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What Zombies Fear #3
The Gathering
In this epic third installment of What Zombies Fear, Victor Tookes is no longer content to sit back and watch the world go to the hell. "The Gathering" starts Victor's quest to rid the planet of the zombie plague once and for all. The first step of the plan is to build a team capable of carrying out the impossible. The heroes make an emergency trip to Charlotte, fighting zombies and raiders every step of the way. Once they get back to Virginia, Victor, Marshall, and John build a train designed to be unstoppable, a train that can carry them all the way to southern California and back. And yet with each stop they make, the areas are too quiet. Where have all the zombies gone?
290 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 12, 2012
6 people are currently reading
105 people want to read
About the author
Kirk Allmond
13 books55 followersKirk Allmond: Author, Zombie Expert, Survivalist, Teacher.
Kirk Allmond takes on all aspects of zombies. This isn’t just a vocation, it’s a passion. In 2006, The Zombie Preparedness Initiative was formed as a global project to prepare the world for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. Or, whatever disaster may occur. The Zombie Preparedness Initiative, or ZPI, is unique in that it connects zombie literature, survivalism, and a dash of humor. The site provides a useful service with wit and wisdom.
On the site, there's an article about creating a zombie plan. The article is a thoughtful and thorough discussion of what an ordinary person should learn about being prepared for any emergency or disaster, not just a plan for when the dead walk the earth. Alongside this article are postings about gardening and food preservation, including the all-important topic “How to Make Bacon Post Apocalypse”, weaponry and supplies.
Kirk didn't write all the articles, and gives the majority of the credit to his Advisory Board, a group of writers, survivalists, and zombie enthusiasts who oversee the content of the site. Many ideas are contributed by members of the large community of readers, who also participate in the discussion forums.
Allmond’s novels, the “What Zombies Fear” series are co-authored with Laura Bretz. What Zombies Fear: A Father’s Quest has reached the number one spot on Amazon’s Horror, Paranormal, and Superhero best seller lists.
The series follows Victor Tookes in his quest to keep his son safe. It’s different than most zombie novels in that these zombies are caused by a parasitic alien, which hitchhiked to earth aboard a meteor. These aliens invade the brain of the host, taking control of the body. In the case of a weaker infection, the corpse becomes the traditional Romero style zombie. But in cases of severe infection, the parasites can control more areas of the brain, allowing for zombies that can pass as human. In rare cases of the strongest infection, those zombies are able to access areas of the brain that normal humans did not, giving them heightened abilities.
Their latest novel, Declaration of War was published April, 2013, and reached the number 1 spot on Amazon’s Best Seller list in the Horror category.
There are currently five novels published in the series, and a new novel in progress.
Kirk Allmond takes on all aspects of zombies. This isn’t just a vocation, it’s a passion. In 2006, The Zombie Preparedness Initiative was formed as a global project to prepare the world for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. Or, whatever disaster may occur. The Zombie Preparedness Initiative, or ZPI, is unique in that it connects zombie literature, survivalism, and a dash of humor. The site provides a useful service with wit and wisdom.
On the site, there's an article about creating a zombie plan. The article is a thoughtful and thorough discussion of what an ordinary person should learn about being prepared for any emergency or disaster, not just a plan for when the dead walk the earth. Alongside this article are postings about gardening and food preservation, including the all-important topic “How to Make Bacon Post Apocalypse”, weaponry and supplies.
Kirk didn't write all the articles, and gives the majority of the credit to his Advisory Board, a group of writers, survivalists, and zombie enthusiasts who oversee the content of the site. Many ideas are contributed by members of the large community of readers, who also participate in the discussion forums.
Allmond’s novels, the “What Zombies Fear” series are co-authored with Laura Bretz. What Zombies Fear: A Father’s Quest has reached the number one spot on Amazon’s Horror, Paranormal, and Superhero best seller lists.
The series follows Victor Tookes in his quest to keep his son safe. It’s different than most zombie novels in that these zombies are caused by a parasitic alien, which hitchhiked to earth aboard a meteor. These aliens invade the brain of the host, taking control of the body. In the case of a weaker infection, the corpse becomes the traditional Romero style zombie. But in cases of severe infection, the parasites can control more areas of the brain, allowing for zombies that can pass as human. In rare cases of the strongest infection, those zombies are able to access areas of the brain that normal humans did not, giving them heightened abilities.
Their latest novel, Declaration of War was published April, 2013, and reached the number 1 spot on Amazon’s Best Seller list in the Horror category.
There are currently five novels published in the series, and a new novel in progress.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 3, 2017
I really like this series, but I think at 3 (out of 5 for now), I think I may be done. Come on, it's not Dune, okay? I hung in there for 3. The characters are good and engaging, but not that engaging. There is plenty of action, but now it's starting to feel like the story is dragging out for the purposes of selling more books. So be warned if you start this series - it goes on and on and on.
May 6, 2019
Best Zombie series ever
I wrote a review for book 1 and 2 my opinion hasn't changed about book 3, book 3 was a little bit slow but still everything that books 1 and 2 were I love the concept, I love the characters, I love the action,I love the gore this series is everything that I like all rolled into one, I hope books 4, 5 and 6 are just as good
I wrote a review for book 1 and 2 my opinion hasn't changed about book 3, book 3 was a little bit slow but still everything that books 1 and 2 were I love the concept, I love the characters, I love the action,I love the gore this series is everything that I like all rolled into one, I hope books 4, 5 and 6 are just as good
May 19, 2021
I haven't read this series in a while, and was able to pick right back up. I really like the very different aspects of this series. The supers, the immune people that have superpowers, the characters that are in the series are all great! Well done. Onto book 4 very soon.
January 18, 2016
What Zombies Fear is a series which subverts many traditional zombie tropes. It is a series about humans fighting back against the darkness and succeeding. Sacred cows of the genre like the mindlessness of zombies, the hopelessness of the situation, and the helplessness of humans before the undead are attacked head on. Protagonist Victor Tookes has a plan to kill every zombie in the world and you're invited to join in it when you read these novels.
The premise of What Zombies Fear is that a stereotypical zombie apocalypse happens but things start going askew in surprising and entertaining ways. For one, not every human being who is bitten dies. Instead, some develop superpowers. This is such an off-kilter and enjoyable addition to the genre I'm willing to cut the authors a lot of slack for any decision they make thereafter. We also discover the zombies are controlled by aliens called "bugs" or E'clei which inhabit the corpses of the many. The E'clei are intelligent but genocidal, only a few of their kind willing to assist humanity.
A key to the series' appeal is the character of Victor Tookes and his relationship to the other characters. A strong central protagonist can make or break any series and this one is no exception. Much like Rick in The Walking Dead, it falls to Victor Tookes to guide his group of survivors in surviving the post Z-Day world. Unlike Rick, however, Victor has both the tools and motivation to actively wage war against the entire zombie world. It may be an impossible task to slay every zombie in the world but, by the Gathering, they've managed to kill over a million with creative tactics mixed with superpowers.
Still, no novel would be enjoyable without a little drama. Authors Kirk Allmond and Laura Bretz make a good decision to show how Victor's crusade to rid the world of zombies comes off as delusional to his fellow human beings. Even the ones who are either close family or in love with him as off-put by his grand vision. No one but Victor accepts that if even a single zombie survives then it's possible humanity may be destroyed for a second time. Readers are left to judge for themselves whether Victor is rationale, a fool, or simply trying to cope with the apocalypse by venting his rage on the undead. I, personally, think it's some combination of all three.
The Gathering develops Victor's son Max a little more and it's a welcome thing given their relationship was such an important part of A Father's Quest. Max's increasing powers means that he, rather than Victor, might be the salvation of humanity. However, the fact he's little more than a toddle shows this is an irresponsible (if not psychotic) response to the situation. It's an agonizing choice to imagine: saving the world versus saving your son and Victor refuses to acknowledge there's any choice to be made at all. In some respects, this reminds me of The Last of Us and that's high praise.
The intelligent zombies, at last, have a leader with the newly introduced character of Laura. Unintelligent zombies do not need a "Queen" or villain other than evil humans but the existence of intelligent ones means I've been dying for a "face" to the enemy threat for some time. Laura is, sadly, pretty one-dimensional. While one might argue a person who wants to kill seven billion humans to make an army of the rotting dead can't be more than a one-note character, I was hoping for better from the authors.
This volume introduces a few new characters including Victor's father and the eidetic memory-possessing Krista. I especially liked Krista and was glad to see her propped up as someone who was willing to call Victor on his sometimes-questionable logic. Even with more and more of his group willing to call him out, Victor has somewhat skated over the problems of leadership until now. Having someone willing to argue with him makes the story a great deal more dynamic.
In short, I approve of this volume and suggest the series is only getting better as time passes.
8.5
The premise of What Zombies Fear is that a stereotypical zombie apocalypse happens but things start going askew in surprising and entertaining ways. For one, not every human being who is bitten dies. Instead, some develop superpowers. This is such an off-kilter and enjoyable addition to the genre I'm willing to cut the authors a lot of slack for any decision they make thereafter. We also discover the zombies are controlled by aliens called "bugs" or E'clei which inhabit the corpses of the many. The E'clei are intelligent but genocidal, only a few of their kind willing to assist humanity.
A key to the series' appeal is the character of Victor Tookes and his relationship to the other characters. A strong central protagonist can make or break any series and this one is no exception. Much like Rick in The Walking Dead, it falls to Victor Tookes to guide his group of survivors in surviving the post Z-Day world. Unlike Rick, however, Victor has both the tools and motivation to actively wage war against the entire zombie world. It may be an impossible task to slay every zombie in the world but, by the Gathering, they've managed to kill over a million with creative tactics mixed with superpowers.
Still, no novel would be enjoyable without a little drama. Authors Kirk Allmond and Laura Bretz make a good decision to show how Victor's crusade to rid the world of zombies comes off as delusional to his fellow human beings. Even the ones who are either close family or in love with him as off-put by his grand vision. No one but Victor accepts that if even a single zombie survives then it's possible humanity may be destroyed for a second time. Readers are left to judge for themselves whether Victor is rationale, a fool, or simply trying to cope with the apocalypse by venting his rage on the undead. I, personally, think it's some combination of all three.
The Gathering develops Victor's son Max a little more and it's a welcome thing given their relationship was such an important part of A Father's Quest. Max's increasing powers means that he, rather than Victor, might be the salvation of humanity. However, the fact he's little more than a toddle shows this is an irresponsible (if not psychotic) response to the situation. It's an agonizing choice to imagine: saving the world versus saving your son and Victor refuses to acknowledge there's any choice to be made at all. In some respects, this reminds me of The Last of Us and that's high praise.
The intelligent zombies, at last, have a leader with the newly introduced character of Laura. Unintelligent zombies do not need a "Queen" or villain other than evil humans but the existence of intelligent ones means I've been dying for a "face" to the enemy threat for some time. Laura is, sadly, pretty one-dimensional. While one might argue a person who wants to kill seven billion humans to make an army of the rotting dead can't be more than a one-note character, I was hoping for better from the authors.
This volume introduces a few new characters including Victor's father and the eidetic memory-possessing Krista. I especially liked Krista and was glad to see her propped up as someone who was willing to call Victor on his sometimes-questionable logic. Even with more and more of his group willing to call him out, Victor has somewhat skated over the problems of leadership until now. Having someone willing to argue with him makes the story a great deal more dynamic.
In short, I approve of this volume and suggest the series is only getting better as time passes.
8.5
April 19, 2012
A review from Amazon
Let me first say that Mr. Allmond is one amazing writer and I am so glad that I decided to pick up his first book What Zombies Fear - he has not disappointed and has kept the energy up in each of his books. I am not going to spoil what happens in this book and all I will say is that it made me wanting more and that is why the book only got four stars and not five. That it ended in a very pivotal scene between two main characters which again is all I will say. As a writer Mr. Allmond has greatly improved - and you can see that in each and everyone of his books. Where as the first book has some issues with editing each subsuquent book has improved greatly. I can see past all those errors simply because as first time writer I give them credit for putting down their ideas and imagination in print for all of us to read. I love that he can come with a full book in such a short period of time and I am waiting until June for the next book. Unfortunately I know that Mr. Allmond posts chapters of his next book - but to me that is almost like ruining Christmas morning yes I have tempted to read but chose not to. Can't wait until June.....
Let me first say that Mr. Allmond is one amazing writer and I am so glad that I decided to pick up his first book What Zombies Fear - he has not disappointed and has kept the energy up in each of his books. I am not going to spoil what happens in this book and all I will say is that it made me wanting more and that is why the book only got four stars and not five. That it ended in a very pivotal scene between two main characters which again is all I will say. As a writer Mr. Allmond has greatly improved - and you can see that in each and everyone of his books. Where as the first book has some issues with editing each subsuquent book has improved greatly. I can see past all those errors simply because as first time writer I give them credit for putting down their ideas and imagination in print for all of us to read. I love that he can come with a full book in such a short period of time and I am waiting until June for the next book. Unfortunately I know that Mr. Allmond posts chapters of his next book - but to me that is almost like ruining Christmas morning yes I have tempted to read but chose not to. Can't wait until June.....
November 5, 2013
This is really a great series and I can't wait to jump into the fourth book, Fracture!
Book 3, The Gathering, picks up exactly where book 2 left us. Victor Tookes and his gang are on the tracks to get John's family. They encounter many obstacles on the way and their faith and strength (physical and emotional) is challenged quite a bit. The group gets split up a few times along the way, leaving individuals to fight battles on their own. Will they accomplish what they've set out to do?? You'll have to read book 3 to find out.
I haven't mentioned this in previous reviews but I feel that I do need to criticize just a little.....these books could definitely benefit from a good edit. There are quite a few mistakes that sometimes make the story confusing. I'm not one to review a book based on grammar so I'm sticking by my 5 stars based on the ideas presented and the unique story lines. The characters are also pretty well written and believable.
If you've read the first two books in the, What Zombies Fear, series then you shouldn't stop now. Grab the 3rd one immediately and start reading. I'm pretty confident that you won't put it down until you're finished. :-)
Book 3, The Gathering, picks up exactly where book 2 left us. Victor Tookes and his gang are on the tracks to get John's family. They encounter many obstacles on the way and their faith and strength (physical and emotional) is challenged quite a bit. The group gets split up a few times along the way, leaving individuals to fight battles on their own. Will they accomplish what they've set out to do?? You'll have to read book 3 to find out.
I haven't mentioned this in previous reviews but I feel that I do need to criticize just a little.....these books could definitely benefit from a good edit. There are quite a few mistakes that sometimes make the story confusing. I'm not one to review a book based on grammar so I'm sticking by my 5 stars based on the ideas presented and the unique story lines. The characters are also pretty well written and believable.
If you've read the first two books in the, What Zombies Fear, series then you shouldn't stop now. Grab the 3rd one immediately and start reading. I'm pretty confident that you won't put it down until you're finished. :-)
April 28, 2013
I liked this book enough to buy the next one. The characters are good. The plot is interesting. I just wish the author had done more editing of his syntax. The author did not use possessive markers at all so it was hard to tell if things were plural, and I would have to go back and re-read the sentence to get the gist of it was possessive or plural. It drove me bonkers! The author also would get his pronoun voices mixed up right in the middle of sentences. He would switch from "his" to "my" and really screw up the point of view.
If these kind of things were edited, I would up grade my stars. Unfortunately, the grammar doesn't get any better in the next book. This is not a character's way of speaking, this is entirely the author's errors.
Having said this, the book is interesting enough to keep me going to the next book!
If these kind of things were edited, I would up grade my stars. Unfortunately, the grammar doesn't get any better in the next book. This is not a character's way of speaking, this is entirely the author's errors.
Having said this, the book is interesting enough to keep me going to the next book!
May 16, 2013
OK I need to find out what happens next
February 20, 2015
It was decent. The grammatical errors are still present and the cursing has increased but I still enjoy the story so I will probably try and finish the series.
September 12, 2013
This book really had me on the edge of my seat! I loved this story and the train is AWESOME. I also love that they still go to the library even in the worst of times!! :)
December 10, 2013
Only reason I put three stars is because I didn't like victor starting to become a jerk in his qwest to eliminate the zombies
August 14, 2014
The "super hero" team is growing; adding a ninja gal the team aided on their way to save Tookes sister and her two children, and Tookes sister herself.
November 12, 2015
Great Series! I read the whole series one after the other. It is a zombie series but with a slightly different take, and I definitely liked it!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews