What do you think?
Rate this book
Ex-Heroes #4
Ex-Purgatory
When he’s awake, George Bailey is just an ordinary man. Five days a week he coaxes his old Hyundai to life, curses the Los Angeles traffic, and clocks in at his job as a handyman at the local college.
But when he sleeps, George dreams of something more.
George dreams of flying. He dreams of fighting monsters. He dreams of a man made of pure lightning, an armored robot, a giant in an army uniform, a beautiful woman who moves like a ninja.
Then one day as he’s walking from one fix-it job to the next, a pale girl in a wheelchair tells George of another world, one in which civilization fell to a plague that animates the dead…and in which George is no longer a glorified janitor, but one of humanity’s last heroes.
Her tale sounds like madness, of course. But as George’s dreams and his waking life begin bleeding together, he starts to wonder—which is the real world, and which is just fantasy?
But when he sleeps, George dreams of something more.
George dreams of flying. He dreams of fighting monsters. He dreams of a man made of pure lightning, an armored robot, a giant in an army uniform, a beautiful woman who moves like a ninja.
Then one day as he’s walking from one fix-it job to the next, a pale girl in a wheelchair tells George of another world, one in which civilization fell to a plague that animates the dead…and in which George is no longer a glorified janitor, but one of humanity’s last heroes.
Her tale sounds like madness, of course. But as George’s dreams and his waking life begin bleeding together, he starts to wonder—which is the real world, and which is just fantasy?
348 pages, Paperback
First published December 7, 2013
88 people are currently reading
2114 people want to read
About the author
Peter Clines
33 books4,406 followers
Peter Clines
is the author of the genre-blending
-14-
and the
Ex-Heroes
series.
He grew up in the Stephen King fallout zone of Maine and--inspired by comic books, Star Wars, and Saturday morning cartoons--started writing at the age of eight with his first epic novel, Lizard Men From The Center of The Earth(unreleased).
He made his first writing sale at age seventeen to a local newspaper, and at the age of nineteen he completed his quadruple-PhD studies in English literature, archaeology, quantum physics, and interpretive dance. In 2008, while surfing Hawaii's Keauwaula Beach, he thought up a viable way to maintain cold fusion that would also solve world hunger, but forgot about it when he ran into actress Yvonne Strahvorski back on the beach and she offered to buy him a drink. He was the inspiration for both the epic poem Beowulf and the motion picture Raiders of the Lost Ark, and is single-handedly responsible for repelling the Martian Invasion of 1938 that occurred in Grovers Mills, New Jersey. Eleven sonnets he wrote to impress a girl in high school were all later found and attributed to Shakespeare.
He is the writer of countless film articles, several short stories, The Junkie Quatrain, the rarely-read The Eerie Adventures of the Lycanthrope Robinson Crusoe, the poorly-named website Writer on Writing , and an as-yet-undiscovered Dead Sea Scroll.
He currently lives and writes somewhere in southern California.
There is compelling evidence that he is, in fact, the Lindbergh baby.
He grew up in the Stephen King fallout zone of Maine and--inspired by comic books, Star Wars, and Saturday morning cartoons--started writing at the age of eight with his first epic novel, Lizard Men From The Center of The Earth(unreleased).
He made his first writing sale at age seventeen to a local newspaper, and at the age of nineteen he completed his quadruple-PhD studies in English literature, archaeology, quantum physics, and interpretive dance. In 2008, while surfing Hawaii's Keauwaula Beach, he thought up a viable way to maintain cold fusion that would also solve world hunger, but forgot about it when he ran into actress Yvonne Strahvorski back on the beach and she offered to buy him a drink. He was the inspiration for both the epic poem Beowulf and the motion picture Raiders of the Lost Ark, and is single-handedly responsible for repelling the Martian Invasion of 1938 that occurred in Grovers Mills, New Jersey. Eleven sonnets he wrote to impress a girl in high school were all later found and attributed to Shakespeare.
He is the writer of countless film articles, several short stories, The Junkie Quatrain, the rarely-read The Eerie Adventures of the Lycanthrope Robinson Crusoe, the poorly-named website Writer on Writing , and an as-yet-undiscovered Dead Sea Scroll.
He currently lives and writes somewhere in southern California.
There is compelling evidence that he is, in fact, the Lindbergh baby.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 407 reviews
May 30, 2016
This was another fun outing in Peter Clines Ex-Heroes series. I like the fact that we get a nice blend of action and humor. The cool superhero stuff and the chronic threat of the Ex-Humans' (zombies) also keep things interesting.
The story had the feel of a standalone episode in a fun TV show. Our superheroes found themselves trapped in an alternate world where they had no powers and the Ex-Human epidemic had never occurred. Only Madeleine(Corpse Girl) is aware that all is not as it should be and she is determined to convince the others that something is wrong.
It was all quite entertaining. It was fun to see the heroes leading normal lives and it made for some hilarious moments as Madeleine tried to convince them that they were really superheroes and that zombies had taken over the world!
As with most Clines books the story did not end as strong as it started, but on the whole I still liked it a lot.
Rating: 4 stars.
Audio Note: Jay Snyder was flying solo on this instalment as I think he did a good job as I did not overly miss the other narrators.
The story had the feel of a standalone episode in a fun TV show. Our superheroes found themselves trapped in an alternate world where they had no powers and the Ex-Human epidemic had never occurred. Only Madeleine(Corpse Girl) is aware that all is not as it should be and she is determined to convince the others that something is wrong.
It was all quite entertaining. It was fun to see the heroes leading normal lives and it made for some hilarious moments as Madeleine tried to convince them that they were really superheroes and that zombies had taken over the world!
As with most Clines books the story did not end as strong as it started, but on the whole I still liked it a lot.
Rating: 4 stars.
Audio Note: Jay Snyder was flying solo on this instalment as I think he did a good job as I did not overly miss the other narrators.
July 22, 2013
i havnt read this book when i rated it five stars, but neither did the guy who rated it 1 and I thought I should try to even it out.
December 8, 2013
"This one's going to sound really weird."
3 STARS
And because this is a Peter Clines book, Barry qualifies this as "first-season LOST-level weirdness" when, if I'm being strict about it, the more accurate analogy would be season 3.
I was actually enjoying this installment in this highly entertaining series up to a certain point when the homages just reached critical mass that the story collapsed in itself for me. While I appreciate the creative though, let's face it, derivative storytelling (I could practically imagine the first scene opening with a tight shot of George's eyes opening) I'm starting to yearn for a direction for this series as a whole. I mean, the BOOM! KA-POW! SMASH!, the homage-y story lines and pop culture quips could only sustain the readers' interest for so long.
This is not a TV series after all. These people can't just live out a sitcom life with a Monster of the Week every time a book from this series is released. There has to be some point to all of this… at some point, y'know?
Ex-Purgatory starts in a strange setting where George Bailey works as a maintenance crew in a local college in LA. He punches in five days a week, worries about parking, battles rush hour traffic and tries to keep himself on the good graces of his boss. One strange day, a pale young girl in a wheeled chair approaches him and tells him about the troubling dreams he's been having. He dreams of falling endlessly and battling real-life monsters and walking corpses alongside a dominatrix ninja, a behemoth soldier, a mobile suite and a man made of light. She tells him they do not belong here and they have to go back as they are the last hope of a world that was ended by a great plague. He would've gladly dismissed such ridiculous notions but his dreams have been getting increasingly vivid, sometimes making him wonder if he was even dreaming them at all.
Unlike its predecessors, Ex-Purgatory's story line revolves not on who the bad guy is (because if you've been following the series, it's pretty obvious who's behind this) but instead leads your mind to wander on the logistics: where they are, how they got there and what's the escape plan.
I could easily reference which movies this paid homage to and you get the sense that's the direction Clines is taking this but you're sticking around to see how he will pull it off. Because let's face it, both those movies are highly visual and would be difficult to cut across when limited by the boundaries of ink, pages and the reader's imagination. And this book failed exactly in that aspect for me. I mean the fight sequences are starting to blend together into a massively boring deja vu. George/Stealth/Feeedom incinerates/skull-crushes/decapitates/shoots/roundhouse kicks ten zombies at a time...
Perhaps my ability to imagine the many ways how to kill a zombie was exhausted enough to follow the convoluted logic behind this book.
Perhaps it's the characters that ultimately failed me this time because the scales just tipped too much in the villain's favor. I love the bad guy here but while his abilities made for a good story line, the logic was just stretched too thin. Unless Clines plans on having just to make this more derivative than it already is. I mean, he could've ended this entire book, basically the entire series, from Day 1. I'm not even sure if he has an end-game planned here because should he win and defeat the Supers the incentive is a world that is basically crawling with the undead.
Um, yay?
Or perhaps it really just boils down to my irritation of Danielle and her lack of purpose in this series as a whole. She's obviously the most un-super of the supers and yet there was a severe lack in the effort to balance out this weakness with any personality whatsoever. She feels a lot like a throwaway character, to satisfy the estrogen quota of in a zombocalypse book.
Uh, basically a muttering, self-hugging, agoraphobe who was an all around pain in the ass throughout this book. Can't we just have two Barry Burkes please?
I am almost certain Ex-Purgatory would work miles better if I haven't been reading the Ex books in chronological order. I would even daresay this is a better and more exciting introductory book to the series (or even Peter Clines' backlist) than Ex-Heroes or 14 because the novelty of the delivery would still be fresh and the mystery would have enough complexity to amaze first-time readers.
Pixar recently listed its 22 Rules on Storytelling and while this series is probably a distant galaxy from the Pixar universe, I find this rule simplistic yet universal, or SHOULD BE universally adopted by every storyteller/filmmaker/writer/author out there.
#4: Once upon a time there was _____. Every day, ______. One day _____. Because of that _____. Because of that ______. Until finally______.
Someone needs to remind Peter Clines there needs to be an 'Until finally' after all those 'Because of thats'.
Also on BookLikes.
ARC provided by Crown Publishing (Broadway Books) thru NetGalley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
September 8, 2021
This is the fourth novel in the Ex-Heroes series, in which Clines has taken familiar super-hero and super-villain tropes and set them opposite one another in a zombie apocalypse backdrop. It's a very well thought-out and well constructed infrastructure, and the characters have a very human and sympathetic feel to them, rather than being mere caricatures. This one starts out in a somewhat confusing manner, as everything that's happened in the preceding three books looks to be a dream and the world seems to have re-set back to normal. It turns out the bad guy (who mixes elements of the purple guy that Jessica Jones fought with Stephen Leigh's Puppetman from Wild Cards, and who's the current president of the U.S., of course) is behind the scam, which results in the return of a vanquished villain before the Ex-Heroes (surprised that Marvel doesn't own a copyright on that letter) prevail in the end. Along the way we get some insight into the backgrounds of the group, particularly Stealth. It takes a while to get oriented, but then it's quite a fun read.
January 14, 2014
Ex-Purgatory is different from the other Ex-Heroes series in that this is the first book that is more of a mystery than zombie/apocalypse/bad guy book. It takes dip in the Twilight Zone and the Tales from the Crypt Pool and I hate to keep saying LOST in my review of Peter Clines but really there is no other better comparison except perhaps the Matrix.
“How is it that no matter what’s happening you can relate it to the Matrix?” asked St. George.
“Because it is the greatest movie ever made,” said Barry
At the end of Ex-Communication our heroes were at the mount and getting close to electing a mayor and starting a new phase of post apocalyptic civilization but in the beginning of Ex-Purgatory it is as if that never happened. George Harrison Bailey (haha love the It’s a Wonderful Life/Star Wars reference) is working at the college as a maintenance man. He is having crazy dreams about being strong flying and fighting monsters. When Madelyn shows up in a wheel chair as a new freshman at the university and tells him his dreams are real and this world isn’t he starts to wonder who is crazier him or the girl who thinks she’s dead.
I had no idea how Peter Clines could put a new spin on this series after the supernatural aspect from Ex-Communication but he has done it again and seriously has taken a whole new approach in this installment. Sure there is still some zombie fighting and I pretty much thought I knew who the bad guy was most of the time. But I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what was going on with the worlds they were in and how the story all added up until Peter hit me smack dab between the eyes with it and I went….OH of Coarse why didn’t I see that.
I’ll just mention that I really like the down played romance between Stealth and St. George. We know that they are together, in the previous book it was introduced but extremely minimally. When they actually meet up in this book it was sweet, Stealth isn’t normally ‘sweet’ so I enjoyed seeing a slightly softer side to her in the alternate world.
Corpse Girl is still one of my favorite characters and she was really the driving force of the story for awhile. I love how her character decides to kick start St. George into remembering who he is. I’m still shipping her and Freedom even though it seems she might have a little crush on St. George.
Barry still gets the best lines between movie references and just being the comic relief that helps everyone relax a little.
“Your voice is familiar,” said Barry. “I couldn’t place it and then I realized you sound like the guy in my dreams. Which sounds very different than I intended out loud.”
Danielle didn’t do much in the story until later on except worry about the Cerberus Suit, that got a little annoying, but perhaps she will work through her agoraphobia now that she had been out of it awhile.
I loved the story went a whole new direction again. I can see how this will possibly start to loose steam if there is no end game plan. I have no idea what new dilemmas Peter has in store for the superheroes but at some point it seems like the story will have to wrap up. There isn’t really an underlying story arc so it is hard to tell if these will just continue on like a comic book story of sorts or if eventually he’ll bring this world to a natural closing.
Either way I’m still very much enjoying the series and the chances the author is taking with the characters. This still reads like a summer blockbuster and is great when you need a little action in your literary diet.
ARC provided by Crown Publishing (Broadway Books) thru NetGalley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
“How is it that no matter what’s happening you can relate it to the Matrix?” asked St. George.
“Because it is the greatest movie ever made,” said Barry
At the end of Ex-Communication our heroes were at the mount and getting close to electing a mayor and starting a new phase of post apocalyptic civilization but in the beginning of Ex-Purgatory it is as if that never happened. George Harrison Bailey (haha love the It’s a Wonderful Life/Star Wars reference) is working at the college as a maintenance man. He is having crazy dreams about being strong flying and fighting monsters. When Madelyn shows up in a wheel chair as a new freshman at the university and tells him his dreams are real and this world isn’t he starts to wonder who is crazier him or the girl who thinks she’s dead.
I had no idea how Peter Clines could put a new spin on this series after the supernatural aspect from Ex-Communication but he has done it again and seriously has taken a whole new approach in this installment. Sure there is still some zombie fighting and I pretty much thought I knew who the bad guy was most of the time. But I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what was going on with the worlds they were in and how the story all added up until Peter hit me smack dab between the eyes with it and I went….OH of Coarse why didn’t I see that.
I’ll just mention that I really like the down played romance between Stealth and St. George. We know that they are together, in the previous book it was introduced but extremely minimally. When they actually meet up in this book it was sweet, Stealth isn’t normally ‘sweet’ so I enjoyed seeing a slightly softer side to her in the alternate world.
Corpse Girl is still one of my favorite characters and she was really the driving force of the story for awhile. I love how her character decides to kick start St. George into remembering who he is. I’m still shipping her and Freedom even though it seems she might have a little crush on St. George.
Barry still gets the best lines between movie references and just being the comic relief that helps everyone relax a little.
“Your voice is familiar,” said Barry. “I couldn’t place it and then I realized you sound like the guy in my dreams. Which sounds very different than I intended out loud.”
Danielle didn’t do much in the story until later on except worry about the Cerberus Suit, that got a little annoying, but perhaps she will work through her agoraphobia now that she had been out of it awhile.
I loved the story went a whole new direction again. I can see how this will possibly start to loose steam if there is no end game plan. I have no idea what new dilemmas Peter has in store for the superheroes but at some point it seems like the story will have to wrap up. There isn’t really an underlying story arc so it is hard to tell if these will just continue on like a comic book story of sorts or if eventually he’ll bring this world to a natural closing.
Either way I’m still very much enjoying the series and the chances the author is taking with the characters. This still reads like a summer blockbuster and is great when you need a little action in your literary diet.
ARC provided by Crown Publishing (Broadway Books) thru NetGalley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
January 21, 2014
Really kind of disappointed in this one. Barely two or three days temporal advancement in overall plot, and nothing consequential resulted from the story. Also, has anyone ever heard of earplugs?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 10, 2014
Time to start wrapping this series up.
Don't get me wrong. I've enjoyed this series and have burned through every book in the series. Part of the reason is my love of the superhero mythos coupled with the current zombie craze. But you can only drag out a series so long before it begins to get a bit stale. Ex-purgatory is an example of this.
It's more than slightly derivative and even compares itself to the books/tv shows/movies it borrows from. But the derivative feel isn't my main complaint...it's the feeling that the writer is quickly running out of ways to prolong this series. This was compounded by the exceedingly dumb things some of the characters do. I won't spoil it for you but Stealth, for a person with a genius IQ, puts herself in a vulnerable position quite stupidly. Granted these books are my guilty pulp read (i.e. we're not talking Hemingway here), but still...there's a difference between suspending disbelief and accepting characters behaving stupidly just to facilitate a plot device.
It's a worthwhile read, especially if you're a fan of the first 3, but it's a series that seems to be running out of steam. It had a good run, let's see a worthy conclusion.
Don't get me wrong. I've enjoyed this series and have burned through every book in the series. Part of the reason is my love of the superhero mythos coupled with the current zombie craze. But you can only drag out a series so long before it begins to get a bit stale. Ex-purgatory is an example of this.
It's more than slightly derivative and even compares itself to the books/tv shows/movies it borrows from. But the derivative feel isn't my main complaint...it's the feeling that the writer is quickly running out of ways to prolong this series. This was compounded by the exceedingly dumb things some of the characters do. I won't spoil it for you but Stealth, for a person with a genius IQ, puts herself in a vulnerable position quite stupidly. Granted these books are my guilty pulp read (i.e. we're not talking Hemingway here), but still...there's a difference between suspending disbelief and accepting characters behaving stupidly just to facilitate a plot device.
It's a worthwhile read, especially if you're a fan of the first 3, but it's a series that seems to be running out of steam. It had a good run, let's see a worthy conclusion.
January 13, 2014
Full review over at Fantasy Book Critic
ANALYSIS: Peter Clines has to be admired, after three titles in the Ex series, he still knows how to keep this series fresh. I was a little skeptical as to how he would go ahead with this story considering the events of the last book but the blurb of the book was simply irresistible. It seemed to be taking the series in a new direction and I was curious to see where the author was taking the series and characters.
With this fourth volume, we begin in a world wherein George Bailey (St. George/The Mighty Dragon) is a simple janitor and not the superhero we know him to be. He has no inkling of his other life wherein we have met him and many others in a world overrun by zombies or Ex-humans as they are known. This world however has no such apocalypse happening to it, but there's a girl who call herself Madelyn Sorenson and sort of remembers a different world.
Madelyn frequently reminds George that this is not the world they are supposed to be in and this might be an alternate reality, which they need to get out of. Soon George finds out that there are others like Stealth, Zzzap, Freedom and Danielle (Cerebrus) who are also trapped in with him. What happens next and what is actually happening is the meat of the plot and the way they discover it is the icing on the cake for the readers. The author plants several nods to various famous SF works and several episodes from some epic SF shows in this one, and the story unfolds like a classical mystery, which adds to heightened tension throughout the story.
The basic story follows in the same “then” and “now” patterns of the previous books. However this book focuses almost exclusively on George Bailey. While there are other characters who get screen time from time to time. George gets about 90-95% of the POV time and this basically streamlines the story. Another plus point of this story is that we get a lot of major revelations about Stealth and her background. Namely that we get to know her real name, find out about her father and with this move, I believe the author connects his Ex-Series to his Junkie Quatrain short stories (though more information will have to come from the author as to how it all ties in). I happened to really enjoy this link-up and I believe it will be of special interest to regular readers of Peter’s work.
The plot pace and the twists are top-notch and keep the reader completely hooked onto the story. The author has to be commended for keeping this series fresh by taking the series in directions that are very unpredictable. Beginning with the second book, the author explored the military aspect of the world, the third book focussed on magic, religion and the afterlife and this one is even more intriguing from a plot perspective. Plus the story climax along with all the revelations definitely help in blowing the reader’s minds and kudos to the author for thinking up this slick story.
How good/effective the final revelations are, will depend on each reader for gauging them. For me the revelation of the main villain was a bit anti-climatic, as the explanation given, seemed a bit out of the rabbit's hat. What I mean, is that the author seemingly wanted to explain the plot and provide a neat conclusion that would tie everything properly. While the story is complete, the explanation about the main antagonist proved to be very flimsy IMHO. In that regard I didn't quite enjoy the final revelation but because this entire story was so tightly plotted, it was too good, for it to be entirely spoiled for me. I thought that besides this small foible, this book was technically the best in the series in terms of story, pace and plot twists. I'm also hoping that the author plans to conclude this series in a sensible manner and not extend it with too much.
CONCLUSION: All in all, this was an excellent continuation of a series that I’ve come to enjoy so much. Ex-Purgatory is a solid story that will entertain and keep the reader guessing as to what is truly happening. I perhaps didn’t quite enjoy a particular aspect of the story but this was entirely personal and might not be shared by other readers. So keep that in mind and enjoy Ex-Purgatory. I'm already looking forward to Ex-Isle and the surprises it brings.
January 4, 2020
http://booknest.eu/reviews/charles/17...
3.5/5
Ex-Purgatory is the fourth novel in the popular Ex-Heroes series. It's been fun watching the survivors of a comic book universe deal with a zombie apocalypse and try to slowly rebuild civilization. Likewise, it's been nice seeing a lot of classic comic book plots reinterpreted for a post-apocalyptic zombie-filled world. The premiseis a reinterpretation of the classic Superman plot by Alan Moore, "For The Man Who Has Everything." Basically, that superheroes are trapped in a dream-like state and live lives where they don't have to deal with the responsibilities of being a superhero (or at least its downside).
This plot has been re-interpreted numerous times, most recently the House of M crossover event for Marvel. I also feel there's influence from the movie Inception and The Matrix with an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation name checked for good measure. It's a good plot that changes every time it's used with different players. Why? Because it's a good plot and a great way to show off characterization.
Ex-Purgatory begins with Saint George a.k.a the Mighty Dragon working as a janitor at a local university. He is haunted by strange dreams but the world hasn't been destroyed so he's reasonably content. The mystery of what's going on occupies roughly 75% of the novel with the villain responsible revealed early but not the how. Ultimately, the book ends with an effective twist.
The book increases the role of Madelyn a.k.a Corpse Girl dramatically. Introduced in the previous volume, we get some more insights into her personality and ideas. Sadly, we don't get to know much more about her past. What sort of life did Madelyn live before things went to hell? What would she have preferred to do? We do get insights into just about everyone else, however, with Stealth's backstory being the most fleshed out. I'm not sure I cared for it but I trust Peter Clines knows what he's doing.
If I have any regrets, it's the fact Ex-Purgatory is a little too "safe." Ex-Heroes and Ex-Patriots introduced most of the concepts that have been used in this book and its predecessor. I'm eager to see something new and exciting. Unfortunately, this feels very self-contained and a little bit like a reunion special. The plot isn't moving forward and I'd very much like to see something radical happen like the discovery of another survivor settlement or a trip to the future.
We get some insight into the backstory of Stealth that reveals she's the daughter of a prominent Somali terrorist but this tantalizing bit of backstory is not something that gets much insight. I would have liked a lot more discussion of this as it helps change the character's Doc Savage-esque origin to something darker. How she was trained by her father and what purpose before she became a model as well as genius would have made a fascinating story on its own, even without the brainwashing element.
There's also the fact, for a zombie novel, it doesn't have that much in the way of zombies. The "Exes" make an appearance in the book at critical moments but feel almost like an afterthought. Despite the critical threat they posed in previous books, they're treated barely as a threat in Ex-Purgatory. While I wouldn't recommend going Walking Dead on the cast, I'd like to see them take center stage. The Exes are what separate this series from other superhero comics.
Fans of Ex-Heroes will continue to enjoy this new volume in the series but those who are looking to pick up the series should start earlier. Ex-Purgatory is a very continuity-reliant book and would be almost incomprehensible to a new reader. Still, I enjoyed it. The humor is sharp, the characters are likable, and the story allows them to show new sides of themselves. Unfortunately, this book suffers from the fact that not much progress is made in the storyline. It feels like the characters and the world are in the same place at the end of the book that they were at the beginning of it. This is also the penultimate volume of the series with the final volume leaving many questions.
3.5/5
Ex-Purgatory is the fourth novel in the popular Ex-Heroes series. It's been fun watching the survivors of a comic book universe deal with a zombie apocalypse and try to slowly rebuild civilization. Likewise, it's been nice seeing a lot of classic comic book plots reinterpreted for a post-apocalyptic zombie-filled world. The premiseis a reinterpretation of the classic Superman plot by Alan Moore, "For The Man Who Has Everything." Basically, that superheroes are trapped in a dream-like state and live lives where they don't have to deal with the responsibilities of being a superhero (or at least its downside).
This plot has been re-interpreted numerous times, most recently the House of M crossover event for Marvel. I also feel there's influence from the movie Inception and The Matrix with an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation name checked for good measure. It's a good plot that changes every time it's used with different players. Why? Because it's a good plot and a great way to show off characterization.
Ex-Purgatory begins with Saint George a.k.a the Mighty Dragon working as a janitor at a local university. He is haunted by strange dreams but the world hasn't been destroyed so he's reasonably content. The mystery of what's going on occupies roughly 75% of the novel with the villain responsible revealed early but not the how. Ultimately, the book ends with an effective twist.
The book increases the role of Madelyn a.k.a Corpse Girl dramatically. Introduced in the previous volume, we get some more insights into her personality and ideas. Sadly, we don't get to know much more about her past. What sort of life did Madelyn live before things went to hell? What would she have preferred to do? We do get insights into just about everyone else, however, with Stealth's backstory being the most fleshed out. I'm not sure I cared for it but I trust Peter Clines knows what he's doing.
If I have any regrets, it's the fact Ex-Purgatory is a little too "safe." Ex-Heroes and Ex-Patriots introduced most of the concepts that have been used in this book and its predecessor. I'm eager to see something new and exciting. Unfortunately, this feels very self-contained and a little bit like a reunion special. The plot isn't moving forward and I'd very much like to see something radical happen like the discovery of another survivor settlement or a trip to the future.
We get some insight into the backstory of Stealth that reveals she's the daughter of a prominent Somali terrorist but this tantalizing bit of backstory is not something that gets much insight. I would have liked a lot more discussion of this as it helps change the character's Doc Savage-esque origin to something darker. How she was trained by her father and what purpose before she became a model as well as genius would have made a fascinating story on its own, even without the brainwashing element.
There's also the fact, for a zombie novel, it doesn't have that much in the way of zombies. The "Exes" make an appearance in the book at critical moments but feel almost like an afterthought. Despite the critical threat they posed in previous books, they're treated barely as a threat in Ex-Purgatory. While I wouldn't recommend going Walking Dead on the cast, I'd like to see them take center stage. The Exes are what separate this series from other superhero comics.
