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Halfway Back
Bruno and Steve, Biology students in Paris, find themselves against something that looks like a minor zombie outbreak. Soon enough they will team up with their fellow classmate Fiona and they will try to find out what's the secret behind this story that grows stranger as the time passes.
A science fiction/action/comedy novel, which is the first attempt by Marios Amontaristos. Sarcasm, twists, social commentary and a fair share of blood will be found in the pages of this book.
230 pages, ebook
First published April 17, 2013
14 people want to read
About the author
Marios Amontaristos
1 book10 followersMarios has a long history writing music, a shorter history with films and screenwriting and no history at all in novel writing. His first ever book, Halfway back, is a sci-fi/action-adventure/comedy novel with something like zombies.
He has won no awards for his work, but he's OK with it, as long as people don't throw rocks at him. He expects to write more books and he will be happy to see if there are people who will enjoy reading them. He takes his works more seriously than himself.
He has won no awards for his work, but he's OK with it, as long as people don't throw rocks at him. He expects to write more books and he will be happy to see if there are people who will enjoy reading them. He takes his works more seriously than himself.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 3, 2013
Πρώτο βιβλίο του Αμοντάριστου, και συνοψίζοντας πριν μπω σε λεπτομέρειες: είναι αξιόλογη προσπάθεια.
Η ιστορία ξεκινάει με δυο κολλητούς βιντεογκεϊμάκηδες που πρέπει να παλέψουν εισβολή ζόμπι -- ναι, το ξέρω, ακούγεται σαν rerun του Shaun of the Dead, αλλά μην βιάζεσαι να βγάλεις συμπεράσματα όπως έκανα εγώ. Πριν το πάρεις πρέφα, η κατάσταση έχει κλιμακωθεί εκτός ελέγχου μ' έναν τελείως πρωτότυπο τρόπο: δεν μιλάμε για ζόμπι, αλλά για την εφεύρεση που σε κάνει τόσο υγιή που... σε φέρνει πίσω απ' τον τάφο. Δεν θέλω να γράψω περισσότερες λεπτομέρειες επ' αυτού, γιατί θα σου χαλάσω πολλές -και έξυπνες- εκπλήξεις, αρκεί να ξέρεις πως κάποιος, κάπως, εφηύρε ένα μαραφέτι που διορθώνει κάθε τι που πάει στραβά με την υγεία σου, ακόμη κι αν είσαι νεκρός. Και αν ζωντανέψεις, δεν είσαι διαμορφωμένος ως άνθρωπος, άρα συμπεριφέρεσαι σαν ζόμπι. ΟΚ, φτάνει με τα spoilers.
Η γραφή είναι καλούτσικη, θέλει σίγουρα editing -υπάρχουν "ελληνίλες" στην χρήση των αγγλικών- αλλά προσωπικά δεν μ' εμπόδισε από το ν' απολαύσω την ιστορία. Ο Μάριος έχει ευαίσθητες κεραίες και φτιάχνει ρεαλιστικούς χαρακτήρες, σε πείθει πως παρακολουθείς τις σκέψεις και τα συναισθήματά τους. Η πλοκή είναι, βέβαια, το κύριο χαρτί του Halfway Back -- μιλάμε για ιστορία μυστηρίου με κάμποσες δόσεις φιλίας, σπλατεριάς και δύσκολων αποφάσεων. Το χιουμοράκι του Αμοντάριστου δεν πάει χαμένο κι εδώ, μια που σε πολλές καταστάσεις θα το βρεις κρυμμένο κάτω από τα πιο περίεργα σημεία: η ιστορία με το αρχίδι, για παράδειγμα, είναι ταυτόχρονα ξεκαρδιστική και λυπηρή.
Αν την βρίσκεις με σπλατεριά, μυστήριο και φιλίες που δοκιμάζονται, τσέκαρέ το. Αν, επίσης, είσαι φίλος της όλης zombie-flick φάσης μην το σκέφτεσαι καν, όρμα!
Περιμένω τη συνέχεια!
Η ιστορία ξεκινάει με δυο κολλητούς βιντεογκεϊμάκηδες που πρέπει να παλέψουν εισβολή ζόμπι -- ναι, το ξέρω, ακούγεται σαν rerun του Shaun of the Dead, αλλά μην βιάζεσαι να βγάλεις συμπεράσματα όπως έκανα εγώ. Πριν το πάρεις πρέφα, η κατάσταση έχει κλιμακωθεί εκτός ελέγχου μ' έναν τελείως πρωτότυπο τρόπο: δεν μιλάμε για ζόμπι, αλλά για την εφεύρεση που σε κάνει τόσο υγιή που... σε φέρνει πίσω απ' τον τάφο. Δεν θέλω να γράψω περισσότερες λεπτομέρειες επ' αυτού, γιατί θα σου χαλάσω πολλές -και έξυπνες- εκπλήξεις, αρκεί να ξέρεις πως κάποιος, κάπως, εφηύρε ένα μαραφέτι που διορθώνει κάθε τι που πάει στραβά με την υγεία σου, ακόμη κι αν είσαι νεκρός. Και αν ζωντανέψεις, δεν είσαι διαμορφωμένος ως άνθρωπος, άρα συμπεριφέρεσαι σαν ζόμπι. ΟΚ, φτάνει με τα spoilers.
Η γραφή είναι καλούτσικη, θέλει σίγουρα editing -υπάρχουν "ελληνίλες" στην χρήση των αγγλικών- αλλά προσωπικά δεν μ' εμπόδισε από το ν' απολαύσω την ιστορία. Ο Μάριος έχει ευαίσθητες κεραίες και φτιάχνει ρεαλιστικούς χαρακτήρες, σε πείθει πως παρακολουθείς τις σκέψεις και τα συναισθήματά τους. Η πλοκή είναι, βέβαια, το κύριο χαρτί του Halfway Back -- μιλάμε για ιστορία μυστηρίου με κάμποσες δόσεις φιλίας, σπλατεριάς και δύσκολων αποφάσεων. Το χιουμοράκι του Αμοντάριστου δεν πάει χαμένο κι εδώ, μια που σε πολλές καταστάσεις θα το βρεις κρυμμένο κάτω από τα πιο περίεργα σημεία: η ιστορία με το αρχίδι, για παράδειγμα, είναι ταυτόχρονα ξεκαρδιστική και λυπηρή.
Αν την βρίσκεις με σπλατεριά, μυστήριο και φιλίες που δοκιμάζονται, τσέκαρέ το. Αν, επίσης, είσαι φίλος της όλης zombie-flick φάσης μην το σκέφτεσαι καν, όρμα!
Περιμένω τη συνέχεια!
July 29, 2013
I rarely come across anything in life, whether it be a book, movie, music, or food where I have nothing positive to say. Unfortunately, this is one of those times. Reading Halfway Back – Bruno, Steve and Fiona’s Adventure Against Zombies That May Not Be Zombies and The Secret Behind Them by Marios Amontaristos, the only nice thing I can say about the novel is that I liked the title. That, along with the reviews I read on Amazon, convinced me to purchase the ebook. I can only surmise that the reviews I read on Amazon were actually written by the author or close friends.
The writing was filled with grammatical errors. The first few paragraphs of the novel seemed to be a mix of past-tense and present-tense. I should have put the book down after reading the first few pages, but I didn’t. I ended up forcing myself to read about half of the book. Normally, I wouldn’t write a review if I’d only read half of a book, but my problems with it don’t stem from the plot, but from the characters and the dialogue. And it’s safe to say that those things aren’t going to improve in the second half of the book.
The worst part of the novel were the characters. They were unbelievable and each sounded the same to the point that they could be interchangeable. They had no personalities to speak of. The dialogue was awkward and forced. Their reactions to situations were not realistic in the slightest. At one point, a “zombie” bit their neighbor. Instead of calling an ambulance, they just shot him in the head. They didn’t do that to Fiona when she got bit though. They didn’t behave logically, but in a way to move the story how the author intended.
I feel bad writing this review. I understand how difficult it is to write a novel and I’m impressed by anyone that can accomplish such a thing. Authors pour thousands of hours into writing novels. I get it…it’s difficult. However, just because someone manages to write a novel, doesn’t mean it should be published. That’s the problem with the self-publishing e-book world – you never know the quality of the work you’re going to get. I made a mistake here. Thankfully it was only a $1.49 mistake. I bought the book without reading the sample first. I’ve been lucky with the books I’ve selected lately, so I guess I got careless. It won’t happen again. I guess this is my silver-lining.
Normally, this is when I would suggest the author needs a good editor. Honestly, I don’t think that would help in this situation. I think Mr. Amontaristos just needs more practice writing. A writing class or two would probably do some good as well. An experienced writer or teacher needs to review his work. The premise for the book wasn’t bad, just the execution.
I don’t know this for certain, but it seemed while reading the book, that English was not Mr. Amontaristos primary language. If not, then I must congratulate him on writing a novel in a secondary language. If English is his primary language, then I have nothing else to say.
0/5 Stars
The writing was filled with grammatical errors. The first few paragraphs of the novel seemed to be a mix of past-tense and present-tense. I should have put the book down after reading the first few pages, but I didn’t. I ended up forcing myself to read about half of the book. Normally, I wouldn’t write a review if I’d only read half of a book, but my problems with it don’t stem from the plot, but from the characters and the dialogue. And it’s safe to say that those things aren’t going to improve in the second half of the book.
The worst part of the novel were the characters. They were unbelievable and each sounded the same to the point that they could be interchangeable. They had no personalities to speak of. The dialogue was awkward and forced. Their reactions to situations were not realistic in the slightest. At one point, a “zombie” bit their neighbor. Instead of calling an ambulance, they just shot him in the head. They didn’t do that to Fiona when she got bit though. They didn’t behave logically, but in a way to move the story how the author intended.
I feel bad writing this review. I understand how difficult it is to write a novel and I’m impressed by anyone that can accomplish such a thing. Authors pour thousands of hours into writing novels. I get it…it’s difficult. However, just because someone manages to write a novel, doesn’t mean it should be published. That’s the problem with the self-publishing e-book world – you never know the quality of the work you’re going to get. I made a mistake here. Thankfully it was only a $1.49 mistake. I bought the book without reading the sample first. I’ve been lucky with the books I’ve selected lately, so I guess I got careless. It won’t happen again. I guess this is my silver-lining.
Normally, this is when I would suggest the author needs a good editor. Honestly, I don’t think that would help in this situation. I think Mr. Amontaristos just needs more practice writing. A writing class or two would probably do some good as well. An experienced writer or teacher needs to review his work. The premise for the book wasn’t bad, just the execution.
I don’t know this for certain, but it seemed while reading the book, that English was not Mr. Amontaristos primary language. If not, then I must congratulate him on writing a novel in a secondary language. If English is his primary language, then I have nothing else to say.
0/5 Stars
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews