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Waiting to Die
The dead have come back to life to devour the living. They hunger for flesh. They rip away life. They are the new scourge that tears away at the very core of humanity.
As panic spreads through the streets, a handful of survivors search for refuge in a dying world.
Waiting to Die is a ladder through the apocalypse, each step ascending higher into tribulation. With every soul that survives, new circumstances arise that delve deeper into the abyss that the world has become. Nowhere is secure and no one is safe.
If you were thrown into the apocalypse, what would you do? Everyone has a different opinion when it comes to survival. Waiting to Die is a story of a few survivors trying desperately to evade the dead. It is a story of hope, of loss, of the urge to keep fighting even when the odds are stacked against you. What hope is left for humanity when all that remains is death and hunger and gnashing teeth?
As panic spreads through the streets, a handful of survivors search for refuge in a dying world.
Waiting to Die is a ladder through the apocalypse, each step ascending higher into tribulation. With every soul that survives, new circumstances arise that delve deeper into the abyss that the world has become. Nowhere is secure and no one is safe.
If you were thrown into the apocalypse, what would you do? Everyone has a different opinion when it comes to survival. Waiting to Die is a story of a few survivors trying desperately to evade the dead. It is a story of hope, of loss, of the urge to keep fighting even when the odds are stacked against you. What hope is left for humanity when all that remains is death and hunger and gnashing teeth?
269 pages, Paperback
First published August 19, 2012
4 people are currently reading
454 people want to read
About the author
Richard M. Cochran
14 books19 followersR. M. Cochran has been published in Holiday of the Dead by Wild Wolf Publishing, Rainstorm Press's 31 Nights Of Halloween and Signals From The Void. He has short stories published through various press's and publications ranging from Bizarro to horror as well as science fiction and literary fiction.
Self published works include:
Waiting to Die ~ a zombie novel.
Wasting Away ~ the second book in the Waiting to Die series.
Silently Inside is a fiction piece about despair, regret and coming to terms with loss. It deals with death and love.
No Rooms without Walls: An old man takes his life into account as the world falls apart around him. A new evil is unleashed and he is left with an unfaltering heart that refuses to die.
Self published works include:
Waiting to Die ~ a zombie novel.
Wasting Away ~ the second book in the Waiting to Die series.
Silently Inside is a fiction piece about despair, regret and coming to terms with loss. It deals with death and love.
No Rooms without Walls: An old man takes his life into account as the world falls apart around him. A new evil is unleashed and he is left with an unfaltering heart that refuses to die.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 20, 2012
Waiting to Die by Richard Cochran is a well written and unique tale of zombie survival. Within the pages of this book you will find what feels like several short stories intermixed into one novel. Where certain characters, each having their own "story" eventually meet and join together to create yet another yarn of undead carnage, mayhem and the will to survive just one more day.
The characters in Waiting to Die are normal everyday people, thus making them believable and likeable. People who have gotten caught in the destruction of a world where the dead walk among us and they have chosen to survive. Options arise and when it comes to time to make a choice the decision is not always an easy one. The author uses these difficult decision as a means to tug at the heartstrings. As it is in all tales of survival, someone must die and in Cochran's world...no one is safe.
Filled with intense action and adventure. Waiting to Die is viciously detailed in its description of events and the attacks that occur to our various survivor. I don't feel the gore is overly gruesome, but it is definitely descriptive and well thought out.
Waiting to Die is a wonderful book that will strike at the emotions and give fans of the undead a thrill as they shamble and lurch their way after the people who are doing everything in their power to avoid becoming a meal for these festering creatures.
The characters in Waiting to Die are normal everyday people, thus making them believable and likeable. People who have gotten caught in the destruction of a world where the dead walk among us and they have chosen to survive. Options arise and when it comes to time to make a choice the decision is not always an easy one. The author uses these difficult decision as a means to tug at the heartstrings. As it is in all tales of survival, someone must die and in Cochran's world...no one is safe.
Filled with intense action and adventure. Waiting to Die is viciously detailed in its description of events and the attacks that occur to our various survivor. I don't feel the gore is overly gruesome, but it is definitely descriptive and well thought out.
Waiting to Die is a wonderful book that will strike at the emotions and give fans of the undead a thrill as they shamble and lurch their way after the people who are doing everything in their power to avoid becoming a meal for these festering creatures.
January 13, 2015
Sometimes the book got lost in the descriptive. I'd have preferred more action, and less description. The plot could have used a bit more thought. There was really just a lot of running away and killing zombies. It definitely had it's moments.
October 20, 2013
Let's get straight to it: There are a number of problems with Waiting to Die that prevented me from enjoying it. On a technical level, this novel badly needed a closer edit as the typos, missing words, and incongruous word placements - that suggested a spell check had been performed without a follow-up read through - were legion, especially in the early parts of the novel. Aside from this, the writing was solid for the most part, but changes between character's perspectives often took place between paragraphs and with no fanfare, making for moments of reader confusion.
In terms of plot, I liked the idea of a set of random characters eventually crossing paths during a zombie apocalypse, but the execution sometimes left me scratching my head. For example, the introduction to Greg and Scarlet seems to occur in the middle of their story - yet takes place in Chapter 2. I was forced to scour the internet to learn if the writer had a series of short stories or another work that was constructed as a prologue to this novel. Not able to find anything concrete I read on, only for Greg and Scarlet to disappear from the narrative for almost half the book, where, upon their return, their back story was (quickly) sketched in. I also struggled to accept how the zombies operated as they hunted down the living. At times, they seemed to sense the characters very quickly and easily, while at others, a couple of people could creep amongst them shooting with a silenced rifle without attracting undue attention. Then there were the occasions when the zoms moved quickly, while in other scenes they would be staggering as per Romero's classic take on them. Most confusingly of all was the way hundreds would gather together and simply stay around the building they had seen living quarry enter, but then in another storyline would disperse after a few days. Perhaps I missed something integral at some point? If so, the story would have benefited from further discussions among the characters about how the zombies seemed to operate ...
From what I can gather, Richard M Cochran is a relatively new writer who is still learning his craft. This makes sense as for all my issues, there are some quality scenes as characters make desperate attempts to escape their fate, and moments of surprise to be found here with some less than expected deaths. I suspect his output will only improve as his career progresses, but for now Waiting to Die scores itself 2 Fated Deaths.
In terms of plot, I liked the idea of a set of random characters eventually crossing paths during a zombie apocalypse, but the execution sometimes left me scratching my head. For example, the introduction to Greg and Scarlet seems to occur in the middle of their story - yet takes place in Chapter 2. I was forced to scour the internet to learn if the writer had a series of short stories or another work that was constructed as a prologue to this novel. Not able to find anything concrete I read on, only for Greg and Scarlet to disappear from the narrative for almost half the book, where, upon their return, their back story was (quickly) sketched in. I also struggled to accept how the zombies operated as they hunted down the living. At times, they seemed to sense the characters very quickly and easily, while at others, a couple of people could creep amongst them shooting with a silenced rifle without attracting undue attention. Then there were the occasions when the zoms moved quickly, while in other scenes they would be staggering as per Romero's classic take on them. Most confusingly of all was the way hundreds would gather together and simply stay around the building they had seen living quarry enter, but then in another storyline would disperse after a few days. Perhaps I missed something integral at some point? If so, the story would have benefited from further discussions among the characters about how the zombies seemed to operate ...
From what I can gather, Richard M Cochran is a relatively new writer who is still learning his craft. This makes sense as for all my issues, there are some quality scenes as characters make desperate attempts to escape their fate, and moments of surprise to be found here with some less than expected deaths. I suspect his output will only improve as his career progresses, but for now Waiting to Die scores itself 2 Fated Deaths.
June 13, 2013
WOW, what a fantastic read. This book was a wonderfully creepy book. It was explicit in its details with the guts and gore. I felt that if I breathed in I would be able to actually smell the funky rot off of the zombies. What a wonderful experience to be able to feel that way while reading a book. I fell in love with the characters, got emotional when a character did not make it. Got angry at the government who did nothing to help the civilians but did everything they could to destroy the survivors along with the zombies. I even had a nightmare. AWESOME!! totally AWESOME!! If you love creepy, scary, and zombies with lots of guts and gore,with a dash of sentimentality, than this book is for you!! I really enjoyed reading this book!! I know you will too.
July 20, 2012
Just realized that this is the middle of a trilogy of short stories ... It stands alone well, but I'm excited that there's another one to follow!
This was a pretty good zombie short story ... I'm a mild fan of zombie fiction, and this one was a little more graphic in the overall grossness of the decaying undead. I wanted more; I was definitely not ready for the story to end, but I liked how it ended.
This was a pretty good zombie short story ... I'm a mild fan of zombie fiction, and this one was a little more graphic in the overall grossness of the decaying undead. I wanted more; I was definitely not ready for the story to end, but I liked how it ended.
March 21, 2013
Overall I liked this one a lot. Good story, great pace, lots of gore.
The one thing I didn't like was that it's all written in present tense. It's a stylistic choice that actually works a few times in the book, but for the most part it was just distracting. Obviously it wasn't a deal killer since I gave the book 4 stars, but I would have preferred it another way.
It's a pretty short book. I read it in just a few hours and I wasn't even trying to practice speed reading.
The one thing I didn't like was that it's all written in present tense. It's a stylistic choice that actually works a few times in the book, but for the most part it was just distracting. Obviously it wasn't a deal killer since I gave the book 4 stars, but I would have preferred it another way.
It's a pretty short book. I read it in just a few hours and I wasn't even trying to practice speed reading.
March 21, 2013
This book is very good. The action starts at the very beginning and continues till the end. I like how all the people are linked together in someway. I recommend this book to anyone that doesn't mind gorey gross books!
August 10, 2016
A unique tale of zombie survival. A mix of characters, each having their own story that somehow cross paths one way or another. The action starts at the very beginning and continues till the end. Explicit in its details. Gore galore. Overall a short story that is good for a stand-alone.
March 5, 2014
I just... don't care... the title is very fitting because I am just waiting for them to die... I give up on waiting and just trust it will happen eventually
April 23, 2013
It was okay
July 25, 2013
My experience with this book was frustrating. I kept waiting for it to take off. I like a few of the twists, and the book itself was fine, its just that it takes a while to get into.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews