The Zombie Playground

Grisly High #2

by Brian Rowe

Brin Skar has had a rough couple of weeks. She barely survived the grisly vampire attack in Bodie Ghost Town, the mysterious Paul is now a guest in her own home, and her dad Kristopher, dead for over a year, has emerged from the grave to try to kill his only daughter. After two somber funerals and the baffling disappearance of her Film teacher, Brin decides she needs a break from all the pain and heartache. And what’s a better escape than a round of golf at the brand new Macabre Golf Course? But as soon as Brin and her friends hit the links, strange noises and bizarre sightings begin to occur. And unfortunately for the group, the vampire encounter is going to seem like child’s play… especially when the zombies come out to play!

Genres: Zombies

318 pages, Paperback

First published July 2, 2012

About the author

Brian Rowe is an author, teacher, book devotee, and film fanatic. He received his MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Nevada, Reno, and is represented by Kortney Price at the Corvisiero Agency.

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second offering in the "Grisly High" series. The first book, Vampire Underground, was a great read and that made me eager to read Zombie Playground.
I like that the book starts right where the first one left off. The weekend at Bodie is still fresh in the minds of those that were there. Thinking everything was now fine no one was expecting zombies, but zombies are in the area.
I love the play on words in some of the names of places. The town is called Grisly. Grisly means causing horror or disgust. That should be a clue that this is not a normal town. The newest addition to town is Macabre Golf Course(Look up the word macabre and you understand the zombie relation). It is because of this golf course bordering the cemetery and taking up some of the cemetery land that the zombies are out and about. Brin and her friends come face to face with the zombies and the action never stops from that point on. It was a page turner for sure.
I liked Ash the most after reading Vampire Underground. I loved his movie loving personality. This book kind of toned that down and I was mildly disappointed in that. He was more moody in this one and I think it might have been what Paul pointed out to him. Ash is in denial. I liked Paul a little bit better in this one but I still think there is more for him. Brin is the constant. Her character was just like in book one. She's fearless, loyal, and fun.
The ending leaves loose ties for everyone. The drama teacher has disappeared and Ash finds himself taking a step into the unkown, Brin is up against Zombie Dad, Paul has daddy issues of his own when Droz shows up, Lavendar has joined the ranks of the walking dead, so much happens towards the end that I just have to get to the next book. So for me it is on to Monster Apocalypse.

I've never been disappointed in a book by Brian Rowe. This is the second series that I have read. I like that his story telling captivates the reader. The stories flow with action and great characters. Since this series has offered vampires and zombies so far I think the play on words makes it fun. I recommend this for the fact that it is just a crazy fun reading experience. I've already started the next one and can't wait to see what all unfolds with these characters. What comes after vampires and zombies? Not sure but with the word monster in the title it could be anything.

[Book Whales · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally posted @ Book Whales

Note: This review will contain spoilers from the first book and a tad bit from the second)
This is the second book of The Grisly High series by blaahhh. It follows the story after Brin and (some) of her friends barely survived the attack of the deadly vampires in Bodie Ghost town. Their experiences were already traumatizing enough, but facing highschool life once again with all those accusing eyes at them only made things worse. Chase and Sawyer are dead. And that's a secret that only they know.

Brin, our heroine, is already having a hard time dealing with everyone (especially that Paul, her vampire friend is also going to school with her.), but as days pass by, she's starting to get her normal life back, but not until they started to appear.

I really enjoyed the first book that's why when Mr. Rowe asked for a review for the second book, I immediately agreed.

Unfortunately, I have to say that I was disappointed with the second book. The pacing was too slow for me that I found myself getting bored, that’s why reading this took longer than usual. But I still continued because I wanted to see where the story will go, but the interesting parts only appeared when it reached 60% of the book. The sudden shifts of pov's with random strangers also decreased my excitement for this book, because I think they're not necessary. (although one of them did reappear in the story, but it was still unnecessary. Well at least that's what I think)

Well, I was still able to enjoy some parts of the book, like the zombie chasing part and such. I just wished that more interesting scenes were added.

I give this book 3 zombie whales.

Rating:

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Zombie Playground is fast paced with even more action I think than the first book. While the first one took place mostly in the ghost town of Bodie, this one focuses on the town of Grisly.

