Faith

The Remaining #4.6

by D.J. Molles

Dan Molles' stunning Remaining saga continues in the second novella in the series set in a world ravaged by a virus that has turned 90% of the population into ravenous animals.

The world is slipping into chaos. A mysterious plague has come stateside, and Clyde Bealey suddenly finds himself with nothing but a suitcase full of worthless things and a desperate sense that he must prove himself to his pregnant wife. As he tries to lead his family to safety through a world filled with madmen, he will learn that the cost of his pride might be more than he can bear.

Book 1: The Remaining
Book 2: The Aftermath
Book 3: The Refugees
Book 4: The Fractured

Novella 1: The Trust
Novella 2: The Faith

Genres: Zombies, Horror, Post Apocalyptic, Fiction, Novella, Apocalyptic, Science Fiction

85 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

D.J. Molles became a New York Times and USA today bestselling author while working full time as a police officer. He's since traded his badge for a keyboard to produce over 20 titles. When he's not writing, he's taking steps to make his North Carolina property self-sustainable, and training to be at least half as hard to kill as Lee Harden (his most popular protagonist).

Molles also enjoys playing his guitar and drums, drawing, cooking, and “shredding that green pow” on his Onewheel.

Most nights you can find him sitting on the couch surrounded by his dogs and family, trying to stream an hour of Netflix with his really sketchy satellite internet connection.

Are you interested in becoming a writer? I've started a video series called "Lessons in Writing" which you can find on all my socials.

Follow on IG & FB @djmolles
TikTok @djmollesauthor

Reviews

[Carolyn F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story was tagged on to the end of The Remaining

This story was about an average family that was hit hard by the new world. I have no idea what is in store for Clyde, but it doesn't sound good to me.

[Tom Britton · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short book right too the point . But if you going use main character as a hero . Make him likeable . But over all a good read read

[Ralph Wark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short story

Read this in a day, as a fan of the "Remaining" series, and it was very good. Miller's takes a rather unsympathetic, weak character and follows him for the first day of evacuations. There is very little zombie action, mainly a character study. In the end, as many who have little faith in themselves do, he joins a religion to have his thinking done for him. Before you flame me, I don't mean all religious are such, but that the weak are drawn to something to make their decisions when they don't trust their own. A good quick page turner.

[Roland of Gilead · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW this was brutal and I loved it. It was wonderful to witness the outbreak from the perspective of an ordinary civilian with little to no courage developed throughout his civilized life. Just...wow. Very well written, this guy can really write.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story, but too short for the money. I got it as a bonus added to the version of book 1 that I bought. Had I paid for it separately, I would have been angry.

[Graff Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Faith by D.J. Molles

Challenging, dark, emotional, sad, and tense.

Fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0 Stars

When I read this novella at the end of the first book, The Remaining...it said it was Trust, but it was actually Faith.

So, when I read The Remaining: Fractured (the fourth book), and picked up Faith..I was confused. The story sounded SO familiar. Not too far into it...I campared the two stories...and saw they were the same, though titled DIFFERENTLY. So, I will put the review of it...here, that WAS (just recently) the review for Trust. But, "trust me", it was really Faith. BTW, both titles work for this novella, where as...the TRUE novella story of Trust, ONLY works for the story of Abe Darabe. Okay, that's confusing. Right?

Thoughts after rereading it, at the end of book 1 (since it was in the extras at the end of the book). I was a little worried, but once I got into the story, I remembered that this was early on in the timeline, so it really COULD be read anywhere...for it was giving us the lay of the land.

Clyde and Hailey (and their baby). There really isn't anything good to say about the story (in world wise). Shitty to be them. They were not prepared...and EVERYTHING was against them.

While reading it for the second time (though eight years later), the oncoming dread. NOTHING good was going to take place in their lives. Especially since I had just reread book one, where Captain Lee Harden almost didn't make it...and he WAS prepared.

Terrifying story. Sad story. Real story. Survival of the fittest...is the world that they live in.

Thoughts after the first time I read it...between book 4 & 5.

This was a creepy story. Ugh. It was good story. Very sad, but really, real.

[Nathan Gelineau · Rating 4 out of 5]

I kind of hated the main character. I kept thinking he was a wuss the entire time I was reading it, and how I would have done better in his situation (who doesn’t like to think that about themselves), but it was still interesting enough to hold my attention through to the end.

