lot more cussing.
I received this book via a promo code and this is my unbiased voluntary review. Cassie Wild (Or WILD as everyone annoyingly refers to her constantly) has been reunited with her dad and is planning to travel to the CDC to meet up with her mother and sister. Before she can leave however... crazy infected Austin steals Cassie away from the safety of her secure home with all it's guns, well stocked food stores and full working vehicles... in his deluded zombie ravaged mind for her safety. Kidnapped and hours away from home she escapes-failing to do survival rule number one-eliminate the Threat, leaving Austin to stalk her along the way... as she teams up with new Mary Sue worshippers- a cranky pervert old pensioner and a couple of drag queens as they all travel to the CDC in Atlanta to meet up with her dad. There's zero emotion in this story... too much of Cassies POV ends up being snarky bitchy comments about Bryce and Eva and as a character she's completely self centred. Most of their survival ideas make these characters too stupid to live... yet they struggle on. Book ends on a cliffhanger and I have a feeling book 3 really will be a dead end. I do think if this hadn't been an audiobook I would not have finished.
The first book in this series had me interested to find out what happened next. This one was just downright disappointing. I really hate to be critical of someone’s hard work but this book doesn’t even feel like it was written by the same person.
In the first book Cassie might have been young but she seemed strong, smart and was figuring out how to survive and help others as all this started going down. This book she seems the complete opposite making all the dumbest mistakes. In the end she ends up getting bit by making one of those mistakes.
What I don’t understand and maybe I would if I continued to read the series because I happened to notice that Cassie was at least going for a 4th book is how is it that Austin became a zombie by a simple scratch and there have been a fair few who became zombies by being scratched or bitten but yet Cassie still continues on for several more books? Cassie seemed like such a strong character in the first but became a bumbling fool like Eva in second.
Leaving this on a cliffhanger is a genius idea but I have no interest in seeing how this plays out as this book was a total let down after the first.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I'm pretty disappointed with this read because I really liked the first book. I think my main beef with this book was the characters.
First, they were all severely "over-acted"--like the child actors in a Disney TV show. They would argue over mundane things in the middle of a zombie attack. "Stay away from my boyfriend!" Girl, who cares, it's the apocalypse. Also, this book had a major case of the "everyone needs to reply" syndrome. As in, someone would say something, and then EVERYONE else in the room had to reply. And all of the flirting with strangers, etc. It's the end of the world as you know it; most of you have lost loved ones within the past 24 hours. It was unrealistic.
And what happened with Austin... Completely left field. It was like an entirely different character from the first book.
I don't know, I'm just apathetic to this book. Not sure I'll be continuing the series.
urgh, like the story line, but COME ON!!! this girl is tall, strong, a black belt in karate, and practiced with a gun and she still needs to be rescued all the time, and can't fight off a sick guy, but can kill a bunch of zombies. getting really freakin' annoying. and she keeps doing Really stupid stuff. cut it out!
In the first book Cassie was a bad ass, she kicked but, killed zombies and did her thing. In this book she has become an airhead damsel in distress, gets kidnapped and can't do anything about it despite her black belt, has to have Bryce save her from Austin because she can't do it herself. Very disappointing.
It didn't even have a minimum amount of romance. :( Or at least I couldn't really feel it. Bryce and Cassie barely interact with each other. And when they did, it gave me a kind of empty feeling. My only hope of a better romance in this series was with Austin. But this book ruined it too making him go crazy all of sudden.
Then what was left in the book didn't really grabbed me. I was constantly looking how many pages were left to read since chapter 8. An this novel had 28.
I guess the lack of some seriousness ruined a part of it. The constant jokes at inappropriate moments made me roll my eyes and sigh. Like the first book, it had an amount of unbelievable moments with people reacting too cool around zombies, when the apocalypse started in less than one week. You'll think people would be more chocked or something. But they were doing so fine that everyone joked about death and killing all the time.
Cassie's adventures with the new crew were kinda boring. I wanted to skip all of it and go straight to the part when she finds her dad. But even when I get there the book didn't become any better. In the end, Cassie got bit and I didn't even care. I was so glad I finished reading it. Now I'm free to try my lucky in another zombie book. I didn't know why I lost my time reading this one. I guess I had too much hope for Austin. Now that he's dead, there's no sense in continue.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Cassie, how do you keep allowing yourself to be separated from your friends and family? Sheesh. Mind you, this round she was captured by a psychopath ill with the zombie virus. It seems to make them do violent things to the people they care for. But she does escape Austin the Soldier. But crashes into two new friends, an elderly man named Henry and his nurse Mary. She also meets a bus of drag queens. They were great comic relief and helped Cassie get back to her family.
Bryce though. Dude! Seriously! How dense are you?! He knows that Cassie is mad about him and he chose to believe the Princessy character Eve/Eva. Also, duh, the girl is flirting with you. Not trying to be your friend. I kind of hoped that Bryce would retain his intelligence but he was kind of reduced to needing a dunce cap.
This book was good. Of course, not as great as the first one was. There were a lot of errors in this book though. Inconsistencies names and some editing issues. No matter what, always try to find someone who is willing to edit for you. It really helps having another set of eyes to find errors.
Ok. I officially love this series! Meeting Henry was the best part! He is a crabby old, wisecracking man, that actually has a heart of gold. He’s so funny, and holds no comments back. I literally laughed out loud quite a few times. I love when writers add humor to zombie novels. Of course there is also a character that I hate, which I also enjoy. Lol. I know I’m weird, but what can I say! Quite the cliff hanger at the end so I am off to read the next book! Thank you Kristen Middleton, I’m loving this!
I really enjoyed this book, I'm addicted to this series now! The drama has increased for Cassie, not only does she has to worry about zombies, she's attracted the attention of a psychotic stalker, and has a spoiled class mate to deal with. I can't wait for book 3, this book ended on a shocking cliff-hanger! I received this book in exchange for my honest review.
I read the entire series before writing my review and it is WILD! The final scenes are nothing like your average zombie apocalypse story. So, be prepared for a huge surprise!
It has been such a pleasure reading this book. In the 1st book, you got this situation 'Cliffhanger dude? well you're not cool~gimme more!!' But after you finished this book, I felt kinda…empty~
Short review (lol): The writing: Not sure if it was good or still disappointing. Same like the 1st book, this book left me staring at the ceiling lol. 50:50! at first, it was intriguing and then made me want to punch someone ha! That was because…the character. (3,5 stars)
The character: I don't know. Bryce was so clueless, I don't know if that good or not but boy you got 'your girl' smitten, and you don't have a clue? I mean Eva/Eve uhum. ・Cassie: 3,5 stars. She was a kick ass in the 1st book, but in this book…not really. I don't know, maybe because the story line? ・Bryce: 3 stars. Already told about him. He was stupid lol. ・Cassie's dad: 3 stars. Not good enough! In this book, he got the small portion. So I can't tell you much. ・Cassie's old friends (Paige, Eva/Eve, Austin etc): 3 stars. Not well developed. I didn't feel the same. Not good sorry. ・Cassie's new friends (Henry, Billie etc): 3,5 stars. I liked Henry! This old man was simply stunning ha! His comment haha that mouth was so 'nice' lol.
The story: Being kidnapped was a surprising step! So after freeing herself (Cassie I mean) from that Austin guy, the story become more and more interesting. She met Henry and friends, together they fight the zombies and try to make it to get in touch with loved ones. But after the trip is over, I lost the connection. I'd rather see her smiling with this new group. I know this Bryce's annoying behaviour is a misunderstanding because *spoiler lol* …I just don't like it. So? It was good, yeah well but not as good as the first. (3 stars)
The plot: Good. Has twists and turns. And the ending was a cliffhanger again. (3,5 stars)
Boom!!! Finished just like that!!! And it is only 2:33!!!! Talk about champion reading here!!!!
However........THE BOOK LEAVES AT A FUCKING CLIFF HANGER!!!!!!! Spoiler alert but ......CASSIE WAS JUST FRICKING BIT BY EVA AND THEN SHE FADED INTO DARKNESS!!??!? AND THE AUTHOR JUST LEAVES TO BOOK LIKE THAT!!!!! PLUS PLUS!! The third books description is so flipping vague that you don't know if Cassie lives or not!!!! I am assuming so because on of the book descriptions says "Cassie and Company" however who knows if Cassie's story concludes and another narrative takes over.......YOU JUST DON'T FUCKING KNOW!!!!!!!!!!! GAH!!!!! My LIFE!!!! I am sitting in the dark of my bedroom contemplating whether to buy this next book, how much I love zombies, whether to Google what happens to Cassie, and the liking hood of me surviving the ZA..........so......yeah.......
I know I said this book is B rated but it was STILL very good and nearly perfect (Hate that word) It was a high paced book full of tension and drama and a little bit of romance.....Maybe a bit rushed of romance but it was still there. The zombie scenes were really good and perfectly timed. The guys were a bit too good to be true and the females were equally funny, kick ass and a good mix. All in all a very VERY satisfying book and gave me some more Z pointers for when the ZA finally comes.....definitely taking my dad's Katana with when this happens.
Running Wild is book 2 in the Zombie Games series by Kristen Middleton is every bit as good as the first. I listened to book 1 on a five hour one way road trip and book 2 on the way back. They kept my attention and gave me company during the otherwise lonely, boring drive.This book picks up at the same spot the last one left off. With a car full of people they trek across the U.S. in search of Cassie’s sister and mother. Her father being a car salesman gets them a big enough car off the lot and they pack up to flee. But nothing is that simple. Besides the bombardment of zombies and need for heavy weaponry (her father loves guns) there are plenty of disruptions and plot twists to keep the reader/listener on the edge of their seat. Along with that Cassie and Bryce newly formed romance continues to have disruptions as they find a pretty girl that Cassie knows from school and add her to the growing clan. And a cute soldier saved by Cassie’s mom decides to join them and he’s got a thing for Cassie. Chalk full of action and suspense. Belle Avery is wonderful! And her voice is perfect for the series. The voice in an audiobook is everything. As a listener I have a growing list of narrators I enjoy. She’s moving quickly to the top.
"Running Wild" is another wild ride in the Zombie Games series. The story begins immediately where the previous one ended. Our characters are preparing to head on the road to Atlanta to meet up with Cassie's mother and sister. Unfortunately, before that can happen, Austin decides that he wants Cassie all to himself and kidnaps her.
Cassie manages to escape and meets up with a ragtag band of female impersonators, an old horny nursing home patient and his nurse. They manage to fight off zombies all while fending off the attacks of human stalker.
Finally, Cassie and her gang meet with her father and friends in Tennesee. However, before they can make it to Atlanta, they will have to deal with more zombies, a teenage brat and an unexpected attacker.
Once again, Middeton takes the reader on a wild ride with many twists and turns. I loved the colorful characters and the humor mixed into an earth shattering apocalyptic situation. Somehow they manage to survive; yet, someone's life is about to be changed forever.
If you have not discovered this series, do not hesitate, pick it up. It is really good and will keep you on the edge of your seat!
Kristen Middleton surely stepped up her game for Running Wild. The second book in the Zombie Games series was SO much more better than the first book, Orgins. The characters were well developed, and I just loved the new additions she made to her character list. Shane, Dale, and Steve had me LOLing most of the time they were in the story line. I LOVED Henry and Mary's bantore back and fourth. It just really made this book a joy to read. And I am excited to get my hands on the third one. You can tell that Kristen Middleton's writing will just get better as the time goes on. I am glad that I gave this book a chance. I have read a lot of reviews about the Zombie Games series, and they all say that this is the BEST Zombie series they have read. I wouldn't go as far as saying that it is the best in the genre, but it sure is a riot to read.
Another winner by Kristen Middleton! Loved this book, especially the introduction of the new characters. Henry and the "queens" were fantastic and the twist with Austin was a bummer, but a good twist all the same. This was a fast paced book and I finished it in about an hour or two. Excellent continuation and the cliffhanger at the end was a jaw-dropper....although I have to say, I was happy to see the end of THAT particular character! Lol. Can't wait for the final book!
I read the first installment of this series in the anthology, Darlings of Decay. Most of the authors submitted short stories but, Kristen Middleton (and a few others) actually put in an entire book! I'm so glad she did!! This is a really great series with a ton of action and zombie ass-kicking.....mostly done by a 17 year old girl, Cassie. I'm already half-way through the 3rd book and thought I should stop and leave this review quick. :-)
Awesome! I really enjoyed "Running Wild". The story moved at a fast pace and it was exciting.
I love Cassie. She's a pretty good heroine although she is a bit too complacent, trusting and over-confident considering she's in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. As a 17 year old, her decision-making is a little bit suspect. She should have thought better about leaving her family and going with Austin. But again, she's still a teenager. A teenager who really needs to grow up fast!
I got a chance to read the second installment of the Zombie Games and I loved it just as much as the first. Again it was fast paced with plenty of action and we get to meet a couple of new and colorful characters. It ended kinda with a cliffhanger and I can't wait to find out if everything will work out ok. I highly recommend this book for anybody who loves a good Zombie book.
A good storyline, but the teenager jealousy sections had me rolling my eyes. There are freakin' zombies trying to eat you guys! Why are you fighting over a boy?! Ah, well that's to be expected in a YA book. It's really not that bad and doesn't interfere with the story at all. I'm headed on to the third book now! I do recommend this second book in the Zombie Games series! Check 'em out!
I read the first book yesterday. I finished this one today .I will read the other 3 books tomorrow because I can't wait any longer to see what happens next. I love this story. I have become such a big fan of hers over night. Kristen is a very good writer. I can't wait to read more of her stuff!
This story is getting more intense by the book. We see Cassie trying to deal with the troubles of dealing with an apocalypse and trying to keep her family together. I liked the characters they are so diverse that it makes the story more interesting. I can't wait to find out what happens next.
Just as funny as the 1st! When an old guy calls a drag queen "Tinkerbell" and tells a woman her son is "Smuggling whores out of the country!" nothing is more hilarious! Thenjoy characters were fun and memorable! U have to love a group of ppl who can still find humor during a zombie outbreak!!! LOVED!! LOVED!! LOVED!! Can't wait to read the next!
Cassie and crew are amazing survivors. Its the end of the world and Cassie just might have found love with Bryce. But can it survive along with them? And what of her Mom and Allie? I can't wait to find out in book 3. Will definitely recommend to friends and fellow readers.