I thoroughly enjoyed reading the Deadlocked series by A.R. Wise. The first three books are written in a first-person style, each continuing the story from a different main character's point of view. The fourth book is written in the third person and brings it all together...answering many of the questions posed during the first three books - and some, even from the beginning of the fourth. New characters are added throughout the story line, some good and some bad. The main characters find themselves fighting zombies, the military, government officials, fellow survivors and even a rogue band of police officers; it is virtually impossible to trust anyone, but readers soon learn who to hate!
The series is easy to read, each book ends with an author's note where Mr. Wise explains some of the twists and turns of the story and why he chose to do what he did. I found this refreshing and even picked up on some things missed while reading that part of the series. This author is great at crafting his story, carrying readers along on these individual quests to locate family members. Portions are outright terrifying and extremely graphic, the scenes described paint a vivid picture for readers, making it seem like we are right there with the characters. If "scratch and sniff" technology were available, it would very likely confirm how I thought it smelled at that time. Readers will be surprised when they learn about the origin of of this virus and why it suddenly began infecting humans around the world. Then again, maybe not! This is, indeed a conspiracy theory that I would never have guessed was responsible.
This book also includes a preview chapter of Book 5, which supposedly is a new series of its own, but does include characters from the first series. I also enjoyed it and plan to follow through on this next adventure. Great job Mr. Wise!
John Podlaski, author
Cherries - A Vietnam War Novel