I really liked the horror elements. I read this right after reading Book 1, so comparing the tone, I’d say this one was actually darker and I liked it. Sure some terrible things happened in Book 1, but in my mind it was just like the Walking Dead, violent sure but not R rated even with the cussing. But the shit that went down in this short book, just the injustice of it all and the terror: I actually liked it better. It gripped me.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

DJ Molles takes us back almost to the beginning of the zombie outbreak with a short story about a minor character in the Remaining series - Clyde, who will end up being one of the Followers in the next book in the series. Clyde's backstory is horrifying, absolutely horrifying, maybe the most disturbing thing we've read in the whole series, and it helps explain how a seemingly nice guy can end up becoming a member of the brutal cult.

[Art Bender · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this novella in the back of the first volume in the series and offered some gripping realities when stuff falls apart. As a novella, this small iteration took you back to the day the breakout happened and the backstory of a couple trying to survive the initial horror of what was unfolding before their eyes. I can't wait to see where their characters and those around them come into play throughout the series. Suffice it to say, this is gonna be a great ride of zombie-ish, post-apocalyptic proportions.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best apocalyptic series I have read. Well written, characters that are real, that you love and hate, characters that you relate to and root for. This is my second time reading this series and I highly recommend this series.

[Kent R. Spillner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brutal story of the beginning of the end

Are you ready for the apocalypse? Clyde certainly wasn't! This is a harsh look at what it takes to survive something so terrible you never thought it could happen to you.

[John Cheeseman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was too short to really care too much about the characters and I found them really really annoying especially their lack of common sense, judgement, courage and self-preservation.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Chris Tee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hated the characters.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clyde shows that he is a total failure in a zombie world.

This novella was a good narrative of how most of us would really handle a zombie apocalypse - we would suck.

[Talia · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insight into “day one” of the outbreak and the FEMA camps. This had me on the edge of my seat oh my GOSH

[Scott Gardner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Little novella , i.m assuming this character will turn up again later in the series

[Travis Kole · Rating 2 out of 5]

This Review probably goes with The Remaining as this small story goes along with the book. One of the best things about books, I believe, is finding characters that are enduring and makes you want to read more about them. That can sometimes be hard in short stories because it is very hard to connect with the audience in such a short time span.

I will profess I am not huge into the zombie market like a ton of people are now a days cause those stories can beat with the proverbial stick so often that it is hard to find a great and engaging story involving zombies, in my opinion. D.J. is a good story teller in that he gets you engaged in the story from start to finish and I have found that out as I continue to read his novels in the hopes that after The Remaining that he will advance the story after a slow start. The Remaining : Faith is a continuation in what i feel is close to the location that the main character Lee is from, given some hints that some locations are intertwined between the two stories. The main character Clyde, however, is not someone i would particularly root for and he is definitely a whiny character. Some of the interactions and decisions that are made within the novel I feel aren't as portrayed as well as it should be. D.J. is developing the world around us as it changes to the infection but i think what is the real downfall for at least these first two stories is that his characters are not enduring enough to actually make that connection with.

It is perfectly alright to have angry or bad people in your story line, for a matter of fact in a lot of novel series you find yourself loving these characters cause you want to take em down yourself. The end part of the story is pretty good but the whole interactions and thought process of the main character rubbed me the wrong way as something that wouldn't go through my mind. For example, as the epidemic of this disease spreads and widespread panic is forming, who would worry about breaking an entering after many near death experiences that got most of the town killed and leaving money on the counter. I laugh cause at that point it would be for survival. This is a lengthy review for a short story but I don't like to give spoilers and by all means if you like zombie stories, his books are a good start but probably not my particular cup of tea.

[Clayton Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can't wait for book 5 of The Remaining series

I was a little hesitant at first to buy another novella in the remaining series. Especially after the first few reviews I read were so bad but I bought it anyway and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the story. D.J. Models is fast becoming one of my favorite authors and if you have read the other books in the series you can see what this novella is doing. Yes, I was disappointed that it is such a short story but it is a good one. I'm sure we will see the main character again in book 5. If you are a fan of "The Remaining" series, then this is a must read. Very well done Mr. Molles. Now get to work and finish book 5... We're waiting..

[rick incremona · Rating 5 out of 5]

"In the Book of Job, the Lord tested a man. He let the Devil strike the man’s wife and children with sickness and disease until they died. He let the Devil bring pests on the man’s crops and kill his cattle. He let the Devil take everything from this man until he was just an empty soul. Kind of like you. Like all of us, really.”

I love the difference in the Holy men in these books. Of course Wiscoe can't recall scripture properly. Job's wife never died. He manipulated scripture to get a man who lost everything to do what he wants. Meanwhile Fr Jim quotes scripture accurately, tends his flock, defends them, and puts himself in harms way to defend them daily. I hope that this mistake in scripture was planned to show the dichotomy between the groups. I love these books!

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

One has to take into account that the novellas are for entertainment purposes only to get fans to 2015 before we starve ... However, I think that the first novella about the President's camp and some of the other members of Project Hometown was more thrilling and also more important to the over-all story. Might simply be that I thought the main character of this novella stupid and I hate the group he now belongs to but I guess the author was trying to make us see the other side as well.
All in all, it was a nice read in between, definitely watering my mouth for the final book but sadly not all that good!

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before purchasing this book, please be aware that all you are really getting is about sixty pages of new content. This content is well written of course, since the author is a talented writer but not a whole lot happens and then the story ends. When it does end (at the 81% mark) - much like the previous "novella", you will get an author page and an excerpt from his first published novel. That said, if you are a die hard fan of The Remaining, you will like the writing and you will like the story. It is pretty good stuff... If you'd rather take your $2.99 and buy a gallon of milk or use it as a down payment on a gallon of gas, that is your other option. Rating based upon substance only: 4/5

[Max Kalinin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a bit undecided about the ending. The whole religious thing in the last couple of pages made me feel kind of wrong about the whole story. As if religion is the solution for that kind of hardships, and I strongly disagree with that, but on the other side, as a story, and the world of this story, religion fits quite right in there. I am just not sure what the author wanted to portray - a story with a religious message, or just a story of crazy post apocalyptic world?

As for the whole story well it was damn brutal, and the portrayal of all the parts and characters was pretty damn good.
4.5/5

[Robert Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Faith is the second of the two novellas between books 4 and 5 of the Remaining series. In this novella we get acquainted with The Followers, the radical religious group laying waste to the remaining survivors who won't join their cause.

The story is set in the initial days after the outbreak and revolves around Clyde and his family as they try to reach a safe zone. After a series of events Clyde eventually joins The Followers.

This book, as with the first novella, fills in details of the back story which further immerses the reader in the larger series.

[Dakeyras · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually found this story to be much better than the 1st novel of the series. Clyde wasn't the strongest of characters so we see a flawed character trying to do what he can to survive....and making some bad mistakes that cost him dearly.

While it would've been nice to see other characters expanded upon, it wasn't necessary because Clyde is the one the author wants us to get to know.

From reading other reviews, Clyde will appear in the 5th book of the series.

[Jett Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admit to being a bit dissapointed. I know its a novelette, but I preordered this on amazon and didn't even read the description. I was so excited about another book in the series that I just grabbed it.

On its own it a great story, but well, its no fault of the author, but please get back to either the rest of operation hometown or the hell comming from the north! Desperate book junkie needs her fix!

[Ned Frederick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short story is tangential to the main thrust of the series although it may feed into the narrative later in the series. Seems like something a good editor would have cut from the first book in the series. Best guess is it introduces us to the formative stages of a murderous cult that pops up in The Remaining: Fractured. Not essential reading for Molles fans but a good way to kill a few hours.

[Joseph Coley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as the first novella, but still a good read

The second novella for The Remaining gives another insight to some of the backstory, and fans of the series will recognize how it ties in with the Followers and their crazy idealism. Another tidbit to hold you over until The Remaining #5.

[Warhammer Grantham · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another short teaser to whet your already famished appetite for the last The Remaining novel due in 2015. Whatever, I'm deeply entrenched in this series. This novella is about one mans experience when he has to reach to the zombie plague outbreak on his own.

[Ryan Van De Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

One star penalty for short stories and not the next book

One star penalty for short stories and not the next book

great author. love the series. I like the long run story lines. the shorts make me crazy waiting for the next full-length book.