Brin has brought home her vampire friend Paul home with her from Bodie. He is hiding from his father and the crazy vampire clan from Bodie. Brin thinks she sees her dead father emerge out of the grave and is doesn't realize that two guys have a thing for her. That is just the beginning. Brin and her friends (well some of them) survived vampires in Bodie only to have to deal with lots of gross zombies in their town. It all starts to get really good at the funerals for Chace and Sawyer.

This is one amazing, funny and non stop action read. While I mentioned a little romance, it is there just doesn't focus on it much. It's all about the zombies. Brin's classmate, Anaya who we met in the first book is back for more. She is still annoying and mean but for some reason I started to like her a little more in this one. I like Brin and her friends, they somehow find humor while running from zombies. The crazyness at the golf course to the dramatic cliffhanger ending kept me on the edge of my seat.

I usually stay away from books with zombies because I think they are just gross but I couldn't put this one down. Brian Rowe is just such an awesome story teller. I am a fan of his books and can't wait for the next one. This is a 5 star for me because I simply didn't want to put it down, it's really that good.

This e-book was given to me by the author for review. This did not affect my review in any way.

[Valentina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fast-paced, fun packed book that will satisfy every lover of action, horror, and “quirky” books.
What I enjoyed most about this story is the main character, Brin, a teenage girl with quite a lot on her plate. She is witty, with lots of spunk, and definitely makes for a great heroine. But really, all the characters are quite fun. They are all pretty likeable and written in a realistic manner despite all the craziness that goes on around them.
The plot is lots of fun as well, with, as the title suggests, a heavy dose of zombies. I’m not usually a huge fan of the whole zombie craze, but I enjoyed the way Rowe handled them, making them gory, but not as over-the-top as I’ve seen other writers do.
I would have liked to have gotten a little more background on the zombies, though. We don’t really get a sense of where they come from or why they’re suddenly there in the town. Perhaps this will be answered in the next book, since this is a series, but it would have been nice to have had a bit about their origin in this one.
If you like zombie books and horror with a nice mix of comedy, this one is for you!a

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brin is trying to deal with a lot that has happened to her and while things should be getting back to normal anything but that happens. Her dad tries to eat her and the worse part is he has been dead for a year. Two kids are dead and her teacher is missing. It seems zombies have arrived and Brin struggles to stop them. Having a vampire in love with her should make matter easy but they are anything but that.

I haven't read the first book in this series so I was a little confused at first. I like Brin as she seems to have a bunch of stuff going on but she continues to try and make things better. Ash isn't a normal vampire to me as he seems scared of the zombies and other things. I did like how he jumped at the chance t go into a portal to save someone. It seemed he got a little courage there. While I usually love any book with zombies I couldn't get into this book. I think it's because I haven't read the first book. It's an ok book to me that I am sure other readers will like it just wasn't for me.

[Star · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brian Rowe’s second Grisly High novel, ‘The Zombie Playground’ picks up right where the first book, ‘The Vampire Underground’, ended. Brin has survived the vampire attacks at Bodie Ghost Town, along with most of her film group, plus she brought home Paul, the son of the vampire king, Droz. Now there is a new threat – zombies. I actually preferred some of the other characters over Brin and Ash this time; I hope they can pull themselves together for the next book in the series. I wished we could have learned a little more detail about how exactly the zombies came to be as what happened was explained but not how those events created the zombies. I did enjoy the humor and the importance golf had in the story. Ending in a action-filled cliffhanger, ‘The Zombie Playground’ will leave you salivating for more…

Grisly High Series: The Vampire Underground (1), The Zombie Playground (2)

[Chrystal]

The Zombie Playground picks up right after The Vampire Underground ends. It follows Brin and her gang through yet another crazy misadventure with undead beings. This book mixes zombie-horror and comedy in just the right doses. It is yet again really fast paced, making you flip through the pages so that it's easy to read in one sitting. The zombies are pretty amazing and gruesome, but from what I can tell you don't really learn much about exactly how they came to be. Looking forward to book three after reading the cliffhanger ending. You will fall in love with some of the supporting characters and be looking for more.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recieved this from the Goodreads giveways.

I loved the first book in this series, so I had some high hopes for this book the 2nd in the series. Unfortunatly, I didn't enjoy it as much as the 1st one. It took longer for the action to get going and then the ending wasn't what I was looking for. There were some really good "B- movieish" parts in this book that were a lot of fun to read though so I did ejoy the book.

I wouldn't read it if your looking for a more serious type of ombie horror book, but if your looking for a fun, little bit silly kind of book involving zombies then this would be it!

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review of this book can be found here:

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