SciTech Labs was handsomely commissioned by the United States Military to design a revolutionary serum that would create the ultimate soldier. If successful, the soldier would have an increase in endurance, strength, awareness and overall speed. They would become the true super soldier. That's if everything went according to plan. SciTech put its best scientists on the project and gave them a time limit to complete the job or else. With the pressure on and the stakes high, Vincent Masterson and his team put everything they had into the project. Everything was looking hopeful until an experiment went horribly wrong. The scientists mutated their specimen's DNA, turning it into something monstrous. Now, life as we know it will never be the same. As it stands, the only thing that can save the human race is one of the two things they should be running from.
Can the human race survive being caught in a bloody war between two vicious predators?
D. N. Simmons lives in Chicago IL., with a rambunctious German Shepherd that's too big for his own good and mischievous kitten that she affectionately calls "Itty-bitty". Her hobbies include rollerblading, shooting pool, bowling, reading, watching television and going to the movies. She has been nominated at Love Romances and More, winning honorable mention for best paranormal book of 2006. She has won "Author of the Month" at Warrior of Words. She was voted "New Voice of Today" at Romance Reviews and "Rising Star" at Love Romance and More.
To learn more, and have the opportunity to speak with the author personally, please visit the official website and forum at www.dnsimmons.com . D.N. is always interesting in meeting new and wonderful people.
My zombie kick continues with this book. I am craving zombie books this fall – maybe because Halloween is around the corner, or maybe it is because the Walking Dead TV series is returning soon, I am not really sure. I read this book quickly and became totally caught up in all the action and craziness. These zombies are the result of a scientific experiment debacle. A still unknown, mysterious ingredient of undetermined etiology is combined with other compounds in order to create a serum to enhance soldiers’ speed, strength and healing abilities. In this rushed secret scientific project funded by the military, results are demanded within an unrealistic timeframe. In a blink, suddenly everything goes horribly wrong.
I loved the way in which the zombies came to be – it is a believable (well, somewhat believable) scenario that I could buy into easily. These zombies are not sluggish klutzes that are easily dispatched. These zombies are strong, fast, and blood-thirsty! The contagion spreads faster than it can be contained – humanity is in grave danger. I do not want to spoil the surprise but, another monster is unknowingly released, as well. No longer able to maintain their hidden existence, these creatures must prevail over the zombies in order to protect their own agenda.
With its solid underlying premise, believable characters, and clean, clear descriptions Good Intentions is a great start to a new zombie series. I cannot wait for the next book to find out what happens next!
This book was given to me by the author in exchange for my honest review.
Good intentions is a great story that actually follows the very beginning of a zombie outbreak. A brilliant scientist named Dr. Vincent Masterson has been given quite a task. His boss has informed him that the military have found something they want his team to work on. Something that could create the ultimate human; super strength, super speed, and the ability to heal any disease even AIDS. While working on the compound and having no success for almost 6 months, there is finally a breakthrough. But when they test it on a dying patient, all hell breaks loose. It starts panic in the city of Chicago and people are getting infected faster than they can be saved. It is up to Vincent and his team to figure out how to stop the epidemic. Along with a few vampires who are the only ones that can possibly save the human race, along with their own.
Goodness, Simmons has done it again. Her talent for creating engrossing stories really shines in this book. I have read plenty of zombie books, but I love that Simmons has given us a different perspective. We never see things from the scientists/government who started it. In Good Intentions, we see how it all started. How one good deed turns into something catastrophic and so quickly as well.
Vincent was a great lead. He is partially responsible for the world crumbling in less than 24 hours. He has the weight of the world on his shoulders. He is teamed up with other scientists; Felicia, Samantha and William. We don't know much about them except they have to try and help Vincent protect the human race. We do know that Felicia is a tough cookie. I hope we get more of her in the future as well as the others. The vampires were a great addition. I can't wait to see the kind of role they will play in the next book. Since this infection seems to affect them as well, they have a lot to lose as well.
I also enjoyed the dialogue in the book. I love how real Simmons makes her characters. They always have conversations and make jokes I would make with my friends. The progression of the story was fast and intense. Like I said, seeing things from the very beginning and through the scientists' eyes was very refreshing. We see that Vincent had a bad feeling from the beginning with this project. His teammate, Philip, has gone out and did something to help the progression of their project. Problem is, no one knows what he has added tot he compound. It is up to Vincent to find out what he did, so he can find the cure. I loved Simmons take on zombies. These zombies were scary as hell. Shooting them in the head isn't even enough in this book. The only thing that works is decapitation and that means you have to get close to the things.
This is another book that will be making its way to my favorites list. I loved the characters, the concept, the suspense, and the insanely strong zombies! I am so hyped for the sequel. This book had everything I wanted. There wasn't a lot of romance, but I don't mind. I would hope to see some in the next book though. Simmons is major talent and this book shows that in spades. Highly recommended.
This book is creepy in the what if sense. I do not read scary books, creepy books, or anything that will generally freak me out- especially at night... But that doesn't stop me from grabbing the next book on my calendar without looking to see what the hell I am reading at 3 am!
I bet you can guess the reason that I don't read these types of books that late... No? Well, they scare the CRAP out of me. It isn't even necessarily the story, but what my mind does with it afterwards!
This is one of those books that I shouldn't have just grabbed to read that freaking late! What ifs scare me because, well, they COULD happen. Yes, there are vampires and zombies here... Yes, I believe in the possibility of both! So what happens to my mind in the wee hours of the morning when I burn through this book? Oh, holy heck, we are all going to die or be harvested! >,<
Okay, all ranting aside, I liked this book... I hate the cliffhanger... Typically there is the cliffhanger that's at the end of a show to bring you back next season, and usually in books you get some sort of resolution with something that makes you want to come back for more- I missed the resolution enough to feel that satisfied with that, I just WANTED MORE! I suppose that is the good and bad of series books.
I liked the characters, except for his girlfriend... She was so whiny about stuff. I know the world is broken into utter chaos and you're the sensitive female in the book where there are chick doctors that are obviously braver than you, but do you have to give people the "how could you" look? The world is ending, there is absolutely nothing that can be done to change the past, think about the future and how to STOP the problem.
The setting and concept, COMPLETELY possible... which adds so much to the creepy factor. Is the red fluid that is surprisingly like "blood" is it vampire blood? I NEED TO KNOW!
Would I read the next one? OH HECK YEAH! I have to know what happens next! Well played, DN... well, played.
So DN, what happens next? Do you need a beta reader that will get FREAKED THE HECK OUT? Because, if so, I am your girl! RIGHT HERE! PICK ME! I do not read this stuff, I thought, "Hey, if it freaks me out, I can have hubby read it," only it was 3 am when I realized I was in too deep and HAD to finish... now I must know what happens, even though I know it will scare me and keep me up another night! But I had the best intentions. ;)
When I was first asked to review this book, I was told that if I likes zombies and vampires, I would like this book.
To be honest, the books I had read prior to this could be considered light reading and very tongue in cheek compared to Good Intentions. From almost the start of the book I was thrust into the characters lives, who they were, and what made them tick.
The scientist, Vincent Masterson was generally a good guy who cared about humanity. When money and the possibility of saving humanity is thrown at him by the government, that persona went out the door along with his ethics. In turn, chaos of epic proportions ensues causing wide spread terror and zombies roaming the earth.
It seems no one or nothing can stop the zombies from killing and feeding on the non-infected humans. In fact, as it turns out, the zombies are able to infect another race, the vampires, who have to come out of hiding to save not only themselves but the human race as well.
There is non-stop gore in this book. I swear to you that if it was possible, the pages themselves would have dripped with blood and guts. I made the mistake of reading this in the darkness of night only to have a bit of trouble going to sleep.
Along with all that, there is a bit of heavy language but nothing that would make me shut the book. I whole heartedly was into this book and read it in no time. My only disappointment? It ended abruptly just as I was really getting into it. I had absolutely no realization that this was only the first in a series!
All in all, good book but I think probably an average read for those who really like this genre. In any case, D.N. Simmons does a good job and kept my interest and therefore deserves 4 stars.
~Naila Moon
Disclosure: I received this Kindle edition for free for my open and honest opinion. The views expressed here are 100% my own.
Good intentions lead to zombies. Whoops. I have a minor (major) zombie and dystopian reading obsession. I've read indie, mainstream, and New York best seller zombie novels. Some rock and some stink. This author rocked my zombie loving socks off. The author manages realistic horror without being too gory or going out of the way to make the reader gag with grossness. The writing is detailed without being boring and went straight to the zombie horror and mayhem. Yeah!
Vincent and his fellow scientist cronies are awarded an army contract to work with an unknown compound. The purpose is to mold the compound into something that will cure diseases and make American soldiers superior. Instead, it raises a dead chimpanzee that goes ape crazy and eats one of the scientists. And walla! Insane super strong and fast zombies are born... And eating everyone in sight. Chicago is swarmed and soon the outlying areas are being infected. Further along in the story CDC top brass, military, Vincent, and miscellaneous folks band together to travel to a safe location. Their purpose is to try and come up with a cure while the rest of America gets ready for the epidemic. And suddenly… there are vampires. I can’t wait for book two.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from I.O. Book Tours in return for an honest review.
The basic plot is a group of scientists are given a vial of a mysterious substance and told to come up with a way of making a serum to turn ordinary soldiers into super soldiers. Along the way, the scientists discover the liquid they're working with can do a lot more than that. Naturally, something goes horribly wrong and suddenly...zombies!
I like how the author keeps one of the men working on the project alive to try and find a cure. He works with government agencies that aren't as useless as many portray, and accept what is happening instead of standing around endlessly denying the facts which stare them in the face.
Half-way through the book, a plot twist develops. Looking back, I realize the author peppered subtle clues, but alas they were lost on me. :) The twist took the story into an unexpected, yet welcome, direction. The ending left me intrigued enough that I want to read further in the series.
With that being said, this book hit upon a pet peeve of mine: editing. The first half, while having some minor problems such as missing or out-of-sequence words, wasn't enough to bother me. The second half of the book, however, read as if the editor quit at that point. The mistakes became more numerous, and hard to overlook. It quickly soured my enjoyment. I hope further books in the series do not continue the poor editing trend, as it has a lot of promise.
The first book in the "Dead War Series." What a great way to start! D.N. pulls you in & doesn't let you go. This author is a true storyteller. The characters are truly believable. Throughout the book, I wanted to know what would happen next.You'll be biting your finger nails waiting to find out. Thrilling zombie action with a twist. Bring on the vampires!This is an interesting twist on the zombie genre. One that you'll love. Will the vampires save the world or become a super zombie race and destroy it. A blockbuster story. Highly recommended! Just has you wanting and waiting for the next book! Lots of action, blood, guts, gore & good suspense. A great way to lead into another book. I'm usually not that into to Zombie stories, but D.N. has made me a true Fan. Thank you D.N.! Bring on the next one!
I loved Good Intentions. I devoured the book and finished it in one sitting, because it was that addictive. This is the first time I’ve ever read a zombie book but I was pleasantly surprised.
I enjoyed the plot of the book, and how things progressed. It was a very fast-paced book, where we were thrown right into the action. I liked how the author conveyed the feelings of the characters as they faced the situations in the book. I really loved the pace. There was hardly any unnecessary conversation and I felt the fast pace of the book really reflected the characters’ desperation at the time, which certainly drew me further into the book. Perhaps in part, as it was placed in today’s day and age, it felt a little bit closer to heart. And its honestly quite scary to realize how wrong a science experiment can go.
Without giving away anything, I must say that towards the end, there was a slight twist that I actually really enjoy. Normally, I’m so sick of this plot in books that I actually groaned when I saw it. Yet, after reading a little bit more and seeing the characters, I feel that it would certainly be very interesting to read about. Well, in my opinion at least, Cassian was hot. Okay, I know, I know, I’m shallow. But hot characters are always a pleasure to read about:)
On the other hand, I didn’t find the writing that amazing. Yes, the plot was good and interesting. Unique, even. But while I didn’t hate the writing in any way, I didn’t care much for it. Yet, it did succeed in pulling me in. It just felt a little bit unnatural to me, at least for the dialogue. And honestly speaking, I didn’t like the main character that much. Many characters felt a bit one-dimensional to me. At the same time, considering how characters are one of the most important for me, I think this just says how much I really enjoyed the plot, because I couldn’t stop reading. I do hope for more character development and seeing more sides to each main character in future books though.
I am really looking forward to the next book in the series, and I cannot wait to pick it up once its out. As this is the first book in the series, I wasn’t expecting so much action but I am certainly not disappointed with the book. In fact, I couldn’t put it down, and I don’t think I did for a second. It was an entertaining read and I cannot wait to see how the plot in its entirety pans out over the series. Combining science together with zombies and more, I feel that this is a series that I could very much enjoy.
Note: This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review. All views expressed here is my own.
P.S. This is one of the first few reviews I’ve written in months. A little bit rusty heh.
"GOOD INTENTIONS" by D.N. Simmons is the first book in the "Dead War Series". It is a fast paced, end of the world\"opps we screwed up scenario". SciTech Labs was hired by the government to create a special serum that would not only cure every disease known to man, but also heal broken bones within seconds. This serum would create a super soldier. But the problem is that the lab was given 6 months to create the serum and the government was tight-lipped about its origin and base elements. As time was running out, the SciTech scientists think they may have found what they needed to complete the assignment, but something went wrong, way wrong and now something that was meant to help, just might put the humans race into extinction. Can the sole survivor of the SciTech incident help find a cure? And now instead of flesh eating zombies against the US Military, we add in vampires? Somebody has to find a way of saving the Human Race!
This was a fast-paced story about how sometimes good intentions just are not enough. Playing God had its consequences and at what price. The main characters (the ones who actually survive the epidemic) are in a race against time to help right their wrong before it becomes a global epidemic. It seems that nothing can stop the maddness. They need to find a cure or a way of containing the outbreak before all of humanity becomes extinct.
This was a great read (only around 180 pages). I enjoyed this so much that I passed this on to my 15 year-old son to read for an assignment in his English class. My only complaint (but it's a good one) is that it ended so abruptly. Now I will be on pins and needles waiting for book #2 called "Desperate Times". I hope it comes out soon, because this book was too good to put down and I didn't want it to end.
***I WAS GIVEN A PROMOTIONAL COPYY OF THIS BOOK TO READ IN EXCHANGE FOR MY HONEST OPINION. I DO NOT BENEFIT FROM THIS IN ANY WAY.
Why do all these scientists try to improve the world and then poof, we have a zombie apocalypse? Good Intentions is an example of that very thing, but with some interesting twists. First, these zombies can move! It’s not, oh there is that zombie down the street, let’s run and we’ll get far away while it shuffles towards us. No, if you blink these suckers are on you. Of course the scientists made super zombies! Then you add in something that can be equally as scary as the zombies, vampires. Yes, zombies and vampires fighting over the right to eat humans.
The characters are interesting but not entirely in depth. I think that is because the action is a huge focus. They tended to be a little self-centered, too. Sometimes I just wanted to shake them and tell them to get busy killing these things instead of whining and whimpering. I didn’t have to worry though, because other characters apparently felt the same as me. The gory details were just that, gory. I am both grossed out and excited to say that visualizing the horror was so easy thanks to the descriptions in this book.
Some of the best parts for me were rather late in the book. I loved the times when actual fighting was going on. The book held a lot of intensity. I never knew what was going to happen. Zombies can be predictable. Really they chase you down and eat you, sometimes originality can be hard. I think D.N. Simmons rocked this book. She kept the book moving and added some awesome twists to make it more exciting. I cannot wait for the next book. I think that zombie fans will love this book.
I received an e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.
Let me first say you are totally against using animals for science and don't like to even read about it.. This book is not for you. With that said, here is my review.
The scientists were told to work on an undisclosed serum. They have no idea what it is which makes their job harder.
Suddenly they figure out what it is the Military asked for. However something went wrong, horribly horribly wrong. Their test subject suddenly comes back to life an starts to savagely attack the scientists. That is where things go even worse!
This book will keep you up late at night for a few reasons. 1. to finish reading to see what happens next. 2. With nightmares wondering if this can really happen.
This book is great for those that love the TV show The Walking Dead. What would happen if we really did have zombie attack? Where would you go? What would you do?
Just when the Military has a game plan in the works...Vampires show up! This is a paranormal's dream book. I can't wait to read book 2 to find out what happened!
I'd like to thank the author and Promotional Book Tours for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review. This is the fourth book I've read from DN Simmons, and she has yet to disappoint me. She has definitely been one of my favorite authors this year. Her Knights of Darkness Chronicles was amazing, but this new series, the Dead War Series is shaping up to be even better. Usually I avoid zombie books at all costs, they freak me out, they're way too close to possible to feel comfortable with...and now the author has made the whole zombie apocalypse scenario so real its terrifying. The author writes so well that I could see the entire scenario unfolding in my head. The poor scientists, just trying to do a job they were given, and yet bringing about the end of the world with their work. And then, it goes horribly, awfully wrong in the matter of seconds. Then it just explodes into a country-wide scenario, completely uncontainable and chaotic. It made for a thrilling read from the very first page till the last. I can't wait till the next!
The way the outbreak started was different than other books I have read . It kept me hooked and I probably would story 2 but I can't find it. The only thing that was wrong and why I gave this a 4 star is because of the vampire angle. Totally unnecessary and quite jarring. It was quite good without it and actually pulled the book down when you got to that part. Honestly I skipped those parts to get to the main characters/main story. The rest of the story was quite gripping. I really don't understand why it was felt that vampires were needed. Vampires do not make everything better. This book is an example of that. If U are looking for a different zombie story it fits the bill. Well at least up til the vampire part..It is worth 4 stars but if it would have stayed on track I would have given it 5 stars.
D.N. Simmons pens "Good Intentions" filled with apocalyptic horror and zombie outbreaks. I loved how this was not your average zombie story, it actually follows the very very beginning of the outbreak and about how the military / scientists are responsible in creating the monsters. A wild ride with great character chemistry that kept me at the edge of the seat! Be warned there is a cliffhanger at the end and you will find yourself wishing the next installment was out already. Highly recommended for all horror and zombie fans.
This review is based on a complimentary copy from the author which was provided for an honest review.
I'm not a huge fan of zombie books, but I swear to you, this book may be a turning point in my reading career! Anyone who knows me understands that I am a detail craver and I love books that are full of unique ideas and descriptions. I really D.N. writes a very realistic portrayal of human behavior. This author continues to amaze and delight me with every book she comes out with. Some of her books are not for everyone, but reading them in order gives you a better grasp and understanding of the characters. This book was action packed and I can't wait to see where this series is going!! Hats off to D.N. for an incredible kickoff to a fantastic new series!!
Mix of horror, terror and action in this book. How does creating Super soldiers go into a Zombie Apocalypse, when it goes all wrong and Zombies are born. Super strong and fast Zombies. Many people die because of this experiment. A few people get into hiding to create an anti serum before the Zombies take over all States. I could see it all before me, it pulls you right in. And if this all wasn't enough Vampires appear. I love how it is written. Walking dead fans like I will love this! I can not wait for the next book!
I received a copy of this book for a honest review
This is a story about one of the hottest themes today-zombies. This particular story/book takes a very different approach though. It gives you an origin of zombies, then a desperate fight for survival, and then surprise surprise more threatened sentiment beings. This leads up to the following book. Overall though, this was a very entertaining, thoughtful, and imaginative book to read. The plot seems to flow for one major setting to another. A very good read.!
This was awesome. It has vampires, zombies, and of course scientists. I love biology so this book kept my attention. I also love zombies and vampires can't wait to read the next one.
I thought this was pretty good..... I like the zombie element and other twists that come into the story (I don't want to give anything away) there will be a sequel which I'm happy so I will be keeping track of this author :-)