Fans of Ex-Heroes will continue to enjoy this new volume in the series but those who are looking to pick up the series should start earlier. Ex-Purgatory is a very continuity-reliant book and would be almost incomprehensible to a new reader. Still, I enjoyed it. The humor is sharp, the characters are likable, and the story allows them to show new sides of themselves. Unfortunately, this book suffers from the fact that not much progress is made in the storyline. It feels like the characters and the world are in the same place at the end of the book that they were at the beginning of it. This is also the penultimate volume of the series with the final volume leaving many questions.
December 5, 2013
I received my giveaway copy on 12/4/13 and finished the same day, I could not put that thing down. At first the book is a little loopy, throwing you off. But then like the characters, things start to piece themselves together and you come up with your own still developing theories. For me though things just escalated quickly on page 94 and that's all i'm saying.
July 23, 2013
I haven't read yet either, 1 star review guy irritated me. I've rated the previous books 4 or 5 so I'm pretty confidant I'll like #4.
December 9, 2013
Ex-Purgatory is the fourth book in Peter Clines’ Ex series. For those who haven’t read at least the first and second books in the series, Ex-Heroes and Ex-Patriots, I would strongly suggest you read those books first. In some ways, this book will still make sense even if you haven’t because the author does an excellent job of introducing and developing his characters. So even if you don’t know them already they will stick with you. With that said the payoff with this tale will not resonate as well without the background provided in the first two books. I would note that I actually have not read Ex-Communication, the third book in the series, but am rectifying that now.
We are introduced to George Bailey, who in the past books was the lead superhero keeping humanity safe at ‘The Mount’ in Los Angeles after the zombocalypse had begun. The Mount is Paramount studios, and George, along with several other superheroes including Stealth, Captain Freedom, and zzZap have created a safe haven for those still alive in the city by building walls around many of the buildings to keep the Ex-Humans (aka zombies) outside.
That, however, is not how this story begins. A reader familiar with this series may believe that this is somehow a prequel, re-introducing us to George in his normal life before he realized he had his superpowers. It becomes clear very soon that this is not the case. He is a maintenance man on the UCLA campus grinding his way through life one day at a time-trying to keep his car from stalling out on the way to work and to make enough money to keep a roof over his head. But it becomes clear rather quickly that things are not as they seem-to George and to the reader. There are little peeks behind the hazy curtain that the world seems to thrown around him that George has to puzzle over-the world shifts and people around him appear as if they are moving corpses-ones that attack and crave flesh. The world looks decimated-like a nuclear bomb has been dropped on L.A. But not long after these images appear they fade, replaced by typical people doing ordinary things and with everything around George going back to normal. But it isn’t only the visions that are causing him confusion-it’s the dreams he has every night of him as a superhero fighting off hordes of the undead while people behind a giant wall cheer him on. If that wasn’t enough, George keeps getting confronted by a young girl in a wheelchair named Madelyn. She insists he has superpowers and that neither of them belong in this place. Her memories, unlike his, are still intact. Where they are, she doesn’t know, except that they appear to be trapped in some alternate universe that they need to break out of before they are lost forever.
Ex-Purgatory takes a slight detour from the storytelling route readers of this series are used to. There are no flashbacks providing the reader with a backstory of the main characters. By now the reader, if they have followed along with the trilogy, understand who the superheroes are and where they came from, which makes this tale that much more interesting as we are reintroduced to them one by one with George’s efforts to unravel the mystery that his life has become-some of whom have dreamt of him while others have no clue who he is, though he is certain he knows them from somewhere. This adds new flavor to characters we already know, especially Stealth, adding new details to their existence that will be appreciated by fans of this series.
The Ex-series continues to entertain. While this perhaps isn’t the best book in the saga, it is a fun read definitely worth checking out.
We are introduced to George Bailey, who in the past books was the lead superhero keeping humanity safe at ‘The Mount’ in Los Angeles after the zombocalypse had begun. The Mount is Paramount studios, and George, along with several other superheroes including Stealth, Captain Freedom, and zzZap have created a safe haven for those still alive in the city by building walls around many of the buildings to keep the Ex-Humans (aka zombies) outside.
That, however, is not how this story begins. A reader familiar with this series may believe that this is somehow a prequel, re-introducing us to George in his normal life before he realized he had his superpowers. It becomes clear very soon that this is not the case. He is a maintenance man on the UCLA campus grinding his way through life one day at a time-trying to keep his car from stalling out on the way to work and to make enough money to keep a roof over his head. But it becomes clear rather quickly that things are not as they seem-to George and to the reader. There are little peeks behind the hazy curtain that the world seems to thrown around him that George has to puzzle over-the world shifts and people around him appear as if they are moving corpses-ones that attack and crave flesh. The world looks decimated-like a nuclear bomb has been dropped on L.A. But not long after these images appear they fade, replaced by typical people doing ordinary things and with everything around George going back to normal. But it isn’t only the visions that are causing him confusion-it’s the dreams he has every night of him as a superhero fighting off hordes of the undead while people behind a giant wall cheer him on. If that wasn’t enough, George keeps getting confronted by a young girl in a wheelchair named Madelyn. She insists he has superpowers and that neither of them belong in this place. Her memories, unlike his, are still intact. Where they are, she doesn’t know, except that they appear to be trapped in some alternate universe that they need to break out of before they are lost forever.
Ex-Purgatory takes a slight detour from the storytelling route readers of this series are used to. There are no flashbacks providing the reader with a backstory of the main characters. By now the reader, if they have followed along with the trilogy, understand who the superheroes are and where they came from, which makes this tale that much more interesting as we are reintroduced to them one by one with George’s efforts to unravel the mystery that his life has become-some of whom have dreamt of him while others have no clue who he is, though he is certain he knows them from somewhere. This adds new flavor to characters we already know, especially Stealth, adding new details to their existence that will be appreciated by fans of this series.
The Ex-series continues to entertain. While this perhaps isn’t the best book in the saga, it is a fun read definitely worth checking out.
April 1, 2015
The fourth book in Peter Clines's superhero/zombie apocalypse series at first made me think he'd run out of ideas and so was writing a prequel novel. George Bailey, formerly known as the Mighty Dragon and then Saint George, is now a mundane janitor in a pre-zombie apocalypse L.A.?
Things are not what they seem. It may be a bit spoilery, but we've already seen supervillains in this series who can mess with your head, so just think of movies like the Matrix and Inception. Barry (aka "Zap"), the resident SF geek, is quick to make that comparison explicitly once the heroes get together and start figuring it out. The plot was fairly clever, and so with several red herrings, there are multiple layers to unravel, enough to make the reader as well as the characters begin to doubt what's real.
Captain Freedom, Saint George, Stealth, Corpse Girl, Zap, and Cerberus all feature prominently in this latest book in a series that doesn't look like it's ending any time soon. I've enjoyed all the Ex-Heroes books as the rather silly entertainment they are; Clines's writing is still not spectacular (the battles are getting really repetitive, I'm sick of Stealth always "crossing her arms," and I'm actually just sick of Stealth and her grimdark Batman-with-boobs schtick in general) but so far he has not exhausted the story potential of his world. I do hope, however, that he actually takes the series somewhere with a resolution, rather than just continuing it as long as the well can be pumped.
Things are not what they seem. It may be a bit spoilery, but we've already seen supervillains in this series who can mess with your head, so just think of movies like the Matrix and Inception. Barry (aka "Zap"), the resident SF geek, is quick to make that comparison explicitly once the heroes get together and start figuring it out. The plot was fairly clever, and so with several red herrings, there are multiple layers to unravel, enough to make the reader as well as the characters begin to doubt what's real.
Captain Freedom, Saint George, Stealth, Corpse Girl, Zap, and Cerberus all feature prominently in this latest book in a series that doesn't look like it's ending any time soon. I've enjoyed all the Ex-Heroes books as the rather silly entertainment they are; Clines's writing is still not spectacular (the battles are getting really repetitive, I'm sick of Stealth always "crossing her arms," and I'm actually just sick of Stealth and her grimdark Batman-with-boobs schtick in general) but so far he has not exhausted the story potential of his world. I do hope, however, that he actually takes the series somewhere with a resolution, rather than just continuing it as long as the well can be pumped.
April 25, 2015
While the setting and characters are still as entertaining as in the previous books, this one contains too many fillers. After a while, especially the detailed combat scenes started grating on my nerves, and made me want to skip a few pages.
The 'meaty' moments and the interaction of the various heroes are still top notch, never the less.
The 'meaty' moments and the interaction of the various heroes are still top notch, never the less.
October 12, 2013
http://koeur.wordpress.com/2013/10/07...
2.0/5.0 <***** UPDATED REVIEW****>
2.0/5.0 <***** UPDATED REVIEW****>
May 21, 2014
Peter Clines Ex-Heroes has quickly become one my favorite series in recent years. In fact, it is just about the only zombie-related series I’m currently reading or listening to. The Ex-Heroes series takes place in a world ravaged by a tide of undead (referred to in the series as ex-humans) where the last vestiges of humanity in the Los Angeles area are defended by a group of superheroes. Throughout the series Clines has done an excellent job of creating heroes who feel similar to more familiar comic book heroes while maintaining enough originality to let them stand on their own. Together with the people they defend the heroes of Peter Clines’ series have survived numerous ordeals from battles with former L. A. gangs, the obligitory hordes of zombies, to the remnants of s secret military project. Ex-Purgatory shakes things up a bit with a bit of a cold open. Readers are introduced to a young girl in the midst of a therapy session as she discusses with her doctor the fact that every night she dreams of a world full of zombies and heroes; a world that she insists is real. Immediately after readers are thrust into the life of George Bailey, who series regulars will immediately recognize as St. George/The Mighty Dragon, however this is a George whose life is fairly normal and who lives and works in a L. A. seemingly untouched by neither zombie or apocalypse. It is a clever play, clever enough to make even me wonder if what we had read before in the previous novels was reality or dream.
The premise Clines employs is one that could have easily become annoying but the strength of Clines’ series has always been in the characters he has created and Ex-Purgatory is no different. Despite existing in a world wildly different from the one we’ve come to know the characters that are reintroduced over the course of the novel still manage to provide insight and depth into the psyche of the heroes we have come know and love. Since over the course of the first three novels we never get to see the heroes in a “normal” life Ex-Purgatory gives us an excellent sampling of what these heroes were like in their daily lives before the apocalypse. Where previous novels used flashbacks to flesh out the back-story of the characters the device always felt a bit cumbersome to me as the action and story in the present always seemed far more interesting. By casting the heroes in something a mystery while allowing characters appear and act as they did before the zombie apocalypse we get an inside glimpse, at least o a certain extent, of who they were in the past. As more about the “new” world our heroes are living in becomes apparent we begin to see more how the weight of their lives and actions in the previous novels has come to affect them. Clines takes an interesting mystery and uses it to really up the ante on character development for many of the heroes.
As usual the audiobook version of Ex-Purgatory is absolutely phenomenal. Where previous books in the series have offered multiple narrators seriously enhancing the novels by providing distinct voices for different character perspectives. for Ex-Purgatory Jay Snyder goes it alone. With the bulk of the narrative belonging to St. George this manages to work out well. While I still missed Mark Boyett and Khristine Hvam, Snyder definitely manages to carry the ball here. Thankfully Snyder doesn’t try to imitate the female voices instead raising his pitch only slightly for female characters and letting the natural quirks the female character’s dialogue carry his performance. While I hope to see a return to multiple narrators in future volumes Snyder is skilled enough that he can carry the book on his own.
This series has gotten consistently better with each offering and Ex-Purgatory continues that trend. While the market for zombie fiction has become over-saturated Clines has crafted believable and fascinating characters in an interesting as world. By grounding those characters in a specific place, The Mount, Clines has manages to really create what feels like a living breathing post-apocalyptic society. The strong sense of place allows Clines to explore his characters in detail without sacrificing action and excitement. If you’re tired of your standard zombie-laden fiction I’d still recommend you give the Ex-Heroes series a shot. Clines has consistently managed to one-up himself and Ex-Purgatory only leaves me hungry for more adventures in this world.
The premise Clines employs is one that could have easily become annoying but the strength of Clines’ series has always been in the characters he has created and Ex-Purgatory is no different. Despite existing in a world wildly different from the one we’ve come to know the characters that are reintroduced over the course of the novel still manage to provide insight and depth into the psyche of the heroes we have come know and love. Since over the course of the first three novels we never get to see the heroes in a “normal” life Ex-Purgatory gives us an excellent sampling of what these heroes were like in their daily lives before the apocalypse. Where previous novels used flashbacks to flesh out the back-story of the characters the device always felt a bit cumbersome to me as the action and story in the present always seemed far more interesting. By casting the heroes in something a mystery while allowing characters appear and act as they did before the zombie apocalypse we get an inside glimpse, at least o a certain extent, of who they were in the past. As more about the “new” world our heroes are living in becomes apparent we begin to see more how the weight of their lives and actions in the previous novels has come to affect them. Clines takes an interesting mystery and uses it to really up the ante on character development for many of the heroes.
As usual the audiobook version of Ex-Purgatory is absolutely phenomenal. Where previous books in the series have offered multiple narrators seriously enhancing the novels by providing distinct voices for different character perspectives. for Ex-Purgatory Jay Snyder goes it alone. With the bulk of the narrative belonging to St. George this manages to work out well. While I still missed Mark Boyett and Khristine Hvam, Snyder definitely manages to carry the ball here. Thankfully Snyder doesn’t try to imitate the female voices instead raising his pitch only slightly for female characters and letting the natural quirks the female character’s dialogue carry his performance. While I hope to see a return to multiple narrators in future volumes Snyder is skilled enough that he can carry the book on his own.
This series has gotten consistently better with each offering and Ex-Purgatory continues that trend. While the market for zombie fiction has become over-saturated Clines has crafted believable and fascinating characters in an interesting as world. By grounding those characters in a specific place, The Mount, Clines has manages to really create what feels like a living breathing post-apocalyptic society. The strong sense of place allows Clines to explore his characters in detail without sacrificing action and excitement. If you’re tired of your standard zombie-laden fiction I’d still recommend you give the Ex-Heroes series a shot. Clines has consistently managed to one-up himself and Ex-Purgatory only leaves me hungry for more adventures in this world.
April 15, 2014
Ex-Purgatory starts you in the middle of a story already in progress with characters you should already know but who don’t seem to know themselves. If you have read the previous volumes in this series then this book has an interesting opening that should keep you riveted. If, like me, this is your entrance into the series then you will spend the first 30% of the book trying to figure out what the heck is going on.
To be fair this clearly was not intended to be a place for new readers to pick up the series and the book makes no qualms about it. There are really two ways you can go with a series, the stand alone approach where each book resents for new readers and each installment works unto itself or the episodic approach where each title builds on what came before it. Clines clearly went for the second approach and looking in hindsight, having figured out what is happening and gotten past my confusion, it really works for him. I can see how someone who is familiar with the series would be really into the early story.
What this book did, besides giving some really good plot twists at the end and leaving me with an enjoyable experience, was make me go pick up the earlier titles in the book. I would not recommend reading this series out of order, but I totally recommend just reading this series. You will have a really good story to read when you hit this book.
http://homeofreading.com/ex-purgatory/
To be fair this clearly was not intended to be a place for new readers to pick up the series and the book makes no qualms about it. There are really two ways you can go with a series, the stand alone approach where each book resents for new readers and each installment works unto itself or the episodic approach where each title builds on what came before it. Clines clearly went for the second approach and looking in hindsight, having figured out what is happening and gotten past my confusion, it really works for him. I can see how someone who is familiar with the series would be really into the early story.
What this book did, besides giving some really good plot twists at the end and leaving me with an enjoyable experience, was make me go pick up the earlier titles in the book. I would not recommend reading this series out of order, but I totally recommend just reading this series. You will have a really good story to read when you hit this book.
http://homeofreading.com/ex-purgatory/
November 16, 2013
Zombies meet superheroes in this apocalyptic romp through Los Angeles. Another great addition to the Ex- series by Peter Clines. We left the heroes at the end of Ex-Communication, after they had beaten Cairax Murrain, the demon zombie brought to life by sorcerer Max Hale. In the opening of Ex-Purgatory however, we meet university caretaker George Bailey, living out his day to day life in zombie free LA. But why is he having mysterious dreams that feel like reality, why do people on campus have the strange look of death, and who is the girl in the wheelchair who knows more about him than he does? Slowly his life is ripped open at the seams, from which the zombies crawl through and attack. The heroes are left wondering what is real, and what isn't, who is behind it all, and will they make it out alive, or will this be their last adventure in the Mount?
A must read for ANY horror/zombie/comic book fan, this series of books, in fact any book by Peter Clines, will leave you wanting more. I love these books so much, I have them on my Kindle AND in hard copy, and I've even bought the first 3 books as presents for friends.
Ex-Purgatory is released in the US - 14th January 2014, and UK 16th January 2014. You can pre-order Ex-Purgatory on Amazon.
A must read for ANY horror/zombie/comic book fan, this series of books, in fact any book by Peter Clines, will leave you wanting more. I love these books so much, I have them on my Kindle AND in hard copy, and I've even bought the first 3 books as presents for friends.
Ex-Purgatory is released in the US - 14th January 2014, and UK 16th January 2014. You can pre-order Ex-Purgatory on Amazon.
December 8, 2023
This was a reread.
This has to be one of my faves of the series, tbh.
I bloody loved the whole set up and premise of this one, the constant questions of "Is this real?" "What is real?" "What is happening?"... Just amazing from start to finish.
I say this every review but Barry/Zzzap is still my absolute fave and is the most hilarious nerd ever, I love him. He had be laughing out loud in this one. He's bloody one liners and nerdy rants, he is amazing.
This was the last reread of the series for me, the next, and final one, is new territory and I am so hyped to read it. But it's so bittersweet, as I am gonna miss this world and characters so very much!
This has to be one of my faves of the series, tbh.
I bloody loved the whole set up and premise of this one, the constant questions of "Is this real?" "What is real?" "What is happening?"... Just amazing from start to finish.
I say this every review but Barry/Zzzap is still my absolute fave and is the most hilarious nerd ever, I love him. He had be laughing out loud in this one. He's bloody one liners and nerdy rants, he is amazing.
This was the last reread of the series for me, the next, and final one, is new territory and I am so hyped to read it. But it's so bittersweet, as I am gonna miss this world and characters so very much!
December 16, 2013
4.5 stars. Cline's Ex- series continues to thrill. Zombies can get boring...Walking Dead (the comics) just seems to be shambling on. I'll admit that one volume of Marvel Zombies was enough--but Cline's mix of Zombie/superhero action remains refreshing and just damned fun. With each novel he's done something a little different. So far, occult horror, nanotechnology, mind-control, genetic engineering...and probably a few others that I'm forgetting have entered into the mix. (My great hope is that alien technologies will show up next!) Highly recommended.
December 9, 2016
I love this series so much! When I received a surprise of an advance readers copy of this book I was stoked. I read it in less than three days which for me is quite a feat. It did not disappoint. Only problem with getting it early is now I have to wait just that much longer for the next installment.
July 9, 2020
The Ex-Heroes gang Ex-spend a little Ex-time in Ex-purgatory. That's not an Ex-spoiler, man. It's right there in the Ex-book's Ex-title.
September 9, 2015
This is the first book in the series I didn't love. I felt like there was filler in the text for the sake of word count instead of progressing the story.
August 27, 2023
Christ on a cracker. Holy hell. Have I said this series is amazing yet? I have? Well I guess you better just believe me then. I was hella confused at first, and within the first few pages I didn’t think I liked the direction the storyline seemed to be taking, but then the general concept clicked into place (when I remembered what a certain villain’s powers were), and suddenly the storyline was even more amazing than before. I lost track of how many times I got goosebumps or gasped aloud. Was I still mildly confused? You betcha. I think I even muttered “What the F*CK” a few times throughout the day as I burned through the rest of the book. But it was an entertaining sort of confusion, where I was trying to guess wtf was actually going on, and enjoying every moment of the mind boggling ride. Does that make sense? Are you wondering why I’m writing my review this way? Doesn’t that make you want to find out for yourself? Don’t you want to go read this series immediately, then after finishing this 4th book, revisit this review? Ha. See what I did there?
April 6, 2018
I love this series and was totally digging this book for the first part, but then it got pretty repetitive and draggy. Not sure if I'll pick up the 5th book.
January 28, 2019
Probably my least favorite in the series but still a good read.
November 9, 2020
Un très bon roman comme d'habitude. C'est intelligent et bien écrit, on suit les héros avec plaisir !
June 21, 2024
Very strange, very different, but still a wonderful read.
February 4, 2014
I got a copy of this book to review through NetGalley. Thanks to Broadway Books and NetGalley for a chance to read this book. This is the 4th book in the Ex-Heroes series. I enjoyed this book, it took a different direction than some of the other books in the series and was an intriguing read.
George Bailey is a normal handyman who struggles to make ends meet, and when he sleeps he dreams of zombies and of being a superhero. Corpse Girl remembers that this isn’t the world she is supposed to be part of, she remembers that George is supposed to be someone else...but she can’t convince him that this isn’t his reality. Then George starts to see parts of his dream slipping into real life. He starts to meet people in his current life who have the same types of dreams that he does. As the reality that George thinks he knows merges with the one from his dreams, everything goes to Hell.
When I reviewed the previous (3rd) book in this series I complained a bit about the fact that all these book were starting to feel a little bit the same. Well this book definitely changes that, it was really really different from any of the other books in the series. In fact it is so different that the beginning was a bit confusing until you start to figure out what is going on.
The beginning of this book feels a bit like the movie Groundhog’s Day. George wakes up, does his job, and then does it all over again day after day...but time doesn’t seem to be passing properly. Then he starts to notice anomalies….his car starts itself, he can lift whole dumpsters, and the dead girl in the wheelchair keeps telling him he’s not in the right reality. Then things really get strange...people on the street start attacking him and the whole city alternates between looking normal and looking devastated.
The way the mystery is unfolded in this book is masterfully done. I loved watched as the anomalies start piling on top of each other...one on top of the other until everything start to fall apart. It was also fun to watch all of the characters from the previous books re-meet each other.
In some ways this book gives us an excellent glimpse into the backgrounds of all of these characters. It was fascinating to watch it all unfold.
My only complaint is the normalness of George’s life and the way it takes day after day for him to start figuring it out made the beginning of the book a bit slow. There really isn't much action or superhero-ness until the last part of the book. The beginning was slower paced than previous books.
Things wrap up nicely at the end of the book and I enjoyed it.
Overall clever and intriguing. This book was much different from previous books in the series but I really enjoyed the change. My only complaint is that the pacing was a bit slow at the beginning and there is a lot less action than in previous books. I really did enjoy how the mystery was unraveled though and how creative the idea behind this other world was. Recommended to those who enjoy mysteries involveing zombies and superheros.
George Bailey is a normal handyman who struggles to make ends meet, and when he sleeps he dreams of zombies and of being a superhero. Corpse Girl remembers that this isn’t the world she is supposed to be part of, she remembers that George is supposed to be someone else...but she can’t convince him that this isn’t his reality. Then George starts to see parts of his dream slipping into real life. He starts to meet people in his current life who have the same types of dreams that he does. As the reality that George thinks he knows merges with the one from his dreams, everything goes to Hell.
When I reviewed the previous (3rd) book in this series I complained a bit about the fact that all these book were starting to feel a little bit the same. Well this book definitely changes that, it was really really different from any of the other books in the series. In fact it is so different that the beginning was a bit confusing until you start to figure out what is going on.
The beginning of this book feels a bit like the movie Groundhog’s Day. George wakes up, does his job, and then does it all over again day after day...but time doesn’t seem to be passing properly. Then he starts to notice anomalies….his car starts itself, he can lift whole dumpsters, and the dead girl in the wheelchair keeps telling him he’s not in the right reality. Then things really get strange...people on the street start attacking him and the whole city alternates between looking normal and looking devastated.
The way the mystery is unfolded in this book is masterfully done. I loved watched as the anomalies start piling on top of each other...one on top of the other until everything start to fall apart. It was also fun to watch all of the characters from the previous books re-meet each other.
In some ways this book gives us an excellent glimpse into the backgrounds of all of these characters. It was fascinating to watch it all unfold.
My only complaint is the normalness of George’s life and the way it takes day after day for him to start figuring it out made the beginning of the book a bit slow. There really isn't much action or superhero-ness until the last part of the book. The beginning was slower paced than previous books.
Things wrap up nicely at the end of the book and I enjoyed it.
Overall clever and intriguing. This book was much different from previous books in the series but I really enjoyed the change. My only complaint is that the pacing was a bit slow at the beginning and there is a lot less action than in previous books. I really did enjoy how the mystery was unraveled though and how creative the idea behind this other world was. Recommended to those who enjoy mysteries involveing zombies and superheros.
September 12, 2016
The first half of this book reminded me of an episode of the Batman Animated series where The Mad Hatter put Batman in a dreamworld where everything was perfect and the only reason he realized it was fake was when he couldn't read anything. (Which I don't believe because I swear I can read in dreams... I'll google it after this review :p)
I love Clines' writing style. I don't think I've said that before in my "reviews" of the first 3 books. The dialogue is so natural between the characters. Clines put in these little details are not necessary but don't hinder the flow of the story at all. For example, when George walks into his room and notices that some has gone through his things, then wonders if the government hires 2 types of agents - ones that leave no trace and ones that intentionally let you know that they've been there. Barry is constantly entertaining. There was some point in the dreamworld where he thought the giant robot he was fighting with was strangely attractive. That was a hilarious way to show that the heroes were slowly fighting the dreamworld. And of course, I love Clines' endless pop culture references.
"How is it that no matter what's happening you can relate it to The Matrix?" Asked St. George.
"Because it's the greatest movie ever made," said Barry.
My only problem to this one was near the end. Stealth vs Smith. Isn't Smith's only power his mind control ability? He does not have superhuman strength or healing or anything. How could he possibly take a gunshot to the face, a kick to the stomach and another kick powerful enough to the face to knock out teeth from Stealth and still be standing? This is Stealth inflicting all that hurt. Aside from that, another enjoyable entry to the Ex-Heroes series with a very different feel for half of it.
I love Clines' writing style. I don't think I've said that before in my "reviews" of the first 3 books. The dialogue is so natural between the characters. Clines put in these little details are not necessary but don't hinder the flow of the story at all. For example, when George walks into his room and notices that some has gone through his things, then wonders if the government hires 2 types of agents - ones that leave no trace and ones that intentionally let you know that they've been there. Barry is constantly entertaining. There was some point in the dreamworld where he thought the giant robot he was fighting with was strangely attractive. That was a hilarious way to show that the heroes were slowly fighting the dreamworld. And of course, I love Clines' endless pop culture references.
"How is it that no matter what's happening you can relate it to The Matrix?" Asked St. George.
"Because it's the greatest movie ever made," said Barry.
My only problem to this one was near the end. Stealth vs Smith. Isn't Smith's only power his mind control ability? He does not have superhuman strength or healing or anything. How could he possibly take a gunshot to the face, a kick to the stomach and another kick powerful enough to the face to knock out teeth from Stealth and still be standing? This is Stealth inflicting all that hurt. Aside from that, another enjoyable entry to the Ex-Heroes series with a very different feel for half of it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 407 